Nancy Crites was born in Toronto, Ontario and raised on the prairies of western Canada.
Her studies began in 1970 at the University of Alberta where she focussed on textile arts, particularly weaving and she spent many summers at the University of Saskatchewan’s Kenderdine Campus at Emma Lake, Saskatchewan and the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity where she worked with numerous renowned artists. Nancy is a certified spiritual teacher and mentor.
Crites has artwork in public and private collections and over the past 30 years has exhibited in various Canadian venues. She has received numerous art grants as well as juried awards.
Crites’ work is currently focussed on contemporary rug hooking, incorporating unique techniques, materials, processes, designs, and concepts to the time-honoured traditional rug hooking techniques.
Her full-time studio practice is influenced by the seemingly endless expanses of land in the prairies, and the cycles of life, made visible by the changing seasons of the prairies. She creates mats based on memories, mysteries and the energetics of life.