Artist paints Eagles parade watercolor
Local artist: Nancy Hemsing uses watercolors to paint slices of life Parade palette: Popular print depicts Eagle’s Super Bowl celebration
LOWER PROVIDENCE » Nancy Hemsing is sitting in her den watching the Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl parade on her flat-screen television when a cartoon light bulb flashes above her head.
Hemsing, an Eagles fan, had already been inspired after watching the game with a group of friends.
“It was an exciting game to watch and I had a feeling they were going to win. I didn’t think they were going to win with the game going down to the wire,” she said.
When she witnessed the ceremony unfolding on the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum, her creative juices began to flow. The image impressed her so much that the veteran local artist wanted to capture the “mood” on paper.
She quickly went to her long, tan-colored art table and went to work.
“I just wanted to put what I saw on paper. I just did it for fun. I didn’t think it would turn out so well.”
It turned out so well, in fact, that Hemsing showed it to friends who encouraged her to sell reproductions of the watercolor. Since completion of the work in mid-February, she has sold more than 50 print reproductions..
This month, her work — highlighted by the Eagles print and accompanied by a variety of other watercolors of landscapes, flowers and people — was the solo attraction at Meadowbrook Retirement Community on Skippack Pike in Worcester.
When you walk into Hemsing’s square-shaped, carpeted den in her town home in Lower Providence Township, you can’t help noticing the various watercolors (her medium of choice) on her peach-colored walls : a group of people waiting at a bus stop, two young boys looking out over the ocean, portraits of her family members and New England-style homes.
Although the Eagles watercolor was done from television images, many times it’s important to go on location to capture the feel of the subject, she explained. Hemsing, along with 19 other artist buddies, have been known to spend a week’s time in Maine, Vermont, Maryland and Bermuda, visiting with wellknown artists and viewing and painting their subjects first-hand. “You learn new ways to paint landscapes, portraits and still lifes from well known artists,” she said. “They give you a different perspective on how they paint.”
A native of Norristown, Hemsing attended Stewart Junior High School, where she first became interested in art. She was graduated from A. D. Eisenhower High School (now Norristown Area High School) and majored in interior design at Moore College of Art.
A brief commercial: For those wishing to purchase the Eagles print, contact Nancy Hemsing at nshemsing@verizon.net.