"Carlita" ~ Carla O'Connor Workshop ~ Dallas TX ~ Texas Daily Painter Nancy Standlee

"Carlita"
11 x 15 in Gouache on HP 140 lb watercolor paper
from workshop

I've been in a 4 day Dallas workshop with Carla O'Connor at Artists Showplace (well, it should have been a 4 day but it turned into a 3 day with our Texas weather). The above painting is a portrait using some of these gouache techniques. These winter storms are having a severe impact on my art career. We painted with watercolor and gouache on hot press watercolor paper, with some figure drawing from models in the mornings.

Last week I was in my first "sports" show and have produced 4 new sport themed collage pieces for the Super Bowl show put on by the F6 Gallery. It was shut down for most of the event due to bad weather. On Super Bowl Sunday Aaron Rogers was named the Green Bay Packers most valuable player and click to see my torn paper collage of him on my blog post HERE.


The SWS meeting was held Thursday evening at Artists Showplace and this was Carla's demo but it was taken from the overhead mirror and reversed and not completed. There was a crowd of people around and impossible to photograph Carla's painting correctly. She is an enthusiastic and lovely artist who entertained us along with sharing her techniques and process of applying and removing the paint.
Carla and Nancy ( OK..already so I was on my knees)
I took my first Carla workshop in Lubbock in Oct 2007 and I'm asked why do you take workshops with the same instructor twice? Because I don't get it all the first time and my painting methods have improved and I'm hearing and seeing more. If you can't get to one of her workshops, she has a great DVD of a painting taken from start to finish available from Creative Catalyst. Carla reminded me and showed me the red western bandana (you can see it at the right) that I gave her in Lubbock to tie on and mark her art suitcase so it would be easier to find at the airport. Would I take another workshop from her? Absolutely. And she does offer an advanced week so check out her website to see if she will be in your area. At the end of her slide show there was a slide of Carla at 9 years of age painting "en plein air" in Italy. Do you know what I was doing at 9 years old in Texas? - clipping playing cards to the spokes of my bike, playing Annie Over and Red Rover and couldn't even pronounce Italy correctly (I've only learned that in the last several years, incidentally).. so yes I am a repeat workshop taker and I'm becoming embarrassed to tell you how many Robert Burridge's I've taken and yes I will see him at the upcoming Artists Showplace workshop.

If you'd like to read more about Carla's DVD I placed a link on my blog (top right) so you can click and GO.


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 ~ GOUACHE
~ TEXAS DAILY PAINTER ~ NANCY STANDLEE CONTEMPORARY ART ~

Contact NancyStandlee@sbcglobal.net

Carla O’Connor Workshop, Day 5, October 12, 2007 ~ Lubbock TX ~ Art Blog

Nancy's work in progress with pieces of paper suggestions for background color around the chair and hair. This photo was taken in the overhead mirror. Gouache on 1/2 sheet hot press paper.

