Artistic Inspiration
She informs my work.
Early on, I was inspired by the painting known as Christina’s World by Andrew Wyeth. Years ago, I bought a framed print and she’s been in my house every since. This print is currently is above my desk.
The bleakness of her world, so stark and lonely, contrasted with her pretty pink dress. The real story, however, makes the image so much stronger. The girl in that bleak landscape was Christina Olson. She was disabled and couldn’t walk but it didn’t stop her. She did her farm chores and eschewed a wheelchair. She used her arms to keep going. If ever a woman quietly roared, it was she. This was a determined woman and she remains my artistic inspiration.
The artist’s office. The Print of Christina Olson is above the desk.
Nancy McGgregor 2025
Artist statement:
This is art for the tastemakers: the interior designers who sculpt sanctuaries, the collectors who seek soul in their walls. My work draws from a tradition of elegance—think the poised restraint of early pictorialism, kissed by modern clarity. Here, every piece is destined to elevate spaces and spark conversation or create a haven of loveliness. My art is for people like me—those who laugh at life’s messes and still crave beauty that lasts.
I hope my art inspires people to put more real Art in their homes rather than cheap decor from from Amazon, Walmart, or Temu. I hope it inspires more people to collect and invest in Fine Art. I hope they begin to start art collections for their grand children and giving Fine Art as wedding gifts, graduation gifts, and other meaningful milestones. So, I hope to create Fine Art that they can hang on their office wall to inspire them as Christina Olson inspires me. I find the stories of art fascinating. It isn’t just how it’s made but in what it represents and who it represents. In all my work, I hope people can see it as a mirror of their own fineness and value.
Technique and genre
Today, with the emphasis of contemporary art being more about statements oriented to the juxtapositions of our troubled culture, my work uses contemporary technology to return to the tableaux vivant and pictorialism perspectives, along with a dip into the Old Master’s and the Renaissance styles of Fine Art.
My Genre. History.
Three Facets of One. Digital Oil on Canvas. Composite of three photos each representing one facet of women. The contented woman in Pony Boy gold, the tainted Purity in glam-gossip white, and the Warrior in Black satin because blood stains don’t show on black. Behind is a Royal Purple gown waiting for its turn to shine.
Tableau, or Tableaux Vivants, is a century old term used to describe a painting or photograph in which characters are arranged for picturesque or dramatic effect and appear absorbed and completely unaware of the existence of the viewer. It's considered a "living picture" and have been popular since medieval times. Even Queen Victoria's children participated as living mannequins in 1854.
With the birth of photography, Tableaus were widely welcomed since flash photography wasn’t readily available. The performers had to stand very still and that was important in early photography. As photography grew in popularity, Tableaux were often combined with a style known Pictorialism, which is an approach to photography that emphasizes the softness and beauty of the subject via tonality and composition rather than sharpe evidentiary documentation as is done in journalism, headshots, and editorial work. It’s still a desirable approach as the use of filters can attest.
The Pictorialist Style.
This ideal was born in the late 1860s and held sway through the first decade of the 20th century. It approached the camera as an artist’s tool, like the paintbrush and palette. A tool for creating art rather than recording reality.
The Pictorialists were drawn to the camera's artistic qualities. They used it as an escape from reality rather than as a tool to grab a snapshot. They preferred a romantic artistic composition, such as the tableaux. In the darkroom, they expended considerable time and effort to go beyond development of the film. Their goal was to create unique works of art. To do that they discovered new techniques and time-consuming processes, such as gum bichromate, chrysotype (gold) and platinum printing, and engraved photogravures. Their work was printed and presented as part of their art process. They often presented work on layers of lightly toned, transparent papers. The frame was also part of the artist’s composition of the overall finished piece. Today, I use a digital darkroom to recreate Old Master styles, oils, and other traditional painting styles along with photography prints.
