Paintings by Nina Weiss
I fell in love with the Midwestern Prairie when I moved from the East Coast to Wisconsin for Graduate School. I was completely drawn in by the vastness, beauty and peace of open spaces and endless horizons.
GROUNDED brings together paintings from my most recent work and research into endangered Prairies throughout the US, emphasizing those here in Illinois.
These Landscapes represent small preserved patchworks of Prairies that once blanketed our natural world. Without care, documentation and preservation, these landscapes of incredible diversity will grow even scarcer.
My deep dive into the complicated, crazy, beautiful mess of these Prairie landscapes allows me to explore the core aspects of painting: color, gesture, line, and form.
Biking, driving or hiking through the landscape I extract my vision via photography, and paint the large-scale compositions in my studio. Working on the wall on un-stretched canvas, I am not constrained by size limitations. The paintings are worked in oil paint over a colored ground in many layers to help capture depth and the complex colors of nature.
GROUNDED is the feeling of belonging and stability that the natural world affords us when we stop, look, listen, and absorb.
GROUNDED celebrates our “roots” in the natural world. We are grounded in these Landscapes that must be nurtured so that they may continue to sustain us.
– Nina Weiss
Prairie 19, 56″x52″.
About the Artist
Nina Weiss has been painting and drawing the landscape for over 40 years. She holds a BFA from the Tyler School of Art and graduate study at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Further study includes Rhode Island School of Design Summer Session and the Art Students’ League of New York. She taught a combined 36 years at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Columbia College Chicago. Current classes include Evanston Art Center, North Shore Art League, and Chicago Botanic Gardens. Nina teaches workshops throughout the United States; and travels every summer to teach her European Landscape Painting and Drawing Workshops.
Her work is held in private and corporate collections throughout the United States including United Airlines, Aetna Insurance, McDonald’s, Eli Lilly, Avon, and United States Customs. Artist’s residencies include the Ragdale Foundation, Artist in Residence at Acadia National Park, and the Vermont Studio Center.
Nina is currently represented by the J. Petter Gallery, and SaatchArt.com. Nina’s home and studio are in Evanston, Illinois. Explore more of her work on her website.
A Closer Look
Explore more of Nina Weiss’ work below.
Weston Prairie II, 58’x50″.
Prairie Slough II, 58″x58″.
Prairie 19 Revisited, 47″x67″.