Friday is our last day of our Carla O'Connor class, sad that it’s over but our heads are filled with thoughts of lots of new techniques to try after returning home. (Read the previous posts to learn more about the workshop.) I checked out of the Howard Johnson Express before class started early Friday morning. I was so pleased with the first floor room with wireless internet, coffee pot, and refrigerator. I stayed there once before for a workshop and it is very reasonable in price and it is about 3 miles from the workshop. At the workshop, we were directed to a darkened room where Carla showed us slides of her work and work of some contemporary artists who are friends. She felt like we’d benefit more from the slide show after we had tried to do some of the techniques.
We ordered pizza in and enjoyed our last lunch visit. I changed my painting water but I don’t think I ever placed more than a few strokes on a piece of paper as Carla was letting different students who had reached an impasse to place their work under the mirror and she would critique and make suggestions with bits of colored paper or paint. I was more interested in hearing and seeing what suggestions Carla made to other students than painting something on my own. The posted painting today was one she wanted me to be very careful with after she saw the initial sketch. Our charge on Thursday for that exercise was to draw with a large brush and paint very quickly a timed sketch of the model. She liked the red high heels and she didn’t want me to over paint it. The suggestions she made included the pink paper around the top of the painting and I will paint this in later and make her hair black (at present these are paper strips placed under the mat) and I’ll add a red earring. So I’ll try to paint on it sometime later in the week. Hugs all around and goodbyes were given with hopes of painting again with the group sometime and taking another Carla class. She is constantly on the move around the classroom and continually teaching and is very approachable to students. If you ever get the chance to take her workshop, I think you'd love her and the workshop. Bless her heart.. (We said that all week after a discussion about being able to say anything about a person (especially on the negative side), if you'd follow it up with "Bless her heart" - sorta inside joke).
A friend flew up on Friday to make the long drive back to Arlington with me and we decided to make the last tour of the day at 4:00 at the Llano Estacado Winery in Lubbock.
I learned I was not pronouncing it correctly. There is a town in Texas that we call Llano (lah-noh) but the winery is pronounced using the Spanish (yah-naw). It’s the second oldest of more than 100 wineries in the State of Texas, and is the winery most responsible for the current wine industry renaissance. It is the best selling Premium wine in Texas and is used in 1st class of American Airlines and both President Bush's used it for the Governor’s mansion in Austin and in the White House. On Saturday, October 20th the winery will celebrate the 14th annual Grape Day. They have won national and international awards year after year. Their brochure states “Llano Estacado wines stand for what it means to be a Texan: independent, larger than life and always agreeable”.
I drove to Abilene and I was not in the least bit tired as I was still celebrating the weeks’ events and discussing every incident, but after eating dinner, I got in the passenger’s side and tried to stay awake. The Rav 4 looked a little like I was moving and there was so much “stuff” and art supplies everywhere, I waited until Saturday to unload. I've thought about the other students today as I know they are going through the same art withdrawal symptoms and facing the job of unpacking. Oh, where to put all the material I’ve used for the past two weeks that I have pulled from every nook and cranny. It will take days to go through the mail but I’ve given up on getting art supplies organized - maybe I’ll keep them packed and wait for the next workshop and I think I’ve got one coming up on Tuesday. Check back and I’ll post about that one later in the week.

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· http://artistfoodnetwork.blogspot.com/
· http://canvasbycanvas.blogspot.com/
· http://myspace.com/nancystandlee
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· Eat Well ~ Paint Your Food ~ Laugh Often

Carla O'Connor Workshop Slides ~ Lubbock, TX ~ Art Blog

These were taken at the Carla O'Connor Workshop, Lubbock, TX October 8-12, 2007

Carla O’Connor Workshop, Day 4, Thursday, October 11, 2007 ~ Lubbock, TX ~ Art Blog

Nancy's 11 x 15 gouache on 140 hot press paper
Painted today in the workshop NFS

(This post is the fourth in a series about a workshop in Lubbock, Texas. Please read previous posts to get the full story).
Our last drawing day with the model and she was a cutie, a granddaughter of one of the members and enrolled at Texas Tech and who wouldn’t want to try and draw her. Carla grabs her timer and gets us going and then we hear her familiar, Change, Change. She can be a tyrant at 9:00 in the morning when you want to drink coffee and visit with your neighbor but she has her rules so we fall in line and wonder “Is this painting potential?” Again she stops us with “Gather around” for a mini demo on how to design the whole page. Today it was the design principle “Imagination” and most of us failed miserably when she gave us an assignment. Let it be a wake up call for us. She gave us a list of things to include in the drawing and most of us put them about in the same places with little imagination. She wanted Original ….something that no one else thought of. We did more sketches and set ups for a future painting with just a few marks on the page since we’d have the model for a short time she wanted us to get the information down and paint them on Friday. In the afternoon we painted and Carla circled the room answering questions and seeing if the students wanted any suggestions or help. At 4:00 workshop participants were invited to a WTSC’ members home, Gale Webb. We had a lovely time still talking art and eating lasagna provided by Orlando’s Italian. We were privileged to have some chat time with each other and Carla. Thank you, Gale and Jerry, for your hospitality. Gale will be giving a workshop in the Dallas/Fort Worth area in April 2008 for the SWS.
Lubbock has a great evening of art, music and food the first Friday of each month and it showcases local art. Maps are provided and free trolleys run and the event is free and open to the public. First Friday Art Trail runs year round on the first Friday of each month from 6-9 p.m.
November 10 and 11, 2007 there is an Artist Studio Tour planned. Pick up a map and catch a free ride on a Citibus and they will run continually in a loop. Plan to Take in the Local Color, the tour, and visit 9 participating studios, with 50 artists sharing studio space. There will be painting/drawing, ceramics, fiber, glass, gourds, jewelry, leather, metal, miniatures, mixed media, photography, and wood.

