"Bittersweet" ~ Metals and Mixed Media ~ Carol Nelson workshop ~ Texas Contemporary Artist Nancy Standlee

"Bittersweet"
Metals and Mixed Media, acrylic, 12 x 12 on MDF board, epoxy glaze

Nancy and Carol

Carol - Day One - Introducing us to the Texture Sampler

Nancy's Texture Sampler

Carol Nelson Workshop

http://carolnelsonfineart.blogspot.com/
http://carolnelsonfineart.com/

Carol Nelson flew in from Colorado with suitcases stuffed with various shapes and sizes of bags of metals and mixed media for her 4 day Granbury workshop. That creative lady even brought along a homemade anvil for the wire pounding (which we broke), a mini ironing board, a butane torch (oh, what fun), hammers, nails, an electric drill and numerous jars of mysterious substances. I wonder if she is on the TSA's watch list? More than once I heard one student say to another "Can you please pound your nails in the other room?"
Carol is a very organized instructor with handouts and a plan. Day one we did a texture sampler under closest surveillance by the teacher. This gave us a good foundation and reference points for our first painting. She wisely had us reined in somewhat on the first project by having a grab bag of choices, such as composition, color scheme, and materials used. This was finely orchestrated but some students declared the Picasso quote of "I begin with an idea and then it becomes something else." My favorite Carol Nelson quote is "If its brown, put gesso on it."
This was my 2nd Carol Nelson workshop. See my blog post HERE and a few posts following about the first one when I traveled to Colorado to attend a two day workshop. After checking these older posts I see I did finish a small study there "Butterfly Dreams" that finally saw some epoxy in the Granbury workshop because after the resin is poured the piece can't be moved for several days and must remain level. You can see the tubs on a cart that Carol hauled in for the CO. class and I was amazed how much she brought to Texas in her luggage.
Many times I'm asked "Why do you repeat so many of the workshops?" I just don't get it all the first time. The instructors develop new methods and jettison some old ones, they find new materials to share and new resources. Would I take a 3rd Nelson workshop? Yes and before this class was over there were cries for her to return to Granbury. Diana Littlejohn handles the workshop details for LGAA and click HERE for her contact information if you'd like to be placed on a workshop list.

My painting above, "Bittersweet" was a result of my grab bag draw painting plus and little Standlee bling of gold leaf. My choices were the Burridge color wheel with split complements, cruciform composition, using flattened wire, painted foil, and a silicone resist. I chose a red dominant color scheme. This piece has a beautiful depth of color after the resin pour and I don't have the photography skills to do it justice. Carol suggested I mount it on a piece of matte black wood support with a weighted bottom. We'll see. It's been a year and I still haven't made cradles for the first CO. workshop pieces. I bought a small jig saw and it's still in the box but now I think I'm ready to try my hand at making some cradles.
I have a few other pieces finished while in this great workshop that I will post soon so check back. Carol, as you travel home to Colorado today just know that you have inspired a lot of Texas ladies and one gent in this activity packed workshop. Godspeed.

BLOG................http://NancyStandlee.blogspot.com

WEBSITE..........http://NancyStandlee.com

WEBSITE..........http://CanvasbyCanvas.com

PAINTED PAPER COLLAGE PAINTINGS ~ TORN PAPER PAINTINGS ~ WATERMEDIA ~
COLLAGE ART ~ MIXED MEDIA TEXTURED ABSTRACT PAINTING ~ TORN PAPER COLLAGE
~ TEXAS DAILY PAINTER ~ NANCY STANDLEE CONTEMPORARY ART ~ METALS AND MIXED MEDIA
Contact NancyStandlee@sbcglobal.net