Nancy Dillen
What makes my artwork unique is my ability to reveal unexpected worlds populated with haunting faces and hidden objects in veined canyons and the fringes of a single dried leaf. What new things can I do that will make the experience of looking at my artwork a real treat? For me, art should have surprises and be a feast for the eyes. My goal is for others to discover the joy of really looking at art. Above my easel I have posted a sign that says, “Do the unexpected!”
I agree with Marcel Proust’s statement, “The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
Artist and art educator, Nancy Baur Dillen is Art Professor Emerita at Brevard Community College (BCC). She was born and raised in Quincy, a small town in rural north Florida. She graduated from Florida State University with an M.A. in Art Education and Constructive Design in 1971. After graduation, Nancy moved to Melbourne, Florida, where she became an art instructor at BCC.
With her excellent background in art, Nancy already had a head start toward establishing herself in the art community. As an educator, she had the opportunity to work with and influence the art programs on all levels. While at BCC, she expanded the art program and taught a variety of courses that included drawing, figure drawing, painting, advanced painting, watercolor, acrylics, two-dimensional design, art history 1 and 2, and the business of art. She has been a guest lecturer, juror, exchange instructor, and art consultant both nationally and internationally.
Dillen’s artwork reflects the two worlds in which she lives… the real and imaginary. Nancy’s current series of magically realistic oil paintings treats these concerns by placing symbols found in the local environment, along with fruit, vegetables, animals, and/or invented characters that inhabit her whimsical make believe world against the intense color and open space of Florida and other places she has visited and imaged. The intensity of color and contrast found in Nancy’s drawings reveal unexpected worlds populated with haunting faces and hidden objects in veined canyons and the fringes of a single dried leaf. Whether painting or drawing Nancy’s works reflect her single-mindedness. Using her vocabulary of symbols, she makes a statement on contemporary society. To her, art and teaching are one. Each challenges the other to see the world in a new light.
After 35 years of teaching, Dillen retired. She is now painting on a full time basis, creating art for public places, exhibiting and conducting painting and drawing workshops locally and nationally.
Nancy’s paintings and drawings are exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the United States and Canada. They are also in the permanent collections of the City of Melbourne (Mosaic monument at the Eau Gallie Pier… the City’s first Public Art), Eau Gallie Arts District Main Street Museum Mural Program (Exterior mural on Indian River Potters’ Guild), City of Orlando, (Orlando, FL) Marriott HOST International (Orlando International Airport), Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts (Gatlinburg, TN), Orlando Utilities (Orlando, FL), Price Waterhouse, DuPont Center (Orlando, FL), Southeast Bank (Miami, FL), Administrative Arts (Orlando, FL), Maitland Art Center (Maitland, FL), Vero Art Museum (Vero, FL), and Hubbard Construction Co. (Orlando, FL).
