Nancy Donnelly comes to glass having been a painter, and before that an academic.  How hard it is to find one’s way!  It’s good that many paths remain open, because we can never stop trying – but oh, how confusing, how hard to reach a satisfying goal.

Nancy has taken glass workshops at the Washington Glass School, Glen Echo, Vitrum Studios (all near the District of Columbia), Pratt Center for Fine Art (Seattle), and Bullseye Glass (Oregon). 

She trained in painting at the Seattle Academy of Fine Art.  Earlier, she took a Ph.D. in Anthropology, but gave up academic life for a high-tech job.  How relaxing!  Actual weekends!  Actual money!  Actual time to paint!

Before all that, Nancy remodeled houses, did photography, studied drawing, loved Japanese art, wrote poems, quilted and gardened, lived in the woods, meditated and traveled, and took deep breaths in the face of the traumas of living. 

All these events have fed into Nancy’s art.  It’s wonderful to have so much to draw from, and she hopes her artistic expression eventually rises to represent everything.  In the meantime, what we see is what we get.