Today we’d like to introduce you to Nancy Shippen Livengood.
Hi Nancy Shippen, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
A native of Atlanta, I took my first art classes at an early age and began lessons with the artist Claudia Hartley when I was 10. She taught and encouraged my love for oil painting and I continued studying drawing and painting at Mercer University in Macon, GA. After a number of years painting murals and working commissions, I decided to shift to art conservation, studying first in Florence, Italy, then obtaining my MA and MSc in Conservation from University College London, specializing in Objects Conservation. I worked a few years at the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Lab, painting on weekends and in my free time where I discovered a love of working En Plein Air. I participated in my first Plein Air events in Southern Maryland with the Solomon’s Island “Paint the Town” in 2009, 2010 and 2011 (Merit Award).
Once I returned to Atlanta, I began working in private practice in both objects conservation and art. I conserved artwork at the Tubman Museum in Macon, archaeological objects for the National Parks Service in Tallahassee, FL, historical objects for the Atlanta History Center, and historical puppets at the Center for Puppetry Arts. In 2016 I joined the team to move the Battle of Atlanta Cyclorama (panoramic painting) from Grant Park to the Atlanta History Center, cleaning the painting, filling and inpainting the landscape, completed in 2018. That same year I joined the Fulton County Department of Arts and Culture as their Public Art Conservator.
Despite my enjoyment of art conservation and maintaining the collection for Fulton County, my passion continues to be painting, especially in oil. I frequently exhibit my artwork with the Atlanta Artists Center and other juried shows throughout the Southeast. Most recently, I was selected for a 2 week residency with the Annmarie Sculpture Garden and Gallery in Southern Maryland (February 2019), “Summer Solstice” juried exhibit at Callanwolde Fine Arts Center (Summer 2023), “EmpowerHer: A Celebration of Women in Art” at the Emma Darnell Aviation Museum and Cultural Center (March 2024 & 2025), and the National Arts Program exhibit for Fulton County (Best in Show Award, September 2024). I have continued my love of painting En Plein Air, participating in Plein Air events at the Marietta Cobb Museum of Art, the Art Station in Stone Mountain, Zoo Atlanta, and as a selected artist with Georgia Color (Olmsted Plein Air Invitational) in the fall of 2019-2024. The 2024 Georgia Color event resulted in group exhibits at the Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville (January – March, 2025) and the Telfair Museum in Savannah (April – June, 2025). My artwork is currently on exhibit with Cat Eye Creative (Small Works Show, December 2024; Spring Flowers group exhibit, May – June 2025; Summer in the City, June – July 2025).
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
One struggle has certainly been the push and pull of focus. Do you place your focus on trying to make a living at your art, or do you find other avenues of support to free your art to develop and be what it will be? I have found that for me, when I turned to art conservation, my artwork was freed, removing the worry and necessity of sales, allowing me to be more selective in commissions and finding new collectors and interest in my art. Unfortunately, the issue in turn becomes time to paint and create and explore in my art.
To overcome the obstacle of time, I have become even more committed to a creative daily practice, whether it’s a 10 minute drawing in my sketchbook (which I carry with me everywhere), playing with a new medium, taking a class, visiting galleries and museums, or talking to other creatives about their artwork and process.
While the road has been unusual and not quite smooth, I wouldn’t change any of it. I have learned from each twist and turn, developing my style, meeting and learning from many other artists along the way. Each experience has added a new dimension to my work.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
As an artist I have enjoyed playing with different medium, but my favorite medium has always been oil paint. My style of painting is to use a thick impasto of buttery brushstrokes of rich color. Loving the texture and the rich, deep color of the oil paint, blending colors and brushstrokes I create a thick texture, a topography of paint on the canvas that draws the eye into the painting. With these thick brushstrokes of oil, I seek to capture the world around me, the swirling experiences full of energy and color. I am inspired by nature and love en plein air, but in the studio I am able to take each painting further.
I love to paint the ordinary, finding the beauty in the color of light and shadow. I have become increasingly aware of the encroaching development of urban environments, the loss of both nature and historic places, and paint to remember. My latest paintings are reflections of a strength of spirit – depicting trees that have broken or fallen but are still strong, finding new ways to grow in their environment, finding new purpose. The theme of strength in adversity and the challenges of life remain universal and inspire hope.
The experience I hope to instill through my art is a sense of experiencing the beauty, the joy and the hope of life.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
When the Mighty Mo organ was being restored for the Fox Theatre, I was hired by the A. E. Schlueter Pipe Organ Company to paint the replicated console for the restored organ so that the organ could still be in use while the original console was also restored. Unfortunately, it was only played once or twice before the theatre was closed for the Covid 19 pandemic in 2020. By the time the theatre reopened to the public, the original console was completed and re-installed. But, I was excited to see it in at the Fox for that February performance!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.nsshippenart.com
- Instagram: @nslivengood
- Facebook: @NancySShippenArt
- Twitter: @NSShippenArt
Image Credits
Connie Cross Group
