Fruits of her Labors: Artist Delores Nast shows growth in her produce-inspired paintings

Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2004 | 8:20 a.m.

It was a characteristic move by Dolores Nast.

Three years ago a North Las Vegas gallery director asked the painter of fruit and vegetables to create something more "culturally oriented" for an upcoming solo exhibit.

Nast, now 71, went to a library to look up flags and produce from several countries. She then paid homage to the fruits and vegetables in more than 25 paintings.

There were cabbage and potatoes for Ireland, mangos for India, citrus for Israel and cauliflower for Wales.

"China, I was surprised, is known for their pears," Nast said, while looking at the flag and produce paintings. "Japan, for their sweet potatoes."

That's something you have to love about Nast, if not in her artwork, then in her being. She's determined, she's focused and undeterred.

Resurfacing after a year in which she unexpectedly lost a son, then saw her husband through heart surgery, Nast is painting again.

On Thursday she will open a show of past works in the rotunda at the Lloyd George District Courthouse. The show, titled "Two Sisters," is a shared exhibit with her sister Shirley Kephart, an artist from Florida. Another sister, Roberta Cook, will display two paintings.

"After all the depression, things that happened in 2003, I'm really looking forward to this," Nast said last month from her home studio. "This has been a very traumatic year, so I figure 2004 is going to be a lot better."

Behind Nast sat an unfinished, large-scale painting of differently colored tomatoes, which she plans to complete after her show. Hanging above were still lifes of pears, strawberries, kiwis and apples.

In the five years since Nast began promoting her fruits and vegetables, the paintings have been featured in roughly 20 solo shows in libraries and galleries throughout Las Vegas.

Nast is relentless, a one-woman marketing machine whose self-typed press releases (created on a DOS system) are followed by personal phone calls. Slides of her artwork are frequently sent to multiple Nevada galleries in hopes of getting a show.

Often she's successful.

"She's been everywhere with her art," said Vicki Richardson, director of Left of Center Gallery. "She's not afraid to get out there."

Nor is Nast afraid to continue with the same subject matter.

"We once had a show on spirituality and she still brought the fruits in," Richardson said. "A lot of us, we develop a certain idea. We explore that idea, and then move on to things. She always returns to her theme."

Life in art

Retired from a career that included civil engineering and a stint at teaching, Nast has a masters in business administration from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She takes care of her husband John in their Las Vegas home in an older neighborhood cul-de-sac.

Their home is a museum of sorts that chronicles Nast's life in art, which began in high school and continued in recent years. She prefers not to sell much of her work. Rather, she frames it to adorn her walls.

There are landscapes, animals and other works she created nearly 50 years ago. Most of the pieces are recent still-life acrylics with her signature lines streaking the fruit for dramatic effect.

"Someone said, 'Why don't you paint people?' " Nast said. " 'Well,' I said, 'Produce doesn't complain if it doesn't turn out all right.

" 'Have you ever heard an apple complain? Apples don't complain.' "

Besides, Nast said, "I know this sounds corny, but I like to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. I started thinking I should get a theme going. And when you look at produce, they're all different shapes and sizes.

"This, I painted from the actual onions and two onions started sprouting so then I painted this," she explained, grabbing a second large-scale painting of the two sprouted onions set in whiskey glasses.

Nast isn't sure when exactly her bond with produce began, but she figures it dates back to childhood.

"Growing up in Buffalo (N.Y.) you had a lot of truck farms nearby," Nast said. "When I was a kid during the summer they had truckers come around certain areas and pick up people who were going to pick fruits or vegetables that day. Me and my friends would go out there at 5 a.m. and they'd drive us out there and they'd keep you out there all day."

Developing technique

Nast is the oldest sibling in a family of eight. After high school she got a job at Westinghouse as a "draftsman."

In 1955 she moved to Las Vegas with her husband and worked in civil drafting at City Hall, a job that she left in 1980 to take care of her husband's parents.

It was during that time that Nast returned to school, where she mixed in a few art classes with her academic studies. Eventually someone suggested she enter a painting for a community show.

"It sort of whet my (appetite)," Nast said. "It got me hooked."

Nast's work has since appeared in shows throughout Nevada, Wisconsin, Missouri and Oregon. In December 2001 she was one of two artists who contributed ornaments that represented Nevada for the White House Christmas tree.

The ornament was a miniature replica of the Giles-Barcus house, a structure that was built in 1905 in Goldfield and later moved to Heritage Street at the Clark County Museum.

One of Nast's strawberry paintings is featured in the city of Las Vegas Aerial Gallery. In addition to the show with her sister, Nast has an exhibit opening at the Whitney Library on Jan. 29 called "Pictorial Space."

Another solo exhibit opens at the Pahrump Courthouse in May.

The shows, often titled "Pictorial Space," are a result of tireless efforts and repeated phone calls. Nevada Arts Council sends her a list of nonprofit art galleries and Nast has called everyone on the list.

After her son's death, Nast said, "Painting wasn't one of my things. I was painting until March when all of this happened."

But in February she plans to be back in her studio full time. Recently she bought a book on Nevada gemstones and plans to paint the minerals.

"I like the texture," Nast said, flipping through the book. "I thought it would go nice. And could you imagine that with some kind of fruit around it?"