“My first dog was a boxer, my first cat was two African lions, and my sibling was a chimpanzee.”
Nan, by her own admission, grew up very abnormally. Her life has been a journey filled with curiosity, creativity, and a constant drive to learn. Growing up in a vibrant and unconventional household, she was exposed to an extraordinary childhood. Her father, a veterinarian, was passionate about life, working to heal wild animals in the family home – exotic animals like lions and aardvarks, and forming unique friendships with people from all walks of life. Her mother was a warm and talented person, and her brother made a significant mark working for the Peace Corps and World Health Organization.
Nan herself attended several schools, including art and theological institutions, drawn to learning but resistant to rules. After seven attempts to make college and art school work, she found her passion in working a job, eventually joining her father in building a corporate confidential shredding company. In 1981, she launched her own business, a commercial record storage center, which she successfully sold in 1999. Even as a business woman, art was always present in her mind and heart as her creativity found footing in problem-solving all the ridiculous debacles that overwhelm most of us.
In the 1980s, Nan’s adventurous spirit led her to piloting hot air balloons, where she met Tom, her future husband, while he was in the Navy at Bath Iron Works. Their conscious connection blossomed over time, and they married in 1991 after Tom left the Navy. They’ve since enjoyed a fulfilling life together, embracing creativity, music, and the stained-glass windows we call “community.” If you have ever seen a picture of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert sitting across from one another at facing desks, you will easily imagine the sight of Nan and Tom’s back-to-back pianos with both of them playing in duet. They are husband and wife, married in music, in solitude, in laughter, by time and in a shared love for most beautiful things in life. It must be a side-effect of meeting in the ballooning world.
Nan’s muses are her people and places. The still palpable presence of her parents, Ladd and Anne Heldenbrand, her brother Keith, Her daughter Jenny and the grandkids all happily haunt her walls and work with old photographs, quotes and items of memory.
Color and detail exploded through her beadwork at the age of 70 when she decided to “become serious”. Throughout her life, Nan has embraced her father's philosophy of constantly trying new things and making meaningful connections, reminding her to always explore, create, and enjoy the colorful world around her.
