Page 6 - The Clare Connection_Summer 2019 Flipbook

Morning Glories and Summer
Nancy Lee Spilove
“It’s my thing,” she says.
“I only wanted to stick
with Sumi-e.”
ARTIST PROFILE
Nancy Lee Spilove: The Meditation
and Precision of Sumi-e Painting
O ver the years, Nancy Lee Spilove has made her way through a number of
careers.
She spent 10 years managing her ex-husband’s medical practice. At age 51, she
went to school to become a chef, and later became a culinary arts instructor. For
eight years, she worked at a soup kitchen in Florida, followed by a two-year stint
teaching cooking at another charity
Despite the career changes, one thing remained constant: Nancy Lee’s love of
oriental ornamentation, which led to her passion for Sumi-e, or oriental brush
painting.
While Nancy Lee’s fascination with oriental furniture and decoration has been
lifelong, her interest in practicing Sumi-e painting sparked about 35 years ago,
when she discovered an ad for a Sumi-e instructor – right around the corner from
her Florida home, as luck would have it.
It was this instructor who served as a mentor for Nancy Lee, who propelled her
into a world where Sumi-e art became far more than a hobby. Nancy Lee grew
to enjoy Sumi-e painting so much, in fact, that she completed at least 40 works
to date.
“It’s my thing,” she says. “I only wanted to stick with Sumi-e.”
The Sumi-e Process and Special Techniques
The process of starting a Sumi-e painting is quite meditative, according to Nancy
Lee. Add a couple of drops of water to an ink stone, and rotate an ink stick to
prepare the ink for painting.
“It takes quite a while to get your ink right, so it gives me time to cool down and
release whatever’s on my mind,” she says.
In addition to this prepared ink, Nancy Lee uses watercolors, rather than grinding
her own paints. Typically, she uses various different colors, blending them in the
center of a pie plate. She notes the importance of holding the brush straight
up and down, too, as opposed to a more natural, instinctive way of placing it in
your hand.