Our Local Artists

Nancy Clookie, Chez Clouchez

Nancy began her fascinaton with jewelry as a very young child while playing with her mother's jewelry.  While she carried this passion throughout her life, her adulthood took her in a completely different direction, running bank mergers and working in corporate training.  However, she continued to follow her passion for jewelry making when not working in the corporate world.  Through many classes, Nancy developed her technical and design skills and eventually began marketing her pieces to art galleries throughout Maryland and successfully developed a strong private clientele.  Nancy and her husband eventually moved to Southport after discovering the artistically inspiring coastal area.  She opened her own shop on Oak Island, but found the daily responsibilities were interfering too much with her desire to design and make her own jewelry.  This caused her to close her successful shop in 2007 to focus on production.  Over the years, she has been involved in several art entities, either serving on the board or as acting President.  By being a part of these organizations, she has been able to help raise money for education of the arts, as well as, share her skills with other art enthusiasts.  More recently, Nancy has expanded her own education and has began painting with watercolor and oils, but continues to make her beautiful jewelry.