Lubbock is a happening place when it comes to art.
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http://artistfoodnetwork.blogspot.com/

http://canvasbycanvas.blogspot.com/
http://myspace.com/nancystandlee
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Eat Well ~ Paint Your Food ~ Laugh Often

Carla O’Connor Workshop, Day 3, Wednesday, October 10, 2007 ~ Lubbock, TX ~ Art Blog

CARLA'S DEMO TUES. EVE.

WIND TURBINES

NANCY'S START ON WED.

15 x 22 Above is Gouache on hot press watercolor paper. This is my start for today and will work on it more Thursday with Carla's help. (See previous posts this week about the workshop.) After taking a digital photo and placing it on my laptop it looks like the imaginary figures are little sunflower heads. That will never do. It is always helpful to look at your work on a computer screen and reversed and in a mirror.

To the right is a better photo of Carla's demo last night. We all enjoyed looking at it today and she calls these her Time Travelers.

We had more time to paint today. We had another good model and Carla did short impromptu demo paintings and drawing techniques when she saw that we needed some help. I heard this across the room today and it is so Texan and friendly. "If y'all need some more paper, just holler." There are friendly, nice people in the workshop.

Today we concentrated on the SCALE principle of design and we drew several sized drawings on watercolor paper with all heads at the same line to show scale. Carla gave us a realistic head demo and talked about drawing the feature placement.

Lubbock and the historic South Plains area

In 1540, Spanish explorer Captain Francisco Vasquez de Coronado brought an expedition to the South Plains and named the area Llano Estacado, or staked plains and found Indians, buffalo, antelope, prairie dogs and coyotes. In 1876, Lubbock County was re-named in honor of Texas Ranger and Confederate colonel, Thomas S. Lubbock.
For some readers not from Texas, they just have some great Texas city and town names in this area, such as Muleshoe, Levelland, Plainview, Post, Sweetwater, Brownfield, Meadow, and Idalou. Don’t you just love saying those names? Well, I grew up in De Leon and the way we say it, people are always asking “How do you spell that?”
I’ve posted a photo taken while driving the speed limit for sure, out my car window just snapping with one eye on the road, and shows these other worldly, another planet looking wind turbines. These use the wind resources and are available in the area and are reliable and efficient and you will find many wind farms while driving in this area – like 60,000 acres worth in Taylor and Nolan Counties where you’ll find the world’s largest wind farm. Texans really like to lay claim to the biggest and best and largest. We really can’t help it. It’s genetic. (Hee, hee, I think that means we beat California) and I the most I know about it is how to take a photo of the wind turbines.

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· Eat Well ~ Paint Your Food ~ Laugh Often

Carla O’Connor Workshop, Day 2, Tuesday, October 9, 2007 ~ Lubbock, TX ~ Art Blog

NANCY'S START TODAY ON 1/2 SHEET WATERCLOR PAPER

CARLA WORKING ON HER DEMO PAINTING

CARLA'S DEMO TONIGHT (will get a better photo Wed. as this was through the overhead mirror and colors are more muted and painting is reversed.)

The Carla O’Connor Workshop is being held at 511 Avenue K (Mac Davis Lane and Ave. K) at The Underwood Center for the Arts. There are multiple studios, visual art galleries, a theatre and a rehearsal hall. First Friday Art Trail includes a monthly evening of arts and entertainment in downtown Lubbock. This art campus was planned to reflect the traditions of Lubbock and to create future traditions. “Art is much less important than life, but what a poor life without it!” –Robert Motherwell

The West Texas Watercolor Society is sponsoring this workshop. This is my 3rd visit to Lubbock to take a workshop with them. They are a talented group and best of all they are super friendly and fun to paint with.

