"Do You Come Here Often?" ~ by Daily Painter Texas Artist Nancy Standlee

"Do You Come Here Often"
12 x 12 inch
Acrylic and collage on canvas

This was one of several paintings delivered today to the Dutch Art Gallery for the Daily Painters of Texas Show that will open soon. Click HERE for more information and please save the date for a visit.

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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


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

Contact: NancyStandlee@sbcglobal.net

Carole Barnes Workshop ~ Day 1 and 2 ~ by Daily Painter Nancy Standlee

"Sun Shrine"
Acrylic full sheet watercolor Aquarius II Watercolor paper
The image may be off as I'm viewing this on my laptop monitor and it is not adjusted correctly. I worked on this today in the workshop. You can take alcohol and wipe down to a near white and add new color. When do you stop? That's Friday. I've got way too many small designs and images going on here I think.
Here's a tech hint:
Awhile ago while I was more than half asleep I placed my camera memory stick in my laptop DVD slot. That woke me up and it is on this side on another weightier laptop I have so it was habit. I called HP and my guru said he'd never heard of such a thing. My laptop doesn't have a button to push eject and the DVD drive didn't recognize a SD card! Fellow did say I could stick a piece of paper in there to fish around as you can't see anything with a flashlight with the little fuzzy entry teeth and he said it wouldn't ruin the laser. It worked and you are witnessing the pictures that were on that said SD card. I'm awake; however, a little rattled.
Starts that are explained below.

More full sheet starts. Large sheets of plastic were placed on the floor for us to place wet pieces of watercolor paper.

This is the Carole Barnes workshop. Click HERE to see her web site and other paintings.

Five days painting with acrylics with Carole Barnes with 18 other artists and it is educational and fun. Carole said on the first day, Monday, that she wanted this workshop to expand our boundaries and find out what you have to say and then how do you say it. This is a first for me to take 5 sheets of Aquarius II watercolor paper and cover with acrylic medium and get paint on all five sheets. Some are working on half or quarter sheets but I decided to live large this week. We used Hake brushes and 1" flats and Liquitex transparent colors: Yellow Orange Azo, Acra Magenta, Thalo Blue, Turquoise Deep and Prism Violet. On the paint application she usually begins with some Yellow Orange Azo as she likes the foundation color that gives a glow but as other colors are applied there is no plan and just the instruction of see what marks can be made and Carole said "Consider this your sandbox. Play and have fun". We made marks with anything from erasers, palette knife, anything with an edge, sole of a shoe, blue tape, hair curler, and homemade stamps. Carole even took the Cheap Joe free gifts from the plastic bag, pushed her hand inside and made marks on her paper. O.K. thanks, Carole, we get the idea to try anything to personalize our marks and develop our style. Day one we did get some paint down but now can all of these colors and shapes be pulled into a cohesive anything? Stay tuned.
Day 2 we added more color and started trying to bring it around to a painting after a lecture on design elements. Carole is spending time this week with each artist to discuss their personal work. I hope on Wednesday we can see Carole painting more on her demo. We are all needing help and asking questions like "Am I doing this right?" "Help"!!

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

Contact: NancyStandlee@sbcglobal.net

Red Rock Abstract ~ Texas Daily Painter Nancy Standlee

"Red Rock Abstract"
6" x 6" squares

Abstracts:
I have a page on my web site filled with small abstracts with a little texture, http://nancystandlee.com/small_original_paintings.html. I really like their simplicity and the fact they are small but can make a statement. This week I saw one of Carol Nelson's abstracts, Shining Through, talk about texture, oh, wow. I've been emailing her and she was kind enough to share some of her "texture ways" and besides I've read or skimmed her blog posts about the geologic paintings. She works large and is having a workshop in October in Colorado but I can't make it so I tried using some modeling paste on these minis. Carol likes liquid acrylics and I have some and tried them but I don't have the handle on them yet so I went back to my tube acrylics. These started out with a figure but the subject changed several times and there are numerous layers and some metallic and pearlized paint somewhere in the layers.
These may be going to the Dutch Art Gallery for the Daily Painters of Texas show and since it will be nearing Christmas I decided these gallery wrapped edges needed to be red.
Thanks, Carol, for your time and emails. I will get to one of your workshops yet.

