Landscape 1 ~ Robert Burridge Workshop ~ The Pine Cone Scammer" by Texas Daily Painter Nancy Standlee

"Landscape #1"
Acrylic contemporary landscape
5" x 7" on paper (1 of 8)

I worked on these warm ups in acrylic on paper in the Robert Burridge workshop in February. I did a series of 8 so get ready for some very similar paintings. Bob encourages his classes to do warm ups before a painting session and to work in a series.

The Pine Cone/Gumball Scammer

This morning, Thursday, February 25, 2010, I opened up the front door to pick up the Fort Worth Star Telegram and half expected to find some money on this little table to the right. Sometime ago I retrieved the table from a neighbors garbage pickup and it's a repository of stuff when getting in or out the door. On it I found this 7" pine cone and one little gumball instead of the twenty and five one dollar bills I was hoping for. Why? Why would I expect money to be thrown at my front door? Well, I threw some out in that direction last night to an excellent little actor scam artist and I'm dubbing this little hustler the "Pine Cone Scammer".
The doorbell rang and first I thought it was on the TV and it wouldn't be the first time I've answered my door from a TV show chime. Patricia Heaton was screaming from "The Middle" and I was screaming at the locked door, "Who is it? Who is it?" I finally heard enough that it was my neighbor two doors down. "I've locked myself out of the house and my keys are locked in my car and AAA are on their way." When I slowly opened the door I saw an out of breath, animated teen or young man (I didn't recognize him) and he was saying..I'm so and so's son and I just live down the street, blah, blah, and I need $23. and a few cents.. I don't remember the amount of the cents or the name of the people he was a son to. He was so sorry to bother me came out of his little chiseler mouth several times and he acted like he was so in trouble and I bit and I gave him a twenty and 5 one dollar bills and he promised to return with my money within minutes once he got unlocked. Are you all getting suspicious yet? Not until I finished watching my TiVo of Lost and no more doorbells did I begin to question why the doorbell didn't ring and my loan was still not paid.
I still had hopes for the little gouger and his fraudulent ways this morning when I picked up my newspaper. I thought maybe it was late last night and he didn't want to disturb me and left the money on the table and that's when I saw the pine cone and the gumball on the table. I didn't put it there and I don't have a pine tree or a gumball tree. There are some down the street and I wonder if on his walk up the street he picked them up and once he got some cash just placed them on my table. Today after several calls to neighbors and advice from them I felt this one was worth sharing, "Just call out I don't keep cash in the house." On thinking this over, I should have asked What is our house number? Then when he answered just make up a name like Oh, Susan and I are great friends... then if he went along then you'd know he was a fake.. All good scenarios but my little reptile brain wasn't thinking about anything but someone's "boy" was locked out of the house in the cold.
I called the police department today to make a report about my bad judgment on the human condition and the lady I talked to said, "Oh, are they doing that again.?" Seems it went on last year for awhile and then stopped. She was asking for a description and I had to admit I had cataract surgery last week on my right eye and I had been out most of the day trying to get some reading glasses for the new good eye and the old, soon to be operated on, old eye and I wasn't seeing too clearly. I could tell he had close cropped dark hair, Caucasian, and thin young male. Getting some new glasses after surgery doesn't guarantee detection of failure in the human animal. Will I give a dirty, hungry looking person a few bucks at the gas station or in front of IHop, or at the intersection..? Probably I'll still do that but if you're somebody's "boy" and ring my doorbell expect me to take your photo and be thumb-printed before I hand over any of my teacher retirement from now on. I'm not trading anymore dollar bills for pine cones.

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BLOG.............Nancy Standlee Art Blog

WEB SITE ........Nancy Standlee

WEB SITE ........Canvas By Canvas

Other blogs where I post:

Daily Painters of Texas

Daily Abstract Painters Gallery

Daily Painters Marketplace


ARLINGTON TEXAS ~ ARTIST NANCY STANDLEE ~ DAILY PAINTER ~
CONTEMPORARY ~ WATERCOLOR ~ ACRYLIC ~ COLLAGE ~ GOUACHE
ABSTRACT ~ EXPRESSIONIST ~ ART FOR SALE ~ FIGURATIVE

Contact NancyStandlee@sbcglobal.net

"Small Gifts" an Acrylic Painting by Texas Daily Artist Nancy Standlee

"Small Gifts"
22" x 30" acrylic on paper

In most of the workshops I take there is a small gift from Cheap Joe's. Sometimes there is a white eraser in a clear plastic bag, a 3B pencil with his name on it, a pencil sharpener, a sponge that when wet swells up to mattress size. I love these freebies and use them and look forward to a Joe surprise. In one of my orders I received a little square coaster that is imprinted with one of Cheap Joe's own watercolor images of a red barn, some sheep and trees. I see that he paints trees better than I do. I've become very attached to this coaster and use it to sit my morning cup of coffee on and sorta freak out if it's not around. That early morning sound of my mug hitting the table is just nicer muffled with one of Joe's coasters.
Someday I'll go to Boone and meet Cheap Joe and tell him how much I enjoy his small gifts and his catalogs and most of all ordering his art supplies. I'll tell him I think he's a very lucky man to be able to sit in all of these Boone workshops with all of the famous teachers. But, Joe, for the rest of us please keep sending us these small gifts. I love surprises.
The above painting was done recently in the Lana Grow workshop in Granbury. See blog post HERE.