The class today was packed with Carla's activities and instructions for us. And TEXTURE was one of the design principles discussed today. We had an excellent new model from the WTWS group and began on time 9:00 with about 40 poses in quick succession again on the same piece of paper to get us loosened up. She gave us hints on drawing the figure, for example, tie an imaginary plumb line to the ear through the center of the body to get the weight distributed correctly. We did a practice sheet, then on a 1/2 sheet of watercolor a figure with every black type of marking device (pens, crayons, charcoal, inks) we had plus black, white and grey gouache. We could only use one tool until Carla called out "change" then we'd pick up another tool of our choice and begin drawing where we left off all the while creating texture on the page. After lunch, each participant presented a painting or two for a critique. Carla wanted to see what type of work each one of us was currently doing and we all benefitted from hearing her comments. During the composition discussion I got so sleepy I nearly feel out of my chair and the note taking trails off looking like a someone had flat lined on a tv medical show. (I will add that it was not Carla but my nearly 72 year old body about to revolt from the schedule I've made for it for the past 2 months). I keep telling it to hang with me till Thanksgiving and we'll be home free. We painted for about hour to hour and a half and I got started on a piece I'd drawn in the a.m. and that is the piece in the photo. I want to do more drawing on the layers and it was Carla's suggestion to keep the figure white in the center. I liked the piece until after the demo and saw Carla's Time Travelers and I took another look at mine and thought how sad it looked but then you give yourself a little pep talk..this is your first time trying her technique, you had fun, and you learned some new stuff..go for it.

The demo at 7:00 p.m. was as exciting as we'd hoped it would be. She came with her design drawn on a gold gessoed toned hot press watercolor paper and proceeded to show us how she applies the paint. Her painting looked great to us but she said it takes her weeks to complete. It was a copy of one she did for the dvd for Creative Catalyst. She said the biggest hurdle we face is getting enough paint on the paper. We all laughed when she said "I could lick all the paint off some of these paintings (from people not using enough paint) and not get sick". We get the idea. Be generous with the paint.
The meeting room for the WTWS class is surrounded by designer dresses covered with plastic. Upon closer inspection these clothes are from other decades and were purchased from a local high end store in Lubbock. Read about Margaret’s HERE.

From the time Margaret’s opened in 1946 at Boston and 26th until it closed in 1994 at Broadway and Avenue T, this unique landmark was Lubbock’s window into the world of couture fashion and much more.
In the decades before West Texans visited New York, Paris, or Rome , Margaret’s was their portal to clothing available only in major cities. Once the store moved to Broadway and Avenue T, Lubbock had an establishment that could have been plucked from the finest shopping areas in Dallas, Chicago, or Los Angeles.
On the walls are enlarged views of the hand-drawn images of the figures that appeared in the newspaper ads and clothes under plastic ready for a show. Some of the images can be seen in the photos taken this week.
Other interesting places to visit in Lubbock:

Buddy Holly Center
Celebrate the life and achievements of Lubbock’s son, Buddy Hollyand see his guitar, the Stratocaster, and famous glasses. The Center also has the Texas Musician Hall of Fame and the Lubbock Fine Arts Gallery.

Texas Tech
Lubbock is home to Texas Tech University, home to about 28,000 students and a public art program ranked among the nation’s 10 best.

American Wind Power Center

Museum houses more than 120 rare and fully restored windmills located on more than 28 acres in Yellow House Canyon.

I’ve just come from visiting wineries around Mendocino, California and found Texas has wineries located around Lubbock.
Llano Estacado Winery

Texas’ most award-wining winery. Most of the world-class grapes used by the winery are grown within a 100mile radius of Lubbock.

Cap Rock Winery

Pheasant Ridge Winery

La Diosa Cellars located in the Depot Entertainment District

Other blogs where I post:

· http://artistfoodnetwork.blogspot.com/
· http://canvasbycanvas.blogspot.com/
· http://myspace.com/nancystandlee
· TO VIEW MORE PAINTINGS OR PURCHASE: Go to Paypal on http://nancystandlee.blogspot.com/
· Eat Well ~ Paint Your Food ~ Laugh Often