After working many years as a painter I began working with the computer in order to create a new layer to my work. It was a natural step for me as a way to further understand nature and the world around us. As we all know, the very essence of nature is changing as more and more technology is introduced. Using the computer allows me to experience that change by accelerating the creative process. This acceleration allows for more types of work to be produced and permits more experimentation.
It also allows me to pursue my vision and goals in art; which are to honor nature through this technological process and to address my interest in the natural cycle of life.

I believe that the experience and skill of drawing, and other traditional methods are still essential for the creation of art. Because of that I am developing a collection of my own drawings done in the field and from specimens from the Los Angeles Natural History Museum. I have drawn upon past work to create new compositions and I recently have created a series of images relating to the starkness and beauty of winter at Crater Lake National Park, Oregon.

Often "computer art" looks untouched by the human hand. It has been my intention to put the hand of the artist into the computer. I wish to address our place in this new technology in a poetic and human way. I also want to explore the possibilities that the computer presents in the printmaking process.

Current work process
Nancy’s current work is based on original drawings (and occasionally some photography) that were done in the field and in the studio, scanned into the computer and manipulated with Adobe Photoshop to create new images and compositions and then printed by the artist in her studio. They were printed on archival digital paper in signed limited editions of 20 and are original works onto themselves. These prints were created entirely by the artist, from concept to completion. Framing is also done by the artist because she believes that each step is essential to the work of art.

Bio
Nancy Turner-Smith is a Los Angeles-based artist. She attended the Kunstgewerbeschule in Bern, Switzerland where she studied Scientific Illustration and Drawing. On return to the United States she graduated from San Diego State University with a B.A. in Painting and Printmaking before moving back to Los Angeles. She has also studied computer graphics.

Her work has been exhibited at The Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento, California, SITE, Los Angeles, The National Audubon Society, The Riverside Art Museum in California and other solo and group shows throughout the United States.

Currently her work is on exhibit at the Beecher Center for Technology in the Arts at The Butler Institute of American Art, in Youngstown, Ohio. She recently was part of the show at The Schneider Museum of Art in Ashland, Oregon as one of the artists-in residence at Crater Lake National Park.