Nelson's Story

Grandma Moses was 78 years old when she began her iconic career as an artist. "Poppy” (what his three granddaughters call him) Hammer started painting realistic images of birds in watercolors at the relatively "young" age of 68, though he had had a head start with painting with oils while in college. However, his degree was in landscape architecture, and he made the pragmatic decision to earn a living in his new profession and to raise a family. His interest in art went on the back burner. 

In 2014, Nelson bought a basic watercolor set on an impulse....and his passion for art quickly returned. Just as impulsively, he chose birds as his first subject, interrupted only by portraits of his granddaughters, a red fox here, a cat there. His early efforts were based on photos by strangers, but he soon began to limit his sources to friends, family and even a few professional photographers, with their permission. 

As he became more involved and more proficient in art, he joined several art associations. But when he reached a point where he felt his art was worthy of being exhibited, he learned that while photos were allowed to provide subject matter for exhibitors, the photos had to be taken by the artist. Rather than spend the time and effort to become an expert wildlife photographer, he forsook his primary subject of birds to turn back- quite literally- to his roots in landscape architecture and began painting landscapes. 

The finite elements that Nelson reveled in for his bird subjects were replaced by the minute idiosyncrasies of tree bark, vegetation, stone and rock formations, and the fluid swells in lakes and ponds, all made possible by his ability to take his own photos of subjects that don’t fly away! 

A series he recently started focuses on tree trunks devoid of competing backgrounds, surrounded by only negative white space all around. The viewer has no choice but to absorb the effort he infuses in his meticulously detailed fissures of bark, dead branches or woodpecker holes. Nelson is a member of the Needham Art Association, the Wellesley Society of Artists, and is a Signature Member of the New England Watercolor Society.

Nelson Hammer

40 William Street, Wellesley Hills, MA 02481-3915

Website: www.artforthebirds.com

Email: nh@artforthebirds.com 

Cell: 781-771-0845