Aberdeen's Farrar-Coughlin carries art in her soul
STORY & PHOTOS BY KATIE MCGREGOR
Nancy Farrar-Coughlin brought her colorful artistic perspective to Grays Harbor when she and her husband, Rich, moved from Kirkland to their current home in Aberdeen in 2017.
“I love living this creative life and I love that art is with me all the time in my soul. Art has been with me since I was a child.”
At 71 years old, Farrar-Coughlin has lived many places, each of which has left an impression on her creative journey. Farrar-Coughlin is a watercolor and mixed-media collage artist who became deeply invested in art 20 years ago.
“We moved up to Kirkland and I got a job at Daniel Smith Artists’ Materials. That’s when I started doing art. We had professional artists come in and do demonstrations. I would introduce them, get things set up and get to watch the demo. We had a lot of watercolor artists come through,” Farrar-Coughlin explained.
She also worked at the Kirkland Art Center while she lived in the area. The Art Center is a large nonprofit school where Farrar-Coughlin starting teaching children and taking classes herself.
She also taught watercolor privately and had three great students who took private lessons from her for eight years.
“I’ve taught someone who was 100 years old, kids who were five and six years old, and another girl who was 11,” Farrar-Coughlin said. “You learn so much from teaching people.”
Back in Kirkland, Farrar-Coughlin also met her main artistic inspiration, and now- friend, Caroline Buchanan. She took classes with Buchanan and belongs to a group of eight women, including Buchanan, located in different parts of Washington who all get together via Zoom to encourage and critique each other’s work.
Here on Grays Harbor, Farrar-Coughlin mostly paints at home but she’s very involved with the local art community. Shortly after she moved here, she walked down to the Aberdeen Art Center where she introduced herself to owners Doug Orr and David Rodriguez and began to connect with local artists.
Farrar-Coughlin is currently part of the Harbor Art Guild and associate editor for their newsletters. She is also involved with ghOST, Grays Harbor Open Studios Tour, a local organization that celebrates the diverse artists that call Grays Harbor Home.
The public is invited to visit the studios of local artists through the ghOST event which happens in June.
This is also the first year that she is the director of the Healing Gallery at Grays Harbor Community Hospital. The gallery is open to the public and contains more than 40 pieces of work from 25 artists. Farrar-Coughlin is taking over as curator from her friend, another local artist, Jan Swan.
“It’s all volunteer and we have a lot of new artists, along with the regulars, this year,” Farrar-Coughlin said.
The gallery celebrates the visual arts alongside the art of medicine with the goal of allowing the public to experience the calming and healing properties of art.
Farrar-Coughlin’s art has a vibrant and positive feel to it. She’s inspired by nature, her garden, birds and her cats. With a bachelor of fine arts degree in theater from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, Farrar-Coughlin says her stage experience has also impacted her art style.
“In theater you’re setting a stage. The vibrancy of it stays with you.”
Her time at Daniel Smith Artists’ Materials is another influence.
“Working at Daniel Smith, you learn what makes up a pigment. We really delved into the making of it. I just like colors. I like the cobalts and the teals and the bright yellows. Definitely blue, pink, orange, purple and greens,” Farrar-Coughlin said.
In 2019 she entered the world of collage. It started while making Christmas Cards. Then she discovered “Februllage,” an open submission project where participants create a collage daily in February using daily prompts.
Farrar-Coughlin participates in Februllage every year and often combines watercolor and collage into mixed media pieces.
“I almost do more collage now than watercolor. You let the collage speak to you and just keep building upon it and making changes. It’s like a puzzle and I absolutely love that part of it.”
Some of Farrar-Coughlin’s collages have been made into greeting cards which she sells along with her other work at the Aberdeen Art Center, Whisperwood Custom Framing Gallery in Montesano, Harbor Books in Hoquiam and on her personal website.
Farrar-Coughlin’s work can also be viewed in the Healing Hearts Gallery at Grays Harbor Community Hospital.
