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Peoplescapes  My Story From Purging to Painting

Art Saved My Life - Artzine - November 2019

Art Habens 10th Anniversary Special Biennial Edition -
       Nancy Calef Feature & Interview 2019


Healing Power of Art - Feature - January 2018


Q&A with California-based multi-media artist Nancy Calef
by Michael Limnios-Ambassador of Greece Blues Hall of Fame


Professional Artist Magazine
Artist Spotlight - February/March Issue 2016


Expressive Art Inspirations
December 2015 Interview - Art of Emotional Healing

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Past Book Events


March 27, 2015 -  The Beat Museum
Reading, Art Exhibition through April 10, 2015
BEAT MUSEUM INVITE

Nancy Calef reads from Peoplescapes -- My Story  


Calef reads from "Peoplescapes -- My Story" and
performs her original music   

Nancy Calef performing originals

 Beat Museum, San Francisco, California


Press & Reviews
Barbary Coast Feature - Peoplescapes- March 12, 2015

Peoplescapes Announcements:
    Newsletter 3

    Newsletter 2
    Newsletter 1


San Francisco Chronicle
Datebook Feature -- 5/20/14


Book Review

Art Vault - Meridian Gallery

Marin IJ - Lectures and the literary scene

Peoplescapes Press Release


TO OBTAIN A SIGNED COPY - PURCHASE ON BABU BOOKS

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PAST BOOK EVENTS


Plenary Speaker - Northern California Art Therapy Association
Annual Conference - September 2016

Book Passage, Sat. 1 pm                   
51 Tamal Vista Blvd.,
Corte Madera, CA 94925 
Reading and Slideshow

Green Apple Bookstore
506 Clement Street, San Francisco, CA 94118
Reading and Art Exhibition

May 21, 2014 -- BOOK RELEASE & ART EXHIBITION
Meridian Gallery

April 3, 2014 -- Pre-release Celebration, Presidio, SF, CA


Peoplescapes: My Story from Purging to Painting
By Nancy Calef with Jody Weiner
Publisher: Babu Books, www.babubooks.com
Publication date: May 27, 2014 Categories: Nonfiction  |  Memoir  |  Art  |  Health
156 pages  |  ISBN: 978-0-9898171-0-3  |  
Price: $22.95/ $24. 90 CAN    paperback
Illustrated throughout with full-color and
black-and-white paintings and drawings

Book design by Nancy Calef
Original art by Nancy Calef
Photographs of art by Jody Weiner


copyright 2021
all rights reserved













Peoplescapes -- My Story
From Purging to Paintings


an illustrated memoir
by Nancy Calef
with Jody Weiner

This transformational journey in words and 149 full color paintings and drawings, chronicles Nancy Calef's evolution from child model, suffering anorexia and bulimia, through recovery and maturation into a multi-disciplined artist renowned for her innovative "Peoplescapes:" vibrant plein-air colors applied to exaggerated snapshots of the human condition.  Characters are often rendered in 3D, sculpted on the canvas, found objects, symbolism and commentary added, together producing a razor sharp narrative on issues facing society.

Driven by honest self-examination and daily commitment to convert her self-destructive energy into creative expression and physical exercise, Calef provides in these pages a path for others to help themselves transcend their deepest emotional and physical obstructions. More than a cocktail table art book, Peoplescapes -- My Story From Purging To Painting is an around-the-world tale of self-discovery, courage, and love, at turns hilarious and heart-breaking, while Calef's luminous talent shines through.

Praise For Peoplescapes

"Nancy Calef's landscapes of
people are a real challenge
to any figurative painter,
by portraying humanity en masse
with all its sad happy faces."

Lawrence Ferlinghetti - Award winning poet and painter; co-founder - City Lights Bookstore

***
"Your story is a remarkable journey, indeed.  Your paintings are exquisite, and what a terrific story for women and girls in our culture.  And, reading about your travels and experiences is fascinating. "

Linda Chapman, MA, ATR-BC - Art Therapy Institute of the Redwoods

***
"I've never quite read a book like Nancy Calef's "Peoplescapes" before. The paintings alone tell how deeply she observes the world of humans. . . . But the text tells her life story; full of adventure, far flung travels, a career as a child model and the dysfunctional wrangling with an overbearing mother hellbent on fame and fortune for her. . . . What is different though about Nancy's story, is her relationship with painting. . . . Give this book to anyone you know who is struggling with self-esteem."

Terre Roche - Musician/Author

***

"This book is basically an autobiography, but unlike many, it’s not smug, self-absorbed or self-aggrandizing. It’s frank, funny and fascinating."

Geri Koeppel
- Editor, Barbary Coast News

***
"Your excellent book is quite a tour de force! Your description of maternal abuse is moving and disquieting, while your introspection, honesty, and successful efforts to rid yourself of your eating disorders will inspire others to follow your lead. I really `couldn't put the book down,' and your art is amazingly creative and unique. All in all, I stand back and applaud. Congratulations on a beautifully written and illustrated work of art."

Merla Zellerbach (dec'd 2015) Author, civic leader, philanthropist, TV personality, Chronicle columnist and Nob Hill Gazette Editor

***
“This memoir tells the story of how Calef ingeniously transformed her mother’s ravenous ambition for Nancy to be a “star” -- through much childhood and young adulthood suffering -- into a world stage where the audience becomes sensitively and beautifully executed human beings, evoked with irony, humor and pathos in a painting style uniquely her own.” 


Jack Hirschman
- Award-winning author and poet, painter and former Poet Laureate of San Francisco, CA

***
"I enjoyed Peoplescapes. I absolutely love Nancy’s artwork. She’s clearly a talented contemporary artist. . . . Nancy Calef is proof that we can all overcome life’s difficulties and turn negative experiences into positive creativity. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about triumph over adversity, and finding one’s own creative path and purpose."

Susan Barton, eBook Review Gal -- 5 of 5 Stars

***
"Nancy has taken a unique view on sharing her story through her gift of artwork and sharing how the arts can be extremely helpful and therapeutic with recovering from an eating disorder."


Lynn S. Grefe, President and CEO National Eating Disorders Association

***
"Nancy Calef has distinguished herself as a role model for this generation. In a world where girls and young women are confronted with idealized images, Nancy, sharing her inner life, demonstrates that a mind in creative process can prevail in the face of childhood pain"
 

Debra Gill, LCSW - Training and Supervising Psychoanalyst,  Contemporary Freudian Society, New York, NY

***
“When I first saw Nancy’s paintings, I thought, Now, here’s an original idea.’  A picture should say something, and her subject matter and palette express a view of the world beyond her years
.”

Jack Levine,
former president of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, (dec'd 2010).


              Nancy Calef Litquake 2013

Litquake - SF Literary Festival, October 2013
www.nancycalefgallery.com