Nancy Dunlop Cawdrey
Nancy Dunlop Cawdrey lives in a world of color. And she likes to paint that way as well. Growing up quite literally around the world, Cawdrey found early inspiration in patterns and colors from places she has lived as a child and teenager, ranging anywhere from Syria to Germany. Studying studio art in Paris for two years as a college student, Nancy became attuned to Old Master techniques and found her voice through painting. After living for some years abroad in England and Europe with her husband Steve, eventually they found themselves returning to the United States and settling down in Montana.
Nancy discovered the medium of silk painting also on her travels, this time, in Hawaii. The propensity for vibrancy in the dyes and the looseness of the technique, close to the techniques of watercolor, captured Nancy. While a fairly novel medium, combining the subject matter of the west and the ancient art of silk painting, she has created a portfolio and style of painting that is wholly unique to her studio.
In Northwestern Montana, glacial streams seep from the craggy peaks of Glacier, spiraling through great wide plains of Eastern Montana and the Dakotas, and eventually spill out into both the Pacific Ocean and the Missouri River. With these waters carving out the dramatic landscape of the Northern Rockies, Montana is a muse to any artist. Nancy finds inspiration from everywhere in the landscape. Bright red poppies and native flora fill her canvases just as much as wilder characters such as bears, moose, and mountain goats. Her silk paintings have become just as much of a fixture of the American Western.
Nancy Dunlop Cawdrey is a signature member of the Montana Watercolor Society, an Associate Member of the National Watercolor Society, American Watercolor Society, and Northwest Watercolor Society. She is also a regular at invitational shows such as the C.M. Russell museum, the Settlers West Miniature Show, the Buffalo Bill Art Show, and the National Wildlife Museum in Jackson, Wyoming. Nancy also is a member of the C.M. Russell Skull Society, one of three female members.