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Painting Light
Inside the Creative World of Napa Valley Artist Nancy Willis
WRITTEN BY Layne Randolph
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Published On: September 02, 2025
PHOTOS COURTESy of Nancy Willis
An artist, educator, and creative guide, Nancy Willis doesn’t just teach painting; she curates immersive experiences that blend fine art with the spirit of place. Whether in her spacious Napa Valley studio, a vineyard hillside, a luxury hotel, or a meadow, she invites participants into a space of curiosity, beauty, and transformation.
“I’m a practicing artist and a teacher, and I love both those things,” Nancy said. Her signature offering is private and group painting sessions tailored to each participant’s needs—no cookie-cutter paint-and-sip evenings here. “One of my specialties as a teacher is to get people to overcome their fears. Most people who don’t paint regularly have a lot of self-doubt, so I try to set everyone up for success.”
Her method is immersive and nurturing. Whether painting indoors or en plein air, it’s a carefully curated setup: high-end materials, fresh flowers or still life scenes, snacks, wine (if one likes), and a calm, focused energy that puts even beginners at ease. “I do a demonstration, show people how to mix color, how to approach the subject—and then I paint alongside them,” she explained. “They can see how I’m working and ask questions. I check in to support their progress.”
Nancy’s distinctive painting style centers around light, atmosphere, and movement. “One way to think about my work is light—it is a key element,” she said. Light plays a technical and conceptual role in her paintings, whether she’s capturing the flicker of a chandelier, the intimacy around a dinner table, or the layered tones of a landscape. “It’s about how we interpret what we see,” she added. “I always try to leave room for the viewer to have their own experience.”
She’s also a passionate traveler, regularly leading destination painting retreats to places like France, Sundance, the Hudson Valley, and luxury glamping sites, where her students reconnect with creativity more deeply. “I love France. I feel at home as an artist in France,” she shared. “And I bring that energy to my teaching, encouraging people to see their surroundings in a new way.”
Nancy’s life experiences directly inform her painting and printmaking practices. Visit her light-filled studio in Napa, where guests find paintings of local vineyard terrain, France, the mountains of Sundance, and the northern Pacific Coast. Nancy’s works include images of small, intimate dinners often lit from the chandeliers hanging in the Redwood trees in her front yard.
Nancy’s original artwork is available through her website and studio, which will be open to the public during the Napa Valley Art Association’s Open Studios event on September 20, 21, 27, and 28. Private visits are also available by appointment, an ideal opportunity to view new work and schedule a custom painting experience.
As Nancy said, “You come to Napa Valley, and you want to experience the Napa Valley. So, how would you like to do that? I give them an experience—something personal, creative, and real—and they can take a little piece of Napa home with them.”