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

Contact: NancyStandlee@sbcglobal.net

"Baubles and Beads" ~ Abstract Figurative ~ by Texas Daily Painter Nancy Standlee

"Baubles and Beads"

11 x 14 in.
Acrylic on Canvas

This is from the series "Friends and Lovers" and others may be seen on my website and you can read about how this series came to be. http://NancyStandlee.com.

"Choose Your Dream" an abstract figurative expressionist painting from the website is featured in the one page ad in the October 2009 issue of the American Art Collector magazine. The ad is for an invitation from 32 Artists of Texas to attend their October 17 to November 30 show "Somewhere in Texas: A Painting Begins" at the Dutch Art Gallery.

Another painting, "Captivate" is featured on the previous page of the magazine in an ad from the Daily Painters Abstract Gallery.

There will be a variety of styles and sizes of paintings from some of your favorite Texas artists at the Dutch Art Gallery show.

This is the last week of the Fort Worth Preservation of the City Show at the Community Arts Center. The bottom 3 paintings from this website page are being shown there.

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

Contact: NancyStandlee@sbcglobal.net

Lylas Grace ~ Self Portrait Global Love In Challenge #2

SOLD
9 x 13 in. Acrylic on Canvas
Lylas - Grace

Read my post on my Nancy Standlee Art Blog about the Lylas paintings.

Artist Self Portraits:
David Lobenberg has just posted on his blog the results of the self portrait challenge #2. This challenge was to paint yourself with something adorning your head. I've got my headwrap on straight but one of my eyes is slightly askew. Since it's a gouache painting, I will give it another hot lick. If you'd like to participate in challenge #3, he's accepting suggestions "from everyday prosaic to wild and whacky". It's great fun to see such an array of self portraits.

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

Contact: NancyStandlee@sbcglobal.net

"He Always Wore His Red Cape When He Danced" ~ Acrylic Figurative

"He Always Wore His Red Cape (when he danced)"
Acrylic on Canvas
12" x 12"

This is another in the "Friends and Lovers" series that I've recently added to my updated web site. Click HERE to view the others.

I've recently posted about my workshop with Cheng-Khee Chee and painting some Koi. In 2008 I took a Nicholas Simmons Workshop, see the blog post and the Koi painting I did HERE and Nick had us using liquid acrylics.

I highly recommend you go to Nick's blog and watch his "Bad Watercolor Day for Hitler." Nick are you a Quentin Tarantino wannabe? Shades of "Ingloureous Basterds"!! It makes no difference to me acrylic or watercolor. They are both watermedia and just paint some Koi in either one. Congrats, Nick on the Belgium show. If you are a Facebook fan, here is Nick's profile.

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



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

Contact: NancyStandlee@sbcglobal.net

Cheng-Khee Chee Workshop ~ Day 4 ~ Crinkle Paper Technique ~ Slide Show

"Tree in Fredericksburg"
Mounted Masa paper
14" x 20"

Day four of the Cheng-Khee Chee workshop found us wetting and crinkling masa paper and aiming for "exciting texture" in our painting. Texas has many different trees to choose from but if you've followed this blog very long you won't remember very many "tree forms" found in my work. After we crinkled the paper then the paint was applied and yes, he showed us exactly how to "crinkle". Mine was nearing disaster status when I remembered I'd thrown in some white gouache in a fit of last minute packing and I was able to reclaim some of the rock and flower shapes. The tree still needs some hot licks and my signature.

