Throughout her body of work is an unflagging focus on narrative. Rowe sought to recreate scenes from her daily life, past memories, and dreams. Paying "equal attention to scenes of everyday life and to fantasy," she composed "naturalistic scenes" and scenes, which sought to merge "the everyday with the fantastic."Lee Kogan, The Art of Nellie Mae Rowe: Ninety Nine and a Half Won’t Do (New York: Museum of American Folk Art, 1998), 21.
