(828) 526-0173 | [email protected] | Copyright 2024 – All Rights Reserved.
Creating Art Saved Her | November Cover Artist
Written By: Donna Rhodes | Issue: October 2023
Cover artist Nancy Delahaye has met her life’s challenges with a spirit of hope and boundless creativity.
Nancy Delahaye
If someone walked up to mixed media artist Nancy Delahaye and told her that therapy could rob her of her creativity, she’d probably paint a mustache on that rascal’s face. For Nancy, the tranquility, joy, and purpose that painting provides is the therapy that saves her peace-of-mind every day.
Her life story, woven with de light and trauma, is a powerful narrative. Art was not her focus growing up. She thought a career in art to be impractical. Instead, she got a doctorate in Biochemistry. Research was her focus for 15 years. But the more she dove into the molecular gene pool, so to speak, the more Art called her name.
And then life took another turn.
Nancy says, “I went to my 20th year high school reunion and met up with a high school friend. He was living in Louisiana. I lived in Wisconsin. We pursued a long distance relationship. I joined him in Louisiana where he was practicing law. We married two decades ago.”
Life and its challenges turned again.
This time, her husband, after only two years of marriage, discovered a benign tumor affecting the nerves in his spine. Surgery couldn’t completely undo the damage. He uses a wheelchair now.
Nancy found herself head of household with two babies and a husband to care for. This time, her career choice was Art.
In job transition, Nancy initially painted realism. “I liked it, but it didn’t spark the kind of joy that I felt when I painted abstraction. Switching was a big shift in my art career. Painting largescale abstract pieces gave me a sense of satisfaction and supported me emotionally.”
“Creating abstraction became a survival tool,” she adds. “It’s a full range of feeling. It was my love and my salvation. When I couldn’t paint, I was kind of lost. I knew I needed to do this full time. It is so satisfying when people comment positively on my art.”
After she committed to a painting career, her works started selling.
Today her mixed-media pieces are represented from San Diego to Miami to Buckhead. In 2024, her influence will extend to France for a
four-week residency.
Her favorite creations are large scale commissions. She says, “Interacting with customers, making each vision a reality is so rewarding.”
Tell her about your own personal artistic dream for canvas or wood. She’ll make it come true. You can email [email protected]; phone (225) 776-3161; Facebook: Nancyarbourdelahaye; Instagram: Nancydelahaye art; and visit website nancydelahaye.com. Locally, you can see her work at Highlands Mercantile.