Artists Opportunities:
If you belong to LinkedIn you might want to join Professional Fine Art Network. They have a blog and will post artist profiles HERE. Mine has recently been added. You might want to join and add yours if you're an artist and want to connect with fellow artists.

Artists might want to check out http://watercolorpainting.com/ for a place to add your blog or web site link. I have noticed in my stats that I'm getting visitors from this site. It's fee for adding your name and $25 a year for adding an image.
Submit your blog here: http://watercolorpainting.com/links-artist-blogs-and-journals.htm
and submit your web site: http://watercolorpainting.com/links-artists.htm
Here you can select your category and add your medium:
http://watercolorpainting.com/links.htm
You send your email to links@watercolorpainting.com and specify in the subject line where you would like to be listed.

Cheng-Khee Chee Slide Show: Enjoy some of his work. (Mouse over for titles)

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


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

"Mountain, Rocks" ~ Cheng-Khee Chee Workshop ~ Day 3 ~"The Road to Graham"

"The Road to Graham"
15" x 22" Strathmore board
Watercolor

In the Cheng-Khee Chee workshop, Chinese traditions meet contemporary treatment and from traditional styles to abstract improvisational methods. He charged us to be sensitive to changes and explore and experiment and take risks. Being aware that the group dynamic of fellowship will contribute to growth and creative ideas.

As a former elementary librarian, I was surprised to learn that Chee is a former librarian and he illustrated "Old Turtle" by Douglas Wood in 1991. My students loved checking out this book.

The Third Day:
On the third day we discovered the improvisational splash color technique using our rock or mountain reference. One day on a Canvas by Canvas road trip to Graham for a gallery show we took many photos on red rocks and cactus and it was a familiar and recent photo. The idea was to paint on a smooth painting surface, Strathmore 500 board, hot pressed, that would repel and not absorb the paint. We covered the surface with glossy acrylic gel diluted with water in an even coat and the result was similar to painting on glass using a broad brush charged with color and sweeping it over the surface. His demo was always with emotion and energy and he covered the board with warm and cool, and a variety of shapes, discovering the subject matter as he painted, a combination of dreams and reality. My personal painting got a little heavy handed with the color but I got lucky.

Critique:
Six numbers were drawn and I was #3 and Chee agreed to paint and critique 6 paintings if we'd like him to. It could be a critique where he'd say "Oh, how beautiful" or go to the clinic where he'd operate - praise or operate, cure or kill. I chose the clinic approach. On my painting, he said there were too many shapes so he consolidated some rock shapes, left the cactus alone but added some water. I always agree when anyone wants to take one of my paintings to the clinic. The photo isn't very good below because it was snapped quickly under the mirror before the surgery.



You see, we are still friends after the clinic visit. This was a long day as the evening was a koi demo for the SWS meeting but Chee was always gracious and helpful.
If you'd like to read more about these techniques we studied this week, Cheap Joe's has a 28 page book "The Work of Cheng-Khee Chee" that describes each technique and gives finished examples.
Chee "I have never been satisfied with my painting, but always happy when I paint." That elusive perfect watercolor is always waiting for the next work. On the last post of the series, I'll post a slide show of some of his work.

Please visit my web site and comment on my blog:

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

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

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

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

Cheng-Khee Chee Workshop ~ Day 1 ~ Rooster

"Rooster"
Watercolor on half sheet
15" x 22"

The first day of the Cheng-Khee Chee workshop was using the traditional watercolor technique. I chose a safe rooster reference and used a half sheet instead of the full sheet and he said just plan on using the palette we brought without mixing the colors in the muffin tins. Whew! There are just so many things to consider the first day this was indeed a welcome break.

Creative Catalyst carries his DVD's that follow along with these techniques if you can't get to a workshop. I've been trying to cram the night before to anticipate reference material and techniques.
"The Intimidator"
I have to have this brush before my next workshop. This 6" brush just screams "Watch out. Move over. I know what I'm doing." (whether you do or not) Chee usess it to wet his paper front and back and it does a super job but the "coolness" factor is over the top. It won't even go in the largest 3 lb. coffee can water holder without being turned sideways. Yep, next order for sure - maybe not the 6" but maybe the 4" or 5". I just try to remember for each days project - It's not the product, it's the process and all of us are working hard to understand the process and having a lot of fun and fellowship.

