Frances Nichols’ Retrospective Art Legacy Gallery Exhibit

Frances Nichols’ Retrospective Art Legacy Gallery Exhibit January 6 – March 31, 2024 Opening Reception Sunday, January 14, 2 – 4 pm

The artwork in this exhibit will include many subjects from around the world painted over a lifetime of experience. The art will be for sale but mostly this will be an experience to view a body of work from a very lovely lady with outstanding talent. The paintings are made in watercolor, pastels, and oils – some framed, some not. Frances Nichols passed away a few years ago and left an abundant amount of artwork. Her family has been gracious to share her artwork with us.

The spirit of this exhibit is to spread Fran’s Art Legacy to people who like and appreciate her work.

For her 2020 exhibit at the museum, Frances said, “My passion is landscape. I try to etch a memory of a place, beginning with an idea of the finished piece, but leaving myself open to the work evolving. I work in plein-air on-site or from my own photos in the tradition of the early California Impressionists. Realistic representation is balanced with the Impressionistic play of light and color on the landscape. For me, the landscape is a prism where the time of day can transform the light moving through it into a constantly changing color. My subject matter is the Indian Wells Valley, Owens Valley, Antelope Valley, and the Eastern Sierras, ranging from desert washes, and mountain canyons, to the explosion of spring color in the desert. This exhibit includes works in pastel, oil, watercolor, and gouache. As the song says, ‘Love the one you’re with!’ I enjoy working in all media and my favorite is the one I’m using that day. I do love the immediacy of pastel with its instant color and layering, and the drama underpaintings can bring, but I also like the richness of oil and the fresh luminosity of watercolor.”