The paintings and drawings in “Disegni da Roma” are the fruit of Carrie Nixon’s embrace of Rome and its often lesser-known marvels. In October, 2018 she took a local watercolor workshop taught entirely in Italian by Rome native Francesco Paparozzi, who brought his students to secret and amazing spots. Both “Via Giulia” and “Santa Barbara, one of the Smallest Churches in Rome ” were created during this workshop. Another memorable spot that Nixon frequently visited was the Jewish Ghetto (dating back to the 2nd century BC) and the adjacent Theatre of Marcellus – one of this exhibit ’s watercolors depicts afternoon light on the Theatre ’s soaring but broken columns.  In short, these watercolors and drawings offer an intimate, personal view of Rome, largely away from the teeming tourist spots. 

     Nixon brought 35 years of teaching and 40 years of art making to exploring Rome where she selected the subjects for both formal elements (light, color, texture, etc.) as well as for the emotional and historic stories embedded in the motifs. The clear, golden Mediterranean light figured prominently in many works, as well as a fascination with the layering of ancient and modern in a living city.

     Nixon’s artwork has been in many juried group exhibitions. Her work focuses primarily on figurative drawings and paintings, but also includes plein air paintings that combine landscape and figurative work. She graduated from the fine arts program at Yale University and achieved her MFA in Drawing from Wayne State University. •