InLiquid said goodbye to our friend and member Nancy Kress, who passed on January 17, 2021. Born in 1950, Nancy’s natural love for life and the arts was irresistible; she brought a sense of joy to those around her through both her warm-hearted personality and her paintings.
Nancy Kress had been studying art for over 20 years. She took classes at Fleisher Art Memorial, PAFA, and Main Line Art Center. Her work has been exhibited throughout the Philadelphia area, including MUSE Gallery, Art in City Hall, the Philadelphia Sketch Club, and with InLiquid at the Painted Bride Art Center. She has won the Maxim B. Gottlieb Award from the Fleisher Art Memorial, and her paintings were featured in the 2013 film Dead Man Down. Nancy’s studio practice was an integral part of her life in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, and it persevered after her 2011 diagnosis with ovarian cancer.
Nancy began her career in painting with an emphasis on realism, figurative work, and en plein air, and later moved toward abstraction as a way of inviting the viewer’s gaze and interpretation. Her later landscapes and figures emanate intense color to convey a distinct mood, rhythm, and atmosphere. One can see, through these paintings, the vestiges of her formal training combined with her own unique rendition of abstraction. Her spirit is embedded in each piece and demonstrates how she was drawn to her subject, whether it was an individual or a landscape.
The Philadelphia art community will miss Nancy Kress. We will feel the loss of her vibrant creative practice, but more so, we will miss her outgoing personality and kind soul. Nancy is survived by her husband Edward Kress, her sister Dana, her children Evan and his wife Paula, and Emilie, and her granddaughter Myla. A memorial service is scheduled for Spring 2021; the family has asked InLiquid to accept donations in Nancy’s honor.
