Artist - Nora West

FINDING ME.

About the Artist

There isn't one particular moment I can remember that sparked my interest in art but rather several small happenings that accumulated and built upon each other. As the years have gone by, there's been a persistent desire to continue with my art in one forn or another - even as everyday life gets in the way.

In the beginning I was doing pen and ink drawings recording old buildings before they disappeared. I moved on to watercolors and most recently have been working in oil. Maine landscapes, farms, mountains, local landmarks, places with a past, landscapes that are diminishing over time.

Through the years I've attended several classes in local colleges, adult ed, and with local artists, as well as workshops at Maine College of Art , Haystack, Monhegan Studies. Each and every one has given me a new outlook, a new technique.

At this point in my artistic journey, I am open to all possibilities, I'm exploring all avenues in my search for my own expression and a search for all Maine has to offer.

My husband Greg and I just celebrated our 35"' wedding anniversary in

August. We live in an old farmhouse on the end of a dirt road in New Portland, which we purchased in 1977. We raised our two sons here, Kurt 26, is a financial analyst and Brent 23 is a wildlife biologist. They attended the New Portland Central School and Carrabec High School. They are out on their own now but love coming home to Maine when they can. Our old dog Slate and two old cats Poods and Millie have past away so Greg and I are getting used to our new found freedom of having no one depending on us to be home at a certain time.

My husband runs a construction company West, Inc. which I have done the bookwork for since 1989. I have also been a real estate broker for the last seven years and am currently working for Keller Williams Realty.