She can be found online at nancyfarrarcoughlin.com and reached via email at watercolorjourney@yahoo.com.
Nancy Farrar-Coughlin brought her colorful artistic perspective to Grays Harbor when she and her husband, Rich, moved from Kirkland to their current home in Aberdeen in 2017.
“I love living this creative life and I love that art is with me all the time in my soul. Art has been with me since I was a child.”
At 71 years old, Farrar-Coughlin has lived many places, each of which has left an impression on her creative journey. Farrar-Coughlin is a watercolor and mixed-media collage artist who became deeply invested in art 20 years ago.
“We moved up to Kirkland and I got a job at Daniel Smith Artists’ Materials. That’s when I started doing art. We had professional artists come in and do demonstrations. I would introduce them, get things set up and get to watch the demo. We had a lot of watercolor artists come through,” Farrar-Coughlin explained.
She also worked at the Kirkland Art Center while she lived in the area. The Art Center is a large nonprofit school where Farrar-Coughlin starting teaching children and taking classes herself.
She also taught watercolor privately and had three great students who took private lessons from her for eight years.
“I’ve taught someone who was 100 years old, kids who were five and six years old, and another girl who was 11,” Farrar-Coughlin said. “You learn so much from teaching people.”
Back in Kirkland, Farrar-Coughlin also met her main artistic inspiration, and now- friend, Caroline Buchanan. She took classes with Buchanan and belongs to a group of eight women, including Buchanan, located in different parts of Washington who all get together via Zoom to encourage and critique each other’s work.
Here on Grays Harbor, Farrar-Coughlin mostly paints at home but she’s very involved with the local art community. Shortly after she moved here, she walked down to the Aberdeen Art Center where she introduced herself to owners Doug Orr and David Rodriguez and began to connect with local artists.
Farrar-Coughlin is currently part of the Harbor Art Guild and associate editor for their newsletters. She is also involved with ghOST, Grays Harbor Open Studios Tour, a local organization that celebrates the diverse artists that call Grays Harbor Home.
The public is invited to visit the studios of local artists through the ghOST event which happens in June.
This is also the first year that she is the director of the Healing Gallery at Grays Harbor Community Hospital. The gallery is open to the public and contains more than 40 pieces of work from 25 artists. Farrar-Coughlin is taking over as curator from her friend, another local artist, Jan Swan.
“It’s all volunteer and we have a lot of new artists, along with the regulars, this year,” Farrar-Coughlin said.
The gallery celebrates the visual arts alongside the art of medicine with the goal of allowing the public to experience the calming and healing properties of art.
Farrar-Coughlin’s art has a vibrant and positive feel to it. She’s inspired by nature, her garden, birds and her cats. With a bachelor of fine arts degree in theater from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, Farrar-Coughlin says her stage experience has also impacted her art style.
“In theater you’re setting a stage. The vibrancy of it stays with you.”
Her time at Daniel Smith Artists’ Materials is another influence.
“Working at Daniel Smith, you learn what makes up a pigment. We really delved into the making of it. I just like colors. I like the cobalts and the teals and the bright yellows. Definitely blue, pink, orange, purple and greens,” Farrar-Coughlin said.
In 2019 she entered the world of collage. It started while making Christmas Cards. Then she discovered “Februllage,” an open submission project where participants create a collage daily in February using daily prompts.
Farrar-Coughlin participates in Februllage every year and often combines watercolor and collage into mixed media pieces.
“I almost do more collage now than watercolor. You let the collage speak to you and just keep building upon it and making changes. It’s like a puzzle and I absolutely love that part of it.”
Some of Farrar-Coughlin’s collages have been made into greeting cards which she sells along with her other work at the Aberdeen Art Center, Whisperwood Custom Framing Gallery in Montesano, Harbor Books in Hoquiam and on her personal website.
Farrar-Coughlin’s work can also be viewed in the Healing Hearts Gallery at Grays Harbor Community Hospital.
She can be found online at nancyfarrarcoughlin.com and reached via email at watercolorjourney@yahoo.com.