Cheng-Khee Chee Workshop ~ Day 2 ~ Koi

"Koi"
Watercolor 1/2 sheet
15" x 22"

This was painted using the saturated wet technique, wetting the 140 lb. Fabriano paper front and back, laying in the background colors and then finding the koi. This week I'm in a 5 day workshop with master watercolorist, Cheng-Khee Chee from Duluth Minnesota. His work is influenced by the East-West experiences and tradition. His creative process is strongly influenced by Taoist philosophy - finding the most natural and effortless way to express the essence of a specific subject that he has deep feelings. His wife, Sing Bee, helped me mix up my colors for a special palette in muffin tins similar to the one below that Chee was using. It's fun and a little intimidating and the 20 plus members are working hard. I'll post a slide show of images later. The first day was using the traditional watercolor technique and I painted a rooster but later for that also.

"Hold On" ~ Poll MAM ~ Your Story ~ Watercolor Paper

"HOLD ON"
14 X 11 inch
Acrylic with some gold leaf
gallery wrapped canvas 1 1/2" profile

I've been working on a series "Friends and Lovers" for an upcoming show in October at the Dutch Art Gallery and other paintings from the series can be seen on my web site. I finished this addition today. "Hold On" is based on a married musical duo observed at a recent very emotional benefit performance. He played guitar. She sang. During the song, "Hold On" she would reach over and connect to him with a soft shoulder touch with her hand. A simple and powerful statement that is so understandable and universal. The giving of support in the times when they are not so "good".

Making a Mark ~ Katherine Tyrrell

Click on the link above to take the September 2009 poll of "What's Your Style of Art" and read about the 12 styles and descriptions. Since I've been working on my web site with meta tags and key words and labels I was very interested about specific words to define my personal painting style or can I even pick one that's listed. For those of us desperately seeking our style read over the list and see if you can pick just one. I started out with Expressionism, then added Contemporary Expressionism and I may be a little Contemporary Abstract Expressionism. How many lines does your own style cross?

Share Your Story

From the above Utrecht link: "We are proud to have been a part of so many artists' lives over the past 60 years! We want you to be a part of our celebration, so tell us about your work and experience with Utrecht Art Supplies. Submissions will appear in the "Your Story" category on Utrechtblog.com.* We look forward to reading your story and seeing your artwork! "

I sent my story and you can read it HERE and I also sent in an image but it does not appear yet but I'm asking questions. (September 3 update.."Captivate" painting is now appearing with my story. Thanks JConner for writing my Utrecht story.)

Mounting Watercolor paper to Canvas

On a previous post I mentioned that I had mounted watercolor paper to canvas and several wanted to know the technique. It is not original but I learned it in a Robert Burridge workshop. Click on the title to be taken to his Artsy Fartsy News and sign up to receive wonderful, newsy letters and read his explanation. Some may ask "why"? It's a way to keep acrylic on paper pieces to be hung on canvas without having to use a frame and glass.

Margie's Show in Fredericksburg

Congratulations to Canvas by Canvas member, Margie Whittington, and her Fredericksburg gallery show opening at the Good Art Company, Friday evening, September 4, 5-8. She has used gold leaf in many of her paintings for this show and I had to try it also - just a little at first. In the above painting I made a halo effect around the female's hair and then covered it with some glazes to soften it. It was a little tricky and very bright until I got some glazes on. Most of the peeps will be traveling to see her gold leaf paintings on Friday. When I meet some of her friends and family, do I describe myself as an expressionist or contemporary painter? Probably no need for explanations as I'll be the one with acrylic paint spots still stuck to nails and hands.