Art completely surrounds Nancy Wilkinson鈥檚 life.
She鈥檚 an art teacher, a pastel artist, a muralist and a photographer. She even posts two-minute art lessons on YouTube.
鈥淓ach medium is a way of expressing the world around me in a different way,鈥 she says.
Growing up, Wilkinson was always creative.
鈥淎s a little kid, I always liked to draw and paint. And then in high school, my teacher told my dad that I should go on with art and that was really an affirmation that I still remember all these years later,鈥 she says. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 what people need the most 鈥 an affirmation.鈥
Wilkinson went on to study theater and English in college, eventually getting her master鈥檚 degree in art education. She taught art to high schoolers in Washington, in addition to elementary and middle-schoolers in the 蜜柚直播 area, and adults in New Zealand and Costa Rica.
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She currently teaches art journaling classes at Canyon Ranch.
Despite being able to teach the craft, Wilkinson has taken many classes at 蜜柚直播鈥檚 Drawing Studio.
鈥淚鈥檓 always trying to teach and learn at the same time,鈥 she says.
Beyond teaching, Wilkinson dabbles in several mediums, including pastel work when she illustrated two children鈥檚 books 鈥 鈥溍坭种辈 Charlie: Lost in the Desert鈥 and 鈥溍坭种辈 Charlie: Lost in the Zoo.鈥
鈥淲ith pastels, you can smear, smudge and blend so quickly,鈥 she says. 鈥淚 had to do so many pages 鈥 each book required over 20 illustrations 鈥 and I just enjoy the medium so much because of the quickness of it and the versatility of adding different colors on top of each other.
鈥淚 worked with so many of those drawings in the books that now I gravitate toward (pastel),鈥 she says, adding that she鈥檚 trying to move into other mediums such as acrylic and watercolor.
Wilkinson has also done a handful of murals 鈥 a few on a ramada at Booth-Fickett Magnet School, a couple more at the St. Francis in the Foothills church and one in Peru, which she did during a mission trip.
鈥淚n the case of the mural at Booth-Fickett, the ramada was just blah. There was nothing there,鈥 she says. 鈥淚 thought, 鈥極h, we need to do something different.鈥 I got help from the kids 鈥 they went out there and we painted.鈥
Wilkinson also dabbles in photography 鈥 her photos were even on display at the 蜜柚直播 International Airport for six months.
鈥淚 have a lot of photos from (Sabino Canyon) at different times of the day 鈥 from dawn until dusk,鈥 she says. 鈥淥f course, I love saguaros. Any nature and landscapes is what I enjoy photographing most.鈥
Her interest in photography piqued on a visit to India. 鈥淭here was so much to take pictures of 鈥 everything from the Taj Mahal to the Ganges River and the people and the architecture,鈥 she says.
When the COVID-19 pandemic first started, Wilkinson started posting two-minute art lessons on YouTube.
鈥淚 had been teaching before, so I had all these lessons prepared,鈥 she says. 鈥淚 thought why not share them in a short version with my friends? So it became a weekly event and little did I know, it鈥檚 now turned into 30 of them.鈥
鈥淚 want to inspire people to be creative themselves,鈥 she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not about me 鈥 it鈥檚 about the invitation to pick up a brush or pick up a pastel.鈥
Contact reporter Gloria Knott at gknott@tucson.com or 573-4235. On Twitter: @gloriaeknott
Gloria Knott
#ThisIs蜜柚直播 Editor
