BIOGRRAPHY
Nell Curtis Tilton is a New Orleans native who has been immersed in the visual arts all of her adult life. Her early training was in the classical arts which was strengthened by extended study at the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts (NOAFA), where she was a student for many years, learning various art disciplines. Later in her art career, Nell began experimenting with acrylic and mixed media along with expressionistic elements of abstract art and eventually became proficient in that style. Experimenting with materials and subject matter, she is continually building knowledge from her explorations and observations. Intuitiveness and response are the essence of her work and what drives her process.
Nell has had numerous solo shows at Carol Robinson Gallery in New Orleans, the most recent one will be in May, 2023. She has been included in many group shows, juried competitions and invitationals over the years. In 2018, one of her paintings was accepted into “The Louisiana Contemporary” show at the Ogden Museum in New Orleans, along with only 25 other artists, juried by Courtney Martin (DIA Deputy Director and Chief Curator). Nell has been featured in the St. Tammany edition of the Times Picayune newspaper for her show at Christwood Retirement Center, as an “Artist Profile” in New Orleans Homes and Lifestyles magazine, and as the monthly “Artist Spotlight” in Professional Artist magazine.
Nell has received many awards for her art and is collected widely throughout the U.S. She is represented by Carol Robinson Gallery in New Orleans and has been on the faculty at NOAFA, teaching abstract art and conducting workshops, since 2002. She continues to be inspired by a range of artists, her numerous instructors and by her dedicated students.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Images surround me in my culturally rich and colorful native city of New Orleans and in the surrounding visuals of the Louisiana landscape. Whether relating to water, land or an urban setting, those images often serve as a springboard for my non-pictorial art. Coming from a family of architects, oftentimes my work instinctively leans towards a structural design or an underlying grid. The classical arts and basic tradition of drawing, watercolor, color and design and photography are my foundation. These all inform my art as to technique and composition.
I believe that each artist is unique in expressing their own inner passions and sensibilities. It is in the joy of the process, of being spontaneous and then reflective, that enables me to better understand myself and communicate with others through my work.