Art Encounters Studio Visit and Art and Garden Walk

July 20, 2026

July was a busy art month! So grateful that I was asked to host a studio visit from Art Encounters and to participate in placing my art in a historic home for an Art and Garden Walk!

On a perfect summer day we put six of my paintings out in our garden in preparation for the Art Encounters studio visit. About 30 people walked through our garden, encountering and discussing the art and garden before heading inside to my studio for more insightful conversation and refreshments.

It was so interesting hearing art-curious people discuss my paintings, with thoughtful questions led by Joanna Pinsky from Art Encounters.

The week before, I had the opportunity to place my art in a 1930s Bartlett home in Beverly Shores, Indiana, for their Art and Garden Walk. About 400 people walked through, on another beautiful summer day.

And, here’s a 5 minute video interview for PBS Eye on the Arts:

To see more of my work, check out my website https://nancynatowcassidy.com. Since you cannot tell on a website if a work is 8 x 10 Inches or 8 x 10 Feet, if you hover over an image on a computer, a color block pops up with size and info. There are also videos of my process, some installation photos and more. It needs to be updated (of course), so there is more available, if you’d like to inquire.

Thanks for reading and watching!

Nancy Natow-Cassidy

WE WON’T GO BACK

July 26, 2022

I took my painting, “‘We Won’t Go Back,” to the Indiana Special Session to criminalize abortion on July 25, 2022. I painted “We Won’t Go Back” the minute the Supreme Court “leaked” their judgment on Roe v Wade, my anger and frustration pouring out onto the 7 x 8 foot canvas. This may not be the most sophisticated painting I’ve ever made, but it is the most passionate. The thought that women would be forced into motherhood, taking away the right we fought for, and have had for 50 years, to be captains of our own bodies, to now have the government decide that women must continue every pregnancy, is unconscionable. That women would not have autonomy about what happens to their bodies, that their lives and their futures would be forever changed, is infuriating. Whether because, as with at least half of abortions, she already has children and cannot afford, financially or emotionally, the cost of raising another, or because the fetus has not formed properly, lacking a brain or a stomach or other body part to sustain life, or the fetus has implanted in the wrong place which will actually kill her, or due to a disability, where it is literally life-threatening for her to be pregnant, or simply because she got pregnant due to birth control not being 100% effective, or a mistake in the heat of sex, it doesn’t matter. Men who impregnante her get to walk off and live their lives however they wish, while she has her future dictated to her by a minority of religious zealots who think they are following Jesus. In fact, Jesus was a Jew, and the Jewish bible says life begins “at first breath,” not at conception. That a minority of religious zealots get to dictate to women, and families, the most basic and personal decision anyone can make, if and when to become a parent, is a direct violation of our constitution, which does not allow for the establishment of a religion, but does allow for freedom of religion. The constitution does not say every citizen must follow a small subsect of Christianity. In fact, the pilgrims came to America for the freedom to practice their Own religion, which is enshrined in the constitution. Ironic, no? Please don’t send me hate mail or try to convince me that abortion is murder. I am not with you. I AM 100% with Women having the Freedom to Choose If and When to become mothers. I am 100% with parents who may need to make an agonizing decision with the help of their doctor and spiritual support, how best to proceed. I am NOT for government, in any way, dictating to women and doctors what they cannot do. Period.

When we unfurled the painting on the steps of the capital the crowd erupted in cheers and began chanting “We Won’t Go Back.”

Scrambling and Painting in the Desert Feeds my Soul

April 15, 2022

I absolutely adore scrambling around on giant rocks in the sunshine, both the physicality and the figuring out HOW to climb over, under and through these beauties makes me incredibly happy. The body movement this creates is unlike anything you can find naturally anywhere else, and that translates into how and what I end up painting when I’m out there. Its different than working at home, in an oak forest or a city. Those rocks literally give off an energy that is palpable and thrilling. Everything painted in the desert was done plein air, outside, literally ON the Rocks or IN the sand or both. Some are representational, and some abstract, capturing the energy I feel when I’m there. The difficulty of painting in wind and sun that dries your paint too fast, or blows sand and ephemera onto your surface is part of the scene, one that is joyful in having that bright illumination lighting up the colors that just can’t be seen the same way indoors. Consequently, there are imperfections and more messiness than I might otherwise have, but I’ve decided to leave them all as they were painted ~ fresh and in the moment. This has been a balm to my soul in this upside down crazy divisive, covid, and war-torn world of ours.

I had a 10 yard roll of canvas rolled up on the top of the rock. I would paint a part, then roll it up and keep on painting until I had completed all 10 yards.

I saw cute little lizards climbing on the rock and painting when I’d step away. Though we didn’t see any, there ARE Snakes around the area, so we’d roll it up and put all the paint in a closed up box to keep any critters out at night or when we were out hiking, though I’m sure they could have gotten in anyway if they wanted to.

Its hard to tell, but this painting is 94”‘ x 54,” Acrylic on raw canvas