NANCY HOWE Nancy Howe projects the image of the all-American girl: neat appearance, friendly, attractive in a very wholesome way, intelligent, active in outdoor sports, down-to-earth personality, and a deep sense of loyalty to her family. Nancy, the second oldest of three daughters of Herbert and Audrey Howe, was born November 17, 1950, in Summit, New Jersey. Her father was a presentation specialist for Esquire magazine, but he was always happier pursuing his avocation of amateur inventor. Audrey was a dancer with the New York City Ballet prior to settling down and raising a family. She was also quite accomplished at drawing the human figure. It is not difficult to understand where Nancy acquired her creativity and artistic talent. Herbert was also an avid outdoorsman and spent as many hours as he could hunting, fishing, or just hiking. Nancy was a more than eager tagalong, whether it meant rising in the cold, predawn hours of winter or traversing hostile terrain on the way to a good fishing spot. She is not easily discouraged. She even ties her own fishing flies. Although she wasn't aware of it at the time, Nancy's art career started in the first grade of elementary school when she won the contest for the cover of the school magazine. The contest was open to all students in the first four grades, and her crayon drawing of a little boy cutting flowers with a pair of scissors sufficiently impressed the judges. Throughout grade school and high school, she continued to compete in local and regional art contests, winning more than her fair share of honors. Sports have always been important to Nancy. In high school she pitched for the softball team, played basketball, and field hockey. However, it was skiing which brought her competitive spirit to its peak. Her love for the slalom and giant slalom led her to win the New Jersey State Slalom Championship white in her senior year at Morris Knolls Regional High School. In 1969 she graduated valedictorian. Skiing played a major role in her selection of Middlebury 122 College in Vermont for her advanced education. She liked their liberal arts program, but their highly acclaimed ski team was the deciding factor. Her skills easily assured her a position on the team. After completing college, Nancy gave up competition skiing and now skis only for personal enjoyment. Her love of skiing has been passed on to her two young sons, Tyler and Ryan. Although they are only seven and nine years old respectively, they are both more than able to hold their own on the slopes. Jim Russell, Nancy's husband (Nancy still uses her maiden name for her art career), is a doctor who specializes in emergency medicine and trauma at Rutland Regional Medical Center. He, too, is an excellent skier, and family togetherness often takes the form of a weekend on a snow-covered Mountainside. They live on a small farm surrounded by national forest land about a 15 minute drive from the nearest small town. Besides the two boys, they share their home with one chocolate Labrador retriever, one cat, a rabbit, some goldfish, and a parakeet. Around the exterior, Nancy shepherds a flock of sheep which over the past 15 years has been cultivated into her own crossbreed. She maintains between 30 and 40 ewes in the flock, and with twins and triplets being dropped during the lambing season, there is precious little time left for relaxation. To help offset the expense of raising sheep, she sells lambs, yarn, sheepskin, and breeding stock. The sheep certainly aren't a money-maker, but she enjoys them as a hobby and growing up around animals will surely prove to be beneficial to her children. As busy as Nancy is keeping up with all her critters, plus following her career in art, she has still found time to do a bit of professional modeling. Recently, that has been nudged into the background, but she still occasionally models clothing and other merchandise for The Orvis Company. Nancy painted primarily for her own satisfaction for a number of years, and she did not paint birds until about 1976. She submitted an entry for the National Wild Turkey stamp print the first year that the contest was open to all artists. She didn't win, but her entry impressed several people enough to encourage her to enter the federal duck stamp contest. She entered for 13 consecutive years before perseverance finally paid off. Another piece of duck stamp history was written when, on November 7, 1990, she became the only woman thus far to win the coveted award. Nancy's commitment to wildlife has spurred her to add a new dimension to winning the duck stamp contest. For the first time ever, the artist and the print publisher, Voyageur Art, will share in donating $5.00 per print to wetlands conservation. They have arranged a challenge program whereby government agencies, non-profit organizations, and private corporations will provide matching funds. Several specific projects in the United States and Canada were selected based on their importance to waterfowl habitat. |
Russell Fink Gallery |