Cheerful and Colorful Paintings

Cheerful and Colorful Paintings in Oil, Acrylic, Mixed Media and Collage
nancystandlee@sbcglobal.net

Saturday, June 4, 2011

"Dana" ~ Paper Collage Portrait ~ Derek Gores Workshop by Texas Daily Painter Nancy Standlee


"Dana"
Paper Collage Portrait on Canvas
24 x 24 in.


Nancy and Derek
Some of the students who took the workshop

I'm back home now from the Derek Gores workshop at Dena Wenmohs Ranch June 1 and 2, 2011 and I'm getting ready to put on the final coat of varnish on my collage portrait of my daughter. On the slide show below you can see the two photos I worked from. On one I did some photo manipulation in order to see the values.
The post was written on Friday morning in the early morning quiet at Dena's house, drinking coffee and thinking about the past few days.
"I'm enjoying the quiet and memories of a busy past two days Derek Gores workshop. This was my third one as I traveled to FL. in December and February to take two day portrait workshops. It is very quiet this morning at the Wenmohs ranch, all except one of the dog's nose keeps bumping the screen wanting to come in and visit. I'm the only one up in the big house and I'm not letting him in just yet. Even the cats have retreated on top of the porch to enjoy their solitude.
Seventeen eager future collage artists gathered in and around Tuesday May 31 for the 2 day workshop where we had a meet and greet at the house. By Wednesday evening, several mentioned I looked exhausted. I was. It is draining to search for the correct paper piece in design and color and then actually attach it wondering if you've put it in the correct place. Derek works fast on the other hand. He picks up a piece of paper and finds a place for it. I tend to search for a particular piece. I came prepared with big jumbo bags of separate colors ready to go and with my canvas already drawn off. It is an easy workshop to pack and travel for, just some Liquitex medium and varnish, a canvas, brush, and a reference. Derek didn't even use a brush but applied the medium with his hands. A hint for finding papers is use one of those old rubber finger tips that you'd find in the top drawer of a secretary's desk.
At the ranch we can get to work early, taking a short walk to the magic barn from the main house or the bunk house, work and then have a fabulous lunch provided by Dena and Jo (and this time some help from a junior assistant.) It is a total art immersion while enjoying meal times and evenings with the students and seeing Dena's personal art gallery on her walls from previous instructors. She has 3 Charles Sovek paintings. My wish is for you to get to experience this ranch workshop and get to know Dena, a very special friend."

On the above painting, I chose to do one for my daughter who has a very special birthday in July. I took words and text that had personal meaning, typed in different fonts on my computer, and printed on a laser printer at Office Depot. She will be finding messages for a long time.
I enjoyed visiting with some old friends and made some new ones. Many traveled long distances to share in this experience, from L.A., El Paso, Houston, south Texas, east Texas and it was certainly worth the trip.
You can mouse over the slide show for captions:


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15 comments:

Suzy Pal Powell said...

absolutely beautiful Nancy! Dana is very lucky to have such a wonderful piece of art!! had fun being in a workshop again w/ you!!
Hope to see you again soon!
Suzy

Nancy Standlee said...

Thanks Suzy. It's always good to see you and especially fun when it's a workshop. I'm already planning one.

Connie Michael said...

Great post, Nancy. Dana will be thrilled to be finding messages every time she looks at this very special painting. Loved seeing all the photos. Barn lookes great!

Eva said...

I Love this! Nancy, you have so much talent. I really appreciate you sharing you workshop experiences with your great slide shows. How does Derek get around copyright issues? I have not been able to get permission from National Geographic to alter or use any part of their magazine.

Nancy Standlee said...

I've heard, Eva, don't know for sure.. it's ok to use one image in the painting just as long as you don't make copies.. have no idea how correct this is. Most of Derek's are so torn up it would be hard to place the source.

Eva said...

I guess the mistake I made was asking for permission :O)

WW said...

Nancy...I'm sure your daughter is going to love her gift. Looks like you had another fun time.

Nancy Standlee said...

I just delivered it Wanda and she did love it. And it was a great time.

Nancy Standlee said...

Eva, I couldn't agree more..

HeartFire said...

Nancy, your collages are always so wonderful! Looks like this is totally collage and no paint, do you ever mix them using this technique from Derek? I've been thinking to try it. Thanks for sharing about another great workshop.
Maybe when I visit my family in Texas sometime, I could find myself a workshop at that ranch too!
Delorse

Nancy Standlee said...

Delorse, on this one I didn't use any paint but it could easily be done to determine your color scheme. I just started gluing and let me tell you it takes a lot of courage to put down that first piece. That's when I usually take a photo and give myself a pep talk.. "It's on and go for it."

Nancy Laliberte said...

FABULOUS! You are so gifted in so many ways! Keep 'em coming...

Nancy Standlee said...

Thanks Nancy. I've been wanting to work all week and can't get it in gear. Maybe this next one..like making some collage "teaching aids" for eyes and lips!!

Jane said...

This is really beautiful, such great creativity.

Nancy Standlee said...

Thank you so much Jane for visiting and commenting. It is very rewarding trying to make it all fit together.