Meet Nancy Cato

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nancy Cato. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nancy below.

Hi Nancy, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.

My optimism is deeply rooted in my childhood. During this time, all things were possible and our imaginations were completely untethered to doubt. This is where I believe my creativity comes from because as a child of the 70s and 80s we spent a lot of time outside both because we wanted to and because our parents demanded that we go outside. We would spend the day catching butterflies, creating ant farms, desperately looking for worms or building all types of weapons out of wood. Our day was filled with imaginary situations where anything was possible even if we kick back and imagine Godzilla came down our street what we would do. We were most definitely optimistic and confident that our day would be nothing but splendor. I believe when I illustrate I hold this time in my life very close.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

My art is deeply rooted in my lived experiences, up to and including my childhood and the lived experiences of Black individuals, drawing from the everyday realities and unique expressions of our heritage. I find it exciting to illustrate my own personal journey as a Black artist and give voice to try community. I aim to capture the complexity of Black life, weaving together the nuances of joy, struggle, resilience, and cultural heritage that define our narratives. Each piece is a reflection of my personal journey as a Black artist, seeking to give voice to the often overlooked or marginalized aspects of Black identity. Through my work, I aim to foster a deeper understanding and appreciation of the richness and diversity within the Black community, creating a space where our stories are seen, heard, and valued.

Currently, I have been awarded the individual grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission giving me the opportunity to create the Tomboy Chronicles-an illustrated collection of 10 queer tomboy narratives. For more info; www.catocreations.com

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Looking back, I believe being resilient, reliable and having a sense humor would be the three most important qualities for myself. Resilience is a big one for me because I think you have to keep the fire burning in your spirit for your desire to create art and make a living at it. you have to be your own cheerleader. as an artist creating work, being reliable to get the job done speaks volumes. Your reputation is on the line. In a pinch, laughter has most definitely replaced tears when things didn’t go as planned.

I would say out the gate any artist may want to work on reliability. As my uncle would say, “Say what you mean and mean what you say”. Resilience is an inevitable conversation with yourself that you will most certainly have. Am I about it or nah?

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?

I believe the number one challenge for me is all things are possible in good time. When I get an idea, I write about it and then I added to the other ideas, but there’s almost like a competition to which ideas get done because I want to do them all. One of the things that I’m doing to overcome this challenge is to just have patience and focus and believe in one thing at a time.. other strategies that help would be sketching out the idea and then moving onto the next idea to sketch out. This way, I have a foundation that I can work from and return to.

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