“The natural world and children are endlessly appealing. They were created that way, so that we would fall in love with them and steward them properly. Both are wonderful painting subjects to spend time with.”

A psychologist, former video producer, and longtime resident of Sausalito, Nelson calls painting her “therapy”. Largely self-taught, she doodled her way through school. She remembers, at age five, drawing a bare-breasted hula dancer. My Mother thought it was wonderful, and happily, no one analyzed it,” she says. “Drawing was always easy. Painting was the challenge. Technique, concentration, experience and the willingness to let paint, paper, and brush do their thing, and viola . . . something emerges which is unlike anything else on the planet and never exactly as intended. I try to convey the beauty, delight and spirit that so captivates me. The greatest reward is to communicate to others, a bit of what inspired me in the first place. “