What's Your Perfect Fit This New Year's Eve?

Whether you are heading out to party...

Fashionista with a Cause
acrylic on canvas
10" x 10"
©NanciHersh
$250. (free shipping!)

or venturing outside for some festivities (We'll be checking out Kennett Square's First New Year's Eve Mushroom Drop.)

Winter Warm
acrylic on canvas
10" x 10"
©NanciHersh
$250. (free shipping!)

or cozying up with a loved one, furry friend, or a good book...

Well Worn White
acrylic on canvas
10" x 10"
©NanciHersh
$250. (free shipping!)

“This is my wish for you: peace of mind, prosperity through the year, happiness that multiplies, health for you and yours, fun around every corner, energy to chase your dreams, joy to fill your holidays!”

D.M. Dellinger -

Happy and Healthy New Year!

With gratitude,
Nanci

What a Difference a Day Makes

30 days of What's in My Drawers completed with some technology challenges that I will spare you.

Sea of Hearts
Spray paint, monotype, image transfer, collage on paper
8.5" x 8.5"
©NanciHersh
$85.00

                                                       

But I will share with you Sea of Hearts scanned properly with the help of Epson support. I feel like I am back on track after upgraded OS for my MAC, new hard drive, more RAM, new Photoshop on the cloud and a few deep breaths!

Now to tackle some wrapping...Ready for the holidays?

Sea of Hearts - in My Drawers

Day #30 of What's in My Drawers.

Sea of Hearts
spray paint, image transfer, collage on paper
8.5" x 8.5"
©NanciHersh
SOLD

This is a fitting piece for the final day of my What's in My Drawers series.

It hasn't been in my drawers very long- at least not as a whole piece. The Color Aid paper (from my under graduate days!) cut out heart and the piece of a wall paper sample are in my drawer of collage materials that I pick, choose and rummage through. The other elements have joined together recently to become what I believe will be my holiday/New Year's card this year.

And you can own the original.

So to all my friends, collectors, readers and supporters in this busy complicated times I send you a
Sea of Hearts.

Love and gratitude at the heart of it all. Thank you.

Click here to see the post about What's in My Drawers and be in the loop for the rest of the art and stories in this blog series.

Trees- In My Drawers

Day #29 (one more to go!) of What's in My Drawers.

Trees
oil pastel on paper
14" x 11"
©NanciHersh
$85.00

             

Vrksasana or Tree Pose in Yoga is one of my favorite postures- and can also be quite challenging. Finding balance standing on one leg arms up and open, we sway, try not to flail, and often stumble.

When our minds are calm and relaxed it can seem effortless, but with chattering or "monkey mind" it can be much more difficult.  And that, is when we need it most.

So I plant myself in front of a window and look out at the trees who are stark and still beautiful this time of year and remember to plant my roots and lift my heart.

Click here to see the post about What's in My Drawers and be in the loop for the rest of the art and stories in this blog series.

Stepping Out - in My Drawers

Day #28 from What's in My Drawers.

Stepping Out
Monotype with image transfer
30" x 22"
©NanciHersh
$200.00

                                                         

This piece was created for the Image Transfer Workshop I led with photographer Catherine Hartigan as part of our Catching Up Exhibition at Transformations Gallery in Metuchen, NJ, September 2013.

I combined the image transfers of inkjet prints of koi and magazine fashion shots for this monotype, layering stencils of nets with many passes through my table top etching press to take another view of life beneath the surface.

Click here to see the post about What's in My Drawers and be in the loop for the rest of the art and stories in this blog series.

Final Week for What's in My Drawers

Day #27 of What's is My Drawers.

 Fork and Shadow
Acrylic, Carborundum grit, pastel, collage on paper
30" x 22"
©NanciHersh
$250.00

                                                        

The work is often about the materials as much as the imagery or subject matter. The fork was a departure point to move paint around and use line to draw in space. The dark grey grit of the Carborundum grit mirrors the Fork in the foreground and adds texture to the surface.

The journey is the destination.

Click here to see the post about What's in My Drawers and be in the loop for the rest of the art and stories in this blog series.

LBI #1 - in My Drawers

Day #26 of What's in My Drawers.

LBI #1
Watercolor pencil on paper
6" x 6"
©NanciHersh
$36.00

                                                         

Bring on the sun... the summer of 2011 was full of challenges - and blessings.

So when a  friend of Nate's from NJ invited him to spend a few days on Long Beach Island with the family I took the opportunity to drive him there and spend the time with my friend Donna who also had a house on the island that summer.

Long Beach Island has always been a favorite place of mine and I appreciated the time to boogey board, read, bike and relax with my friend.

I had my small block or Arches watercolor paper and my Caran D'ache watercolor pencils and let the warmth and the beauty of the island flow through my body and onto the paper.

