Get to know the artist.

Biography


Nancy is a contemporary artist born in Montreal in 1975. She has been actively involved in the French-speaking artist community in Ottawa since 2009, where she currently resides. Her bright and colourful oil abstracts have been exhibited in solo, group and juried exhibitions across Ontario, Québec and in NYC in several galleries and public places.

Nancy divides her time between painting in her studio and teaching art to young and old in her community. Her captivating, textured, monochromatic and minimalist work is found in numerous North American private collections and in several published catalogues.

Artistic Resumé


2023-current • Carleton Place Gallery, Carleton Place, ON
2024-2026 • Galerie L’art de vivre, Jonquière, QC
2021-2026 • Play Food & Wine, ByWard Market, Ottawa, ON
2024-2025 • Société Art Villeray, Montréal, QC
2019-2024 • Marten Arts Gallery, Bayfield, ON
2019-2023 • Art+ Gallery (formerly Alpha Art Gallery), Ottawa, ON

2026
Mirror MappingAtrium Art Gallery, Ben Franklin Place, 101 Centrepointe Drive, Ottawa, ON
Inner Infinity | Carleton Place Gallery, Carleton Place, ON
2025
Moments inédits | Unscripted Moments, Galerie Eugène-Racette (MIFO), Orléans, ON
2024
Dessert for the Soul, North Folk Café, Perth, ON
2020
New Horizons | Nouveaux horizons, Galerie Alpha, Ottawa, ON
2019
I am Stain Je suis tache, Café Good Eats, Ottawa, ON
I am Stain Je suis tache, Café Altern, Ottawa, ON

2024 • Affordable Art Fair, New York City, USA (In partnership with Galerie L’art de vivre, Jonquière, QC)
2021 • Toronto Outdoor Art Fair (TOAF Online, Juried), Toronto, ON

2025
Wallacks Galleries × SSO Artists (Juried), Wallacks Galleries, Ottawa, ON
Ottawa Jazz Festival (BRAVO), Marion Dewar Plaza, Ottawa, ON
Festival Franco-Ontarien (BRAVO), Major’s Hill Park, Ottawa, ON
Voyage au cœur de l’abstrait : Quand l’âme se libère, Galerie L’Art de vivre, Jonquière, QC
2nd Annual Juried Show, Cline House Gallery, Cornwall, ON
2024
Naughty or Nice, The Art Factory, Renfrew, ON
Group Show, Galerie L’Art de vivre, Jonquière, QC
2023
Le Nouveau Louvre 2023, Galerie du Nouvel-Ontario, Sudbury, ON
Exposition d’hiver, Galerie de l’École d’Art d’Ottawa, Ottawa, ON
Valentine Group Show, Art+ galerie, Ottawa, ON
2022
POP Exposition BRAVO-Est, Club SAW Gallery, Ottawa, ON
2021
Summer Group Show, Art+ galerie, Ottawa, ON
2019
Pentadécagone (BRAVO-Est), Galerie WKP Kennedy, North Bay, ON
Pentadécagone (BRAVO-Est), Galerie 180 Projects, Sault-Ste-Marie, ON
À la croisée des chemins (BRAVO-Sud), Café Altern, Ottawa, ON

Additional exhibitions (complete list) prior to 2019 include presentations at SAW Gallery, Centre d’artiste Voix Visuelle, and La Galerie de la Nouvelle Scène during Ottawa’s first Nuit Blanche (2012).

2021 • CONFLUENCES: Six Expositions de l’Ontario Francophone, BRAVO, ISBN 978-1-9995627-5-5
2019 • ICI Nord de l’Ontario : Première exposition d’artistes francophones à Sault-Ste-Marie depuis 1987, Radio-Canada
2017 • Francophone artists unite at SAW Gallery, Centretown News
2017 • À la croisée des chemins, Exhibition Catalogue, BRAVO-Sud, ISBN 978-0-9734922-1-7
2016 • Pentadécagone, Exhibition Catalogue, BRAVO-Est, ISBN 978-0-9734922-0-0
2013 • Nancy Brandsma, Artist Catalogue, BRAVO, ISBN 978-0-9864769-7-6
2012 • Frenchkiss(er), Exhibition Catalogue, BRAVO-Est, Nuit Blanche Ottawa, first edition (Foreword by Nancy Brandsma and Yves M. Larocque)
2010 • re-inventio, Exhibition Catalogue (ICSCIS/Walkthearts Inc.), ISBN 978-9865093-0-8
2010 • The Arrival of Surrealism in Canada, Walk the Arts Blog (Article by Nancy Brandsma)

Exhibition Curator
2025 • BRAVO, Ottawa Jazz Festival, Ottawa, ON
2012 / 2024 / 2025 • BRAVO-Est, Festival Franco-Ontarien, Ottawa, ON
2019 • BRAVO-Est, À la croisée des chemins | Crossroads, Ottawa, ON
2012 • Frenchkiss(er) & Palindrome, Nuit Blanche Ottawa, Ottawa, ON
Administrative Committee Member
2010-2012 • BRAVO-Est, Ottawa, ON

2009-2019 • Painting: Resource B (Prof. Yves Larocque), Ottawa School of Art, Ottawa, ON
2011 • Artist Educator Foundation (Royal Conservatory / Ontario Arts Council), Kingston, ON
2010 • Art History – Canadian Art (Prof. Yves Larocque), Ottawa School of Art, Ottawa, ON
2006-2007 • Real Intro to Painting (Prof. Yves Larocque), Ottawa School of Art, Ottawa, ON
2004 • Intro: Life Drawing (Prof. Blair Sharpe), Ottawa School of Art, Ottawa, ON
2003 • Intro: Drawing (Prof. Gail Bourgeois), Ottawa School of Art, Ottawa, ON

2021-2025 • Studio Space Ottawa (SSO), Studio #220, Ottawa, ON
2010-2025 • Bureau des regroupements d’artistes visuels de l’Ontario (BRAVO), Ottawa, ON
2003-2023 • Ottawa School of Art, Ottawa, ON