"Monhegan Spring" oil on borad, 1972, NT Brown
“Monhegan Spring” oil on board, 1972, NT Brown

 

Nancy Thompson Brown moved to Monhegan in 1971, shortly after the passing her long time friend and early mentor Rockwell Kent. It was Kent who encouraged her to visit and explore Monhegan, where he had lived and painted. In 1981 after many summer visits, she and husband Bill purchased the cottage/studio known as “Candlelight,” where she summered for the next 25 years, conducting workshops in collage, mixed media and painting. Nancy exhibited her work from her cottage and at the Lupine Gallery and was a founder of Women Artists of Monhegan.

Nancy Thompson Brown, Monhegan

 

“Over the years I have slowly absorbed the essence of this tiny island, its uniqueness, its mysteries, its magic.”

In Nancy’s words “Monhegan represents change: change from a passive, horizontal coastal-plain environment where I live in the winter, to a stimulating, vertical, rugged environment where I spend summers. Over the years I have slowly absorbed the essence of this tiny island, its uniqueness, its mysteries, its magic. This has been a gradual unfolding process, like getting to know someone, little by little establishing relationships, understandings, questioning, responding. Responding to the sea and sky, the birds and plants, the rocks, the people. These things come about on solitary walks on the trails and roads, sometimes along the inland’s coastline and rocky shores, often while sitting on the rocks and ledges watching the ever changing ocean and sky.”

 

Nancy, who also went by NT Brown,  met her husband Bill while sailing in Annapolis in 1968. In1996 she and Bill moved to Taos County, New Mexico where she was very active in the artist community and was awarded three fellowships with the Wurlitzer Foundation. Nancy passed away in 2019.

 

William and Nancy, Monhegan 1993
Brown’s abstract paintings, monotypes and collages are of a spiritual and mystical dimension reflecting the essence on inner and outer places. Her work has received many awards, many museum exhibitions, and is represented by husband William Brown, PO Box 1202, Questa NM 87556, ntbrabbitstudio@gmail.com