Please visit my website and comment on my blog.
Find me on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

BLOG.............Nancy Standlee Art Blog

WEB SITE ........Nancy Standlee

WEB SITE ........Canvas By Canvas

Other blogs where I post:

Daily Painters of Texas

Daily Abstract Painters Gallery

Daily Painters Marketplace



TEXAS CONTEMPORARY ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONIST FINE ART DAILY PAINTER
NANCY STANDLEE ARLINGTON, TEXAS ART FOR SALE ACRYLIC

Contact: NancyStandlee@sbcglobal.net

Wine Bottles Acrylic Painting ~ Celebration Times 5 ~ Fort Worth Community Arts Center

Celebration #1


Celebration #2



Celebration #3



Celebration #4



Celebration #5

These are 5 paintings I've completed for the Fort Worth Community Arts Show. On the right bottom is the prospectus but if you have Vista, Adobe pdf files will freeze up your computer when you try to open them. Entries are due November 15. The show is their annual 9" x 12" works on paper show and entries are not framed but sent in an envelope and are priced at $100 each. Original entries can be any size just so they will fit in a 9 x 12 envelope. The reception will be December 15 from 6-9 and the exhibition will be open December 12-27, 2008. The entry fee is $5.00 for each work and artists are allowed 5 entries. I have yet to sell anything when I've entered but a fellow Canvas by Canvas member, Barbara, has so I'll keep entering.
These 9x12 paintings are on gesso watercolor paper with some collage, stamping, and with a few touches of gold acrylic to give a little holiday bling. I decided to work on a series after the Robert Burridge workshop and I had a few rubber stamps with me and was inspired with what he had done with wine bottles. The collage is from some of the paper towels that had been stained with the acrylics in use. I began 3 of the pieces while in Corpus in October and this week I have added some extra touches and completed the last 2 paintings.

LYLAS 7 ~ "Nancy" ~ Tag Galaxy

Lylas 7 "Nancy"
11" x 7 3/8" Acrylic on paper
$100
I had to name one the Lylas paintings for myself. To see how they originated see the post here. After I started posting, someone suggested I name them after ladies in our painting group, Canvas by Canvas.
Some are painted on paper and some are on canvas.
You must visit this addictive site that came in an email from Photojojo this morning. It's all about photos and planets and tags and Flickr. And if you like to paint or take digital photos you're usually searching for photos for reference and this is the coolest way. So now check out Tag Galaxy. Enter a tag, a descriptive word you're searching for, example daisy (94,924 photos) but you can narrow down the search. Planets appear like in a solar system, they rotate and you can select and narrow down your search by clicking on other planets. It basically helps you to visualize tags. Go and spin the planet and find lots and lots of photos.
I posted about the Nicholas Simmons painting DVD available soon and now Creative Catalyst has posted a conversation with him.
CCP will soon have a DVD out by one of my favorite figure painters, Carla O'Connor. Look at a preview here from the American Artist site.
We have two more Lylas to go so you have time to look for photos and spin the planet.

"Shop Talking" ~ The New CBC ~ Road Trips

"Shop Talking"
20" x 20" Acrylic on paper mounted on Canvas
The second in the "Talking" series

The past week was spent preparing for our painting, spiritual, organizational
retreat to the rented Lake House on Cedar Creek Lake at Gun Barrel City. Canvas by Canvas caravanned, leaving Thursday and returning on Sunday. Plans for the group were discussed for 2008 and the nine members present found this to be the creative burst where all of our energies were focused on creating and painting and approximately 15-20 paintings were begun. Our new painting for the PCPC show exemplifies our new Genesis and beginning.
The slide show below will feature some of these paintings. The slide show has 2 photos from our photo shoot at TUG done by Dennis Hevia. On Sunday we visited a ranch where buffalo roamed and Larry was so kind to feed them so we could get some great close ups. His wife, Andy, is a jewelry designer and the owner of Kickapoo Jewelry. Watch for a buffalo painting soon.
My personal work was a "sister" piece to the "Talking" series. Two women are in front of a cosmetics counter where we see lipstick, nail polish, and perfume displayed. The seasoned shopper warrior looks to her right to see what wonderful delights await and clutches a price tag to prove her purchase was on sale. Their purses are near and a shopping bag to hold the overflow. The Star shopper with the Star tattoo thinks that the next trip should be spent looking for the perfect purse, which is a never ending quest in itself. Women ask friends to watch their purses like they ask them to watch their children. "I'm going to try this on. Watch my purse." I'm going to wash my hands. Watch my purse."
Now we are receiving emails about lab tests on our purses and handbags and the microbiologist was shocked at how dirty they really are. So our ever present companion may have the potential to make us ill so now we are purse hook shopping or as a our CBC "trash talking" evolved into why don't we carry a "portable purse protector" to place on the floor as a little mini rug to clean the handbag bottom as it protects. So maybe we need to go shopping.
To view the image on Nancy's Web site click on Nancy Standlee Art