About the Artist: Nancy Near

(more than you ever wanted to know...)

Throughout my life, I have usually balanced my right-brain (art) and left-brain (academics/business) interests by emphasizing one to the exclusion of the other.

I loved art as a child, but as a teenager I focused primarily on math and science. I switched back to art in college when I got a BA in liberal arts with a commercial art major.  After working for two years in a stained glass studio, and realizing minimum wage was not for me, I left behind the art world and went to grad school to get a masters that combined business and computer science (no art!). I met and married my husband Jim, moved to California, and enjoyed a 25-year career in high tech with Hewlett-Packard while we raised our two children (now young adults).

Art had very little place in my life until about 12 years ago, when family friends invited us to a camp in the Sierras. I rediscovered watercolor there and have taken workshops and classes ever since. My ongoing discovery process has included classes and workshops with Oneida Hammond, Floy Zittin, Judy Chiu, Zoya Scholis, Karen Frey, Ted Nuttall, Lian Zhen, Tony Couch, and Dale Laitinen.  I am a member of the Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society, the Fine Arts League of Cupertino, and the Sunnyvale Art Club, and I am enjoying showing my work at a variety of local shows.

Even though I am “retired” from high tech, I still have a consulting practice where I can incorporate my art by doing graphic facilitation. (You can read more about that at www.templeton-near.com)

Throughout my attempts to achieve balance, my family and friends have always encouraged and supported me. Thanks so much to all of you – this website is for you!