Video by Patty Stocker
With COVID-19 delaying the Parish Center for the Art’s Artist of the Month exhibitions until 2021, WestfordCAT has started a series which will focus on regional artists that are scheduled to display their work at the PCA.
Patty Stocker recently spoke with Nancy Rich, a seasoned and talented photographer from Natick, Massachusetts, who has exhibited extensively throughout New England. In 2016 Nancy retired from a long career as a school administrator however in 2009 had a 208 page book, “Afloat on the Tide” published of her photographs of small, wooden boats – a ten year project. When asked why she decided to focus on the iconic dinghies, Rich said, “I just think they’re gorgeous. They’re emblematic of New England. They have so much character. The said thing is it is very hard to find them now. They have been replaced by boats made of fiberglass and rubber and aluminum. I understand that wooden boats are hard to maintain. They’re expensive; they’re heavy. They’re just so beautiful.”
Rich’s exhibit, entitled “Afloat” is made up of three different collections, “Nor’Easter Dinghies”, which features photographs from her book; “Sea Sculptures” which is macro images of objects that have washed up from the beach, and the last, “Glass, Liquid, and Ice Capades” is of objects floating in water or frozen in ice to create stunning abstract images.
Rich is also a member of the Clever Hand Gallery, an artist collaborative in Wellesley, Massachusetts.
