Nancy Matthews lives with her husband, Turner, a lawyer, in a sorbet wonderland. The building in which they lives together with its walls stand in pastel protest to those around them. Nancy has painted in staid gray and beige. She is covering the pillars and walls with 100s of small clay tiles and sculptures. Nancy had lived with her husband in an unremarkable but comfortable concrete block house for more than 25 years before they moved to their current place. Their house sat on property overlooking the Manatee River and its here that she received much inspiration for her art; the place could be described as a perfectly fine yard but hardly a garden. For several years, they lived with a mango, an old oak, and the hedge, weedy beds, palms and grass. Nancy grew up on an island, and she’s used to privacy. She’s also used to manual labor because she creates large mosaics and murals.
The artist put up a 6-foot wall of concrete block, with the help of a workman, and finished with a plaster skim coat stretching around the perimeter. She painted it white but it was boring. Nancy never saw a blank canvas she didn't want to fill. The artist has created scenes that are self-referential. For many years, her husband supported her. She’s mostly self-taught as a gardener and an artist. She learned printmaking in New York and California, but the minute she walked into a clay studio, time stopped. She fell in love with 3D art and all the images she was doing in 2Ds she suddenly saw in 3D. She supports herself with commissions for exterior decoration, pool mosaics and fountains.
