Nancy Coleman of Damariscotta Mills, will be showing her new collection of more than a dozen hand colored metal etchings; during the Wiscasset Art Walk this Thursday, June 28 from 5-8 p.m. at BIRCH, 72 Main St. These latest works which were inspired by a recent trip to France, as well as favorite local areas, are appreciated and collected by clients of all ages.

Nancy Coleman is originally from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. She holds an AB degree from Mount Holyoke College and MA and MFA degrees in printmaking from Wayne State University. After completing her graduate study in art, she worked for the National Endowment for the Arts’ Artists in the Schools program in Pennsylvania. In addition to her work as a printmaker she has worked as a demonstrating printer and rye straw basketmaker at museums in Lancaster County. She was associated with Miss Hall’s School in Pittsfield, Massachusetts from 1978 to 1989 as an art instructor and Dean of Students. In 1990 she was a founder of The White Oak School in Westfield, Massachusetts and was associated with that school until her retirement in 2014.

She has worked as a printmaker for 40 years. For Coleman, drawing is a means of expression and she loves the technical challenges that arise from the process of developing her image on an etching plate and printing an edition.

“In most instances color is added by hand, using watercolor paints. This additional process is another aspect of the development of my work that I enjoy immensely,” Coleman said. “Over the years I have also used my prints, along with my writings, to develop a number of limited edition books. The project of creating an edition of a book features the additional challenge of setting and printing type and developing a binding and executing that process as well. The mixture of creative and technical challenges is what continues to draw me into the vortex of printmaking year after year.

“My imagery comes directly from my surroundings - from everyday life and from nature,” she continued. “Our daily existence is filled with pictures; arrangements of shapes and objects that are composed, usually quite by accident, into scenes that strike me as visually appealing. Beyond the visual appeal there is often, too, some aspect of the image that amuses me or evokes memories of personal connections.”