"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

"Granbury Mixed Floral" by Texas Contemporary Painter Nancy Standlee

"Mixed Floral - Granbury"10" sq. Acrylic on Gessoed watercolor paper

This has been difficult to photograph because I added gold paint in the vase - love that bling. This was another floral (see post HERE) that I painted during the Robert Burridge workshop in Granbury recently.

My friend Carol Nelson will be conducting a 4 day workshop in Granbury May 23-26, 2011. It is full. I flew to Denver to study with Carol in March 2010. One of the pieces that was inspired from that workshop won an honorable mention. Carol describes her workshop like this:

In this workshop, we will explore creating abstract compositions on a variety of supports using numerous acrylic mediums, metals, and collage materials. Participants will make texture samplers, learn about the fundamentals of abstract composition, types of supports, methods of attachment, tyvek preparation, epoxy resin application, and presentation options for a finished piece.

I've signed up for a Sante Fe Workshop with Niki Gulley in August and I have been thinking about water-soluble oils and have been reading about them - again. The workshop will be a painting and photography class with landscape plein air painting from different picturesque settings daily with demos and critiques (a little time for sightseeing and shopping.) Niki is from Dallas and has 20 years painting experience and 10 years teaching. Her husband is the photographer for the other choice in the workshop. I'm a studio painter but I thought I "might" try some plein air this summer and is there a more interesting site than Santa Fe? I will probably paint with my acrylics but have been reading about water soluble oils but I've never painted with oils - water soluble or not. I have two excellent books on the subject, "Water-soluble Oils" by Sean Dye and "No Experience Required: Water Soluble Oils" by Mary Deutschman. I somehow lost my Dye one and have spent many frantic hours looking for it and finally found it in a too ridiculous place and I won't even say where.
This has caused me to think about the need for a signaling device to be implanted in all things we purchase from iPhones, socks, books, DVD's for those of us who are organizationally challenged. When an item is lost, you call this central number and enter a description of the item, the phone will emit a tracer signal that causes the lost item to emit a piercing alarm or a gentle voice with maybe "Please come find me. I'm in your top dresser drawer hiding under the white sock". (In my case, it would have said..hey, you dummy, look on your bed at that stack of books you're reading.) Fortunately, I won't have to make that decision (oil or acrylic) today. Like Scarlet I'll think about it tomorrow. Today I need to start "searching" for all things to use in the Carol Nelson workshop. I do hope I find them or I may be the one emitting a piercing scream.

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 ~ ACRYLIC FLORAL

Contact NancyStandlee@sbcglobal.net

"Red Floral" ~ Small Acrylic Painting ~ Robert Burridge workshop by Texas Daily Painter Nancy Standlee

"Red Floral"
10" square acrylic on gessoed watercolor paper

This was painted in April in Granbury TX LGAA in the Robert Burridge workshop. Eventually I will mount this on canvas as show here in his Artsy Fartsy February 2007 newsletter. Why isn't it painted on canvas to begin with? When traveling to workshops weight and bulk are always a problem and a flat piece of gessoed watercolor paper can be stored much easier than a bulky canvas. This piece could be placed in a frame without glass as it is since it has been varnished.
Journal Workshop - Cancelled.
Just an fyi the journal workshop has been cancelled in May at Dena's ranch. (But I will be there for Derek Gores and the two Bob Burridges that are scheduled.)

The next workshop for me will be my 2nd one with Carol Nelson in Granbury May 23-26 for a Metals and Mixed Media. This will be another "wild as you wanna be" workshop. Carol will let you add a little bling with some gold leaf or a few gold and silver sprinkles...woo hoo..I want to do one just like the one on the link with red and more red and if it turns out it will never be for sale.

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 ~ ACRYLIC FLORAL

Contact NancyStandlee@sbcglobal.net

"Minerals and Metals" ~ Contemporary Textured Abstract by Texas Daily Painter Nancy Standlee

"Minerals and Metals"
12" x 16" Mixed Media on Ampersand cradled 2" deep Hardboard

I have wanted to experiment with some of the techniques I learned in the Carol Nelson class in Arvada, CO in March which was a very organized 2 day workshop with metals in mixed media. In the workshop we worked on small pieces of MDF board but I chose an Ampersand panel for this