Click here to see the post about What's in My Drawers and be in the loop for the rest of the art and stories in this blog series.

Buttoned Up- in My Drawers

Day #25 of What's in My Drawers.

Buttoned Up
Acrylic, collage on paper
10" x 14" image size
This piece is matted
©NanciHersh
SOLD

                                                  

My Nana Ceil gave me a sewing machine for my Bat Mitzvah. My Singer sewing machine moved with me from NJ to Brooklyn to Manhattan to CA to HI (and at least 5 times on the island of Oahu!), then back to NJ. Finally sold it before we moved here to PA.

Talk about some heavy baggage. Metaphorically, not physically, though moving anything you no longer use is pointless.

Buttoned Up is a piece post surgeries having learned I have the BRCA2 gene which increases odds for not only breast cancer but ovarian cancer. 

I think in this piece a picture says a thousand words.

Click here to see the post about What's in My Drawers and be in the loop for the rest of the art and stories in this blog series.

Red White Blue and Happy- in My Drawers

Day #24 of What's in My Drawers.

Red White Blue and Happy
Monotype with collage
11" x 7.5"
©NanciHersh
$85.00

                                                      

Nothing heavy or serious, just a day in my studio with a friend. Pulled out the inks, the textures and we both made some monotypes on my table top press.

Some red
some blue
some collage ...

happy.

Click here to see the post about What's in My Drawers and be in the loop for the rest of the art and stories in this blog series.

Chrysalis 2- in My Drawers

Day #23 of What's in My Drawers.

Chrysalis 2
Etching, aquatint with gold embossed
rubber stamp
Image size: 7" x 5"
Paper size: 12.5" x 9.5"
Edition of 20
©NanciHersh
$150.00

                                                             

This etching with aquatint started out as a demo plate for my class when I was teaching printmaking at Monmouth University in Long Branch, NJ.

A highly personal piece (I do wear my heart on my sleeve) it later became the iconic image for the Art of Survival at Herspace, an annual art exhibition honoring women who have been touched by breast cancer.

Following my bilateral mastectomy in 2003,  I felt tight and sore, and was scarred physically and probably a bit, emotionally. I saw myself creating a healing cocoon around my raw body.

And like a butterfly who emerges from her cocoon when the time is right, I trusted, that I, too would emerge and take flight.

Click here to see the post about What's in My Drawers and be in the loop for the rest of the art and stories in this blog series.

The Conquest - in My Drawers

Day #22 of What's in My Drawers.

The Conquest
Encaustic and collage on page from book
8" x 5.5"
©NanciHersh
$50.00

                                                      

another page from the book The Conquest of Fear , a discarded book I found curbside.

I love drawing and collage, finding connections between seeming unrelated images.

The fence image from an earlier solar print I did of my son on a swing, the small section of a pattern piece, a page from another book, held together with wax and another past favorite material- masking tape.  The fence- home and heart, the pattern piece- becoming whole after surgery, and half the circle sitting on top of the stormy sea.

We are wounded, full of holes, and often atop stormy seas, riding it all out, but doing our best to remember that faith and love conquers all.

P.S. Surprise! There is another whole collaged image on the reverse side of this piece.

Click here to see the post about What's in My Drawers and be in the loop for the rest of the art and stories in this blog series.

Snow Blind - in My Drawers

Day #21 of What's in My Drawers.

Snow blind inside...

Snow Blind #7
Acrylic on canvas paper
16" x 20"
$150.00

                                                              

and out.

Unexpected - or I guess I should say, unaware. I came out of yoga this morning and noticed the gray sky and damp cold air, but snow was not on my radar.

Until about an hour or so later, and then the large white flakes came down and down.

Kind of like my first winter back in NJ after living in Hawaii for over 11 years. We had snow and more snow, and I was in the house staring outside at the white covered blanket over everything. And that's when I started painting the crows. Stark, black and beautiful. 

Click here to see the post about What's in My Drawers and be in the loop for the rest of the art and stories in this blog series.

In the Fray- in My Drawers

Day #20 of What's in My Drawers.

In the Fray
Acrylic, pastel and collage on paper
29" x 41"
©NanciHersh
$400.00

                                                             

Fish or  koi have been in my work since I first fell in love with snorkeling - and Hawaii.

The colors, patterns and light found on the fish - and in the water, soothes my soul. So when we were looking to move to the area and house hunting, our realtor showed us a beautiful home with a koi pond in the back yard-  that sealed the deal. She also later introduced us to her friend in the area with 3 or 4 large incredible koi ponds where I am fortunate enough to be able to visit for sporadic inspiration when I want the "big guys."

This was one of the first pieces I created in my Koi Pond Series when we moved to PA.  There is a small rubber stamp of a swimmer, as well as other collaged images from a children's book. This piece is about finding the peace and grace within the uncertainty and turmoil of moving with a family including two sons, a mother in law, a rabbit and a cat.

It's all in the fray.

Click here to see the post about What's in My Drawers and be in the loop for the rest of the art and stories in this blog series.

Mad Hatter - in My Drawers

Day #19 of What's in My Drawers.

Mad Hatter
Monotype with pastel on paper
13" x 15"
©NanciHersh
$150.00

                                                             

Most artists have done a self portrait or two in their career. Many have used props or costumer to try on a new persona or catch a certain mood.

Our friend Rembrandt is known to have done quite a few of those. 

As the daughter of a milliner I have spent countless hours trying on the fabulous hats in my Dad's Nobby Shoppes. It seems that we couldn't take a family day trip without stopping at one of his stores to either pick up or drop off merchandise for one of his customers. 

In this monotype I am trying on a festive creation as I am navigating my new life after my divorce.

Where in your work do you see your roots?

Click here to see the post about What's in My Drawers and be in the loop for the rest of the art and stories in this blog series.

Eskimo Kiss- in My Drawers

Day #18 from What's in My Drawers.

Eskimo Kiss
Watercolor with water color pencils
14" x 11"
©NanciHersh
$150.00

                                                              

First there was an Eskimo Kiss. This is a loose watercolor with water color pencils I did for an Eskimo Kiss- two noses rubbing together.

Originally, when my cousin Ellen McVicker wrote the words for me to tell my then two young sons that I had breast cancer the title of her story to share with Griffin and Nate was "My Mommy has Cancer." And in the story, the child learns that cancer is not contagious and he can still give his mommy as Eskimo Kiss.

Ellen and I eventually collaborated to create the children's book Butterfly Kisses and Wishes on Wings: When someone you love has cancer... a hopeful, helpful book for kids now in its fifth printing with a Spanish edition as well.

In the book an Eskimo Kiss is replaced by a Butterfly Kiss and the rest is history.

Butterfly Kiss
available as an Archival art print
8" x 10" matted- $35.00
16" x 20" - $100.00
©McVicker&Hersh, LLC

Click here to see the post about What's in My Drawers and be in the loop for the rest of the art and stories in this blog series.

3 Tea Bags- in My Drawers

Day #17,  from What's in My Drawers

3 Tea Bags
graphite on paper
14" x 11"
©NanciHersh
$125.00

                                                                 

My drawers are filled with tea bag drawings, in fact I have tea bags strung together hanging from door jams like love beads. Actually, that's what they are.

Everyday for the past 18 or so years I make my husband a cup of tea. Just how he likes it with milk and sugar. On work days, I run it upstairs and put it on the bathroom vanity counter so it is there for him when he steps out of his morning shower.  Then we are off and running to the demands of our busy days.

Drawing the beautiful stains and folds is a small gesture that speaks of love, ritual and marking time.

Click here to see the post about What's in My Drawers and be in the loop for the rest of the art and stories in this blog series.

Weathering the Storm- in My Drawers

Day #16, December 3, 2013 from What's in My Drawers.

Weathering the Storm
Solar print, encaustic collage on paper
6" x 4"
©NanciHersh
$35.00

                                                            

If only it were that easy... put on the proper gear and ride it out. Often that's all you need, other times a little more....

Don't remember what was going on when I made this piece, but I had this little solar print kit I bought at a museum store a while back and tried it out with one of my beloved nets. Found this image of a guy in rain gear, added the pattern piece with something underneath it and voila- it's just how I am feeling today.  A bit weary, caught up in virtual computer overwhelm. I bought Quick Books 2014 to help me stay on top of things. After I purchased it I learned that my OS needed to be upgraded, thankfully that was free but now I can't run my old Photoshop on it, my computer seems slower and my brain has short circuited cause everything is totally different now on my laptop.

So off I go to the Apple Store. Throw me a line, will ya?

Click here to see the post about What's in My Drawers and be in the loop for the rest of the art and stories in this blog series.

Flight- in My Drawers

Day #15, December 2, 2013 from What's in My Drawers.

Flight
Watercolor, ink and collage on paper
7.5" x 11"
©NanciHersh
$85.00

                                                            

This is a piece I started when I was at Sloan Kettering Memorial Hospital back in 2011 for my surgery. It was actually a pretty groovy kind of hospital stay (especially compared to the one back in 2003 at St. Peter's Hospital in New Brunswick!)  I had a room to myself, the nurses were fantastic, as was near by family and friends who came stopped by with goodies, and there was a lot of interesting contemporary art on the walls in every corridor.  Art makes everything better.

They also had an activity and social area on another floor. I went up there one day- sun was streaming in, live music was playing and there were lots of art supplies. So I dug in... grabbed some heavy watercolor paper, brushes and paint and thought positive thoughts.

Click here to see the post about What's in My Drawers and be in the loop for the rest of the art and stories in this blog series.