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more we channel the energy coming through
us," explains Nantel, who says her
early influences include the Renaissance
painters, pre- Raphaelites, Victorian neo-classicists,
surrealists, symbolists, Fauvists, cubists,
German expressionists and abstract impressionists.
"What happened
to me made (self-realization) happen quicker."
What she's referring
to is the fatal crash of Alaska Airlines
Flight 261 on Jan. 31, 2000. The Boeing
MD-80 was on its way from Puerto Vallarta,
Mexico, to San Francisco, and it was to
continue on to Seattle. Nantel and her husband,
Michael Levine, were vacationing in Puerto
Vallarta and booked on Flight 261. But because
her husband wanted to stay and enjoy the
beaches a bit longer, he changed their flight
home.
"After the plane
crashed into the Pacific Ocean, I mourned
and grieved like I lost a loved one...like
I went to the bottom of the ocean with the
lost souls," Nantel shares. "Psychologically,
it was very powerful. I didn't paint for
a month. Then I saw a change in myself...I
had a spiritual awakening.
"My work, my
style, my voice changed 360 degrees. Today,
creating art is an act of devotion, a ritual.
I don't think about what I'm going to paint
beforehand; I don't analyze. For me now,
to be an artist is to tap into this mystery
called life. My voice is flowing like a
river, and I let the creative process guide
my flow. I seek the invisible, the genuine
and the spontaneous in my approach.
A universal spirituality
flows through my work...l have seen people
cry while looking at my paintings."
Stopping her conversation,
she breaks the seriousness with laughter.
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"Am
I going on too much about all this?"
she says.
"Actually, I have
been blessed with so much. I love living
in San Anselmo. My studio window looks out
at the rolling hills. And I am having so
much fun. If someone looked through my window
while I was painting, they would probably
think I was crazy, because they would see
me rolling on the floor laughing and playing
with my dogs."
Nantel and her husband
have two dogs- Snowflake, who is deaf, and
Spirit- that they rescued from the local
pound and four cats- Simba, Maya, Tina and
Lila. Perhaps, they will adopt a child from
India, Nantel says.
Meanwhile, Nantel says
her life is full creating, meditating, traveling,
living life to its utmost.
She has traveled extensively
in the United States, Canada, Mexico, France,
Spain, Italy, Poland, Holland, Belgium,
Greece, England and Austria to study and
visit museums. Her paintings have been exhibited
in museums and galleries around the world
including the Williamsburg Art and Historical
Society of New York City, the Peace Museum
in Chicago, Powell Street Gallery in San
Francisco and at Castle Kuenburg in Austria.
"I am a spiritual
seeker," Nantel says. "I think
I always have been. Even as a child, I wondered
about the purpose of life, asking why we
are here, wondering about the stars and
the universe.
"A lot
of my paintings come to me while I'm meditating,
while I'm still seeking the answers to all
this."
SUN alice@ifsun.net |
