Today we’d like to introduce you to Nance Lee Sneddon
Hi Nance Lee, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I am from Southwestern Pennsylvania. My mother was an artist and my sister Sue Sneddon was one of those people who was an artist from birth…arguing with her 2nd grade teacher about the color of the sky when she was called out for being the only student who didn’t paint a blue sky with white clouds. There was a certain amount of intimidation in having her as an older sister. She literally could do anything. My aunt Doodle taught me how to batik and macrame and my path seemed to lean more towards being a craftsperson. I majored in Textile Design at Edinboro University in PA. In 1978 with $450 and a suitcase of clothes (no car) I landed in Hilton Head thinking I’d spend the summer. I was so in love with the island then…oh my goodness…it was glorious. My family vacationed in SC every summer but I had never seen Hilton Head and it took my breath away. No traffic lights, no neon signs. TREES! I started tending bar at night and creating a wearable art business by day. I painted, over-dyed and sewed women’s clothing and accessories and eventually landed a few great accounts in New York (Henri Bendel), a boutique in Japan, art museum gift shops and stores across the country. This was the 80’s…no internet, just a phone. It was crazy doing this on my porch with the lizards as my co-workers. I couldn’t make the products fast enough and I had no idea how to farm out some of the work. In 1990, my artist friend suggested that we open a gallery. There was a bank-owned building we could rent for $600 in Sea Pines, but we had to do the renovation and pay a percentage of our sales. 4 of us threw in $1000 to start and worked our butts off for months. When we opened Moonshell Gallery it was epic for Hilton Head standards. Over 100 people came and ate the food I stayed up all night making and drank margaritas and wine. We carried the work of 25 artists including my sister Sue and my mother Lil’s paintings.
After about 7 years and a couple partner changes and problems, I moved to Charleston where I participated in Piccolo Spoleto for 19 years. The Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Show lasts 17 days. It was brutal at times-the heat, the storms-but it gave me the gift of some wonderful friendships. About 5 years ago I had the opportunity to move back to Hilton Head. I never expected to come back, but maintained friendships and connections throughout the years. It’s a very different place now, but still beautiful.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Ha! Nothing has been smooth. I am still trying to figure out the art world at age 67. You have to re-invent yourself over and over again and work other jobs. I can have a great year followed by the worst year, (that recently happened). I’m single and don’t have anything to fall back on so I will work forever. The biggest obstacle is usually me…when I get in my head too much everything shuts down. My sister Sue was my art partner and best friend. She died three years ago and it feels like it just happened. She was my art critique, my biggest source of emotional comfort, my guidepost. We did many 2 person shows together and also painted on the same canvases. As a full-time artist herself, Sue had immense integrity and respect for her own work. She taught me so much. My Mom and Dad were amazing in their support and encouragement. My sister Jo lives in Santa Fe and I hate the distance but love Santa Fe. We are the only Sneddons left and I love her very much.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My current work is stylized and abstracted waterways, wet sand patterns and landscapes. I start with unstretched unprimed canvas and use a variety of techniques including collage, hand-carved block printing, and stitching. I never intended to create work for walls and would not use the word artist to describe myself until a gallery owner asked my mother and me to do a show together. It was 1989 and I said, “what do you want me to give you?” She said, bring me some of those canvases and fabrics and I will frame them. I was intimidated and my pieces were very naive but I sold some work. I started after that to paint large tapestry-style loose canvases. I bought canvas in 50-yard bolts back then. We had very tall ceilings at Moonshell Gallery and I remember saying to my partners, ” who on earth will buy this huge piece? What was I thinking?” One of them was 105″ long and went to live in the Cayman Islands.
My intention is to stay ahead of trends and when I see other artists doing anything similar to what I’m making I try to move on. Everything is different these days with access to anyone’s work online and some artists making more money teaching a certain trick or technique than traditional gallery selling. I am an artist without a gallery right now. Several gallerists moved on or passed away. I have to say I am always a more creative person when I don’t look at what others are doing. I try to paint every day but that is unrealistic when you live alone. Someone has to do all the other stuff. I remember a well-known local artist used to say, “an artist has to paint x many hours a day”…well,, he had a wife who managed his career.
I guess what I am most proud of is the fact that I’m still doing it and am just as interested in making art as I ever was.
I rarely know where it’s going to take me and even on my most grief and worry-filled days those emotions are not what I paint. I don’t paint my angst or my politics. Maybe there’s a little sorrow tucked in there, but mostly it continues to be my awe of the natural world that gets me in my core and inspires me to do what I do.
What matters most to you?
I’ve been emotionally attached to nature as long as I can remember. I would spend all my free time as a kid daydreaming in a field or traipsing through the woods near my house. Of course, most kids were outside more in those days but I loved it all…bugs, dirt and plants. I was about 8 years old and my Mom and I were in the Red and White grocery store in Surfside Beach, SC and it occured to me that people actually lived at the beach…that not all the people I saw were vacationing at this magical ocean, but got to see it every day. What? People live here? My sisters and I would cry when we left our 2 week perfect vacation with dark skin and sand in our pants. “Go say good-bye to the ocean” mom would say. I was the first one to move to the beach. My parents came here with my sister Jo in 1981.
It mattered to me that I was here for my parents when they were sick. It mattered that I had a fun art-loving, music-loving, food-loving social family. It mattered that I was born into a home with a big sister with special needs. Cindy was profoundly intellectually disabled and required 24 hour care. My parent’s love for her was constant and unconditional.
Cindy shaped all the dynamics of my family. My folks could be tough but I would watch them with her and know what good people they were.
When you get to a certain age you lose people you love. I lost many. It matters to have family and friends who get you and put up with you and don’t try to fix you. Except you mom…you never stopped trying.
I have a lot to say about injustice and untruths and the current state of the world. I have to admit I have no idea what to do about any of it. I hope it changes. I hope people get back to the earth somehow. I hope people will re-connect with the only thing that will sustain us. Reverence for nature in all its forms.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://nanceleesneddon.com
- Instagram: @nanceleesneddon
