''My great-great grandparents moved to Amherst in 1886, just two months after the death of Emily Dickinson. My great grandmother was an artist who lived and painted in Amherst one hundred years ago.
North light fills the studios located in the barn behind my 1826 farmhouse. Outside the back barn door I watch the corn and squash growing in the fields, the light and colors of the landscape changing with the seasons and the hours of each day. To the east, I see the morning sunrise over Amherst. A turret at Amherst College, visible above the trees with its fluttering flag, appears like a medieval castle. To the west, I watch the dazzling colors of evening sunsets over lush Hadley farmland. In the distant south, the rolling blue-green hills of The Holyoke Range form the horizon line. From my porch I enjoy the sight of colorful hot air balloons floating across the summer sky. One landed in my field last year. Honoring an old French tradition, they presented me with a bottle of Champagne. A multitude of bunnies greet me every spring and summer morning nibbling the salad of my lawn. The comical antics of chipmunks provide a continual circus of amusement. A parade of wild turkeys struts across my driveway, a dozen babies in tow. I hear the barred owls at night courting each other from the tops of enormous pine trees. The hammering of a giant pileated woodpecker captures my attention and I gaze with awe at this Jurassic looking bird. This is my sanctuary. Inspired by the intrinsic beauty of nature, I endeavor to paint the magic of the light in the visual world.''
-Nancy Elisabeth Fernald
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