Scott Nash and Nancy Gibson-Nash

When we walk out of the door, we seek encounters: the moments that might just change our minds, or change our lives!

When walking through the city, I often choose paths with the most foot traffic.

When Nancy walks through the familiar woods and beaches on Peaks, she is seeking encounters with nature that will inform her art.

Nancy and I are the co-founders of Illustration Institute, a nonprofit arts organization based in Portland with an artist residency on Peaks Island.

When we step out into the world seeking encounters we generally succeed because we are open to them.

Open-mindedness is a key principle behind our creative endeavors.

Conviction (bull-headedness) is overvalued in society.

My mind is often “flipped” by encounters.

I like having my mind changed.

The Illustration Institute was created through a series of encounters. We can’t honestly trace the beginnings but the key encounters were:

• Striding past Chris Bow, who stopped me in my tracks on the way to the ferry to introduce me to Rachel Harkness, curator of the then-new Lewis Gallery at Portland Public Library. This quickly led to partnering on an Edward Gorey exhibition, the first of many Illustration Institute exhibitions.
• An unscheduled stop at the co-op in White River Junction, Vermont led us to the Center for Cartoon Studies, an enchanting school that, because of its deep commitment to Cartoon Arts, attracts some of the most respected cartoonists from around the world to serve as part time faculty. This visit inspired a discussion of how important independent, non-accredited schools have been to the arts culture in the US and the world. Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Haystack Mountain School, The Bauhaus, The Hans Hoffman School, The Charles Hawthorne School, Cranbrook, and Black Mountain College have had a profound impact in shaping the art and design ethos of the 20th century and beyond.
• Coincidentally, a serendipitous stop at the ICA in Boston to see the delightful Black Mountain College exhibition came about the same time, bolstering our thoughts regarding a school that focused on illustration and narrative arts.
• On the Peaks Island Ferry, site of many unique encounters, we sat with a neighbor, Phyllis MacIssac. She asked me to give a talk about my picture book career at the TEIA (Trefethen Evergreen Improvement Association). I changed up my subject, mentioned the idea of Illustration Institute, and rather unbelievably, donors approached. John Faison offered a challenge and collaboration with his two historic properties that eventually became his residency.

The advice I give to students and anyone else who will listen is stay connected. This is not a platitude: it’s vitally important that artists stay connected to the world around them. Reach out and you will likely have epiphanies!

Nancy and I recall other fortuitous, inspirational, or momentous encounters:

• Hiking: Meeting a Jesuit on Sargent Mountain, walking miles together in enlightened conversation, an impromptu pilgrimage of sorts on Mt. Desert Island.
• Ferry Conversations: Mixing up our routine on the Casco Bay Lines Ferry. It is a vessel of encounters: sitting in a new spot, hearing the most unusual stories from a lesser known neighbor, or discovering a new neighbor who was the EMT who saved your father years ago.

• Woods Walking: Wandering the woods on Peaks Island, seeking the Lady Slippers with a friend, finding them yet again in familiar places but surprised when they show up elsewhere. Seeking the screech owl heard each night and spying it camouflaged as it naps in a tree hollow, spectacular designs carved into stumps by artistic beetles.

• Museum Surprises: Unexpectedly encountering a full room of a favorite artist; finding Joseph Cornell at the Art Institute of Chicago and Beatrix Potter (her original to size watercolors and Wellington boots!) at the Smithsonian; Barbara Hepworth’s studio as she left it in Cornwall, England; Nevelson prints at Colby College’s Art Museum in Waterville. Moments of exquisite encounter to which the pages of an art book could never compare.

• Muses in Our Midst: The illustrator Edward Gorey lived down the road from our house on Cape Cod. His plays were performed cabaret style by Yale Drama School graduates (including Frances McDormand) one summer in Barnstable; we got to help with set design and hosting the actors. Fast forward to sharing pages from his sketchbooks for our exhibition.
• Lifelong mentorships with fellow graphic designers and illustrators including “Design Shaman” Marc English, an inspirational free spirit if ever there was one.

• Illustration Institute Encounters: Illustration Institute has provided us and our audiences with these same intimate and delightful encounters—rare glimpses into treasured sketchbooks by artists whose work we had only before seen in picture books. Learning the tips and tricks they use to make their art, hearing their insights about career challenges, and having lovely conversations that wander off into wondrous tangents. Often our favorite interactions are simply the chance meetings we have with the artists at the market or the beach, finding out how they encountered the Maine community. We brought residents Isabelle Arsenault (from Montreal) and Elizabeth Haidle (from Seattle) to Brunswick and ran right into Calef Brown (Providence) at the Curtis Library kids section!

Each of these encounters enriches us and leads to new ways to take art in a new direction.

Head out the door, through the woods, onto the ferry across the bay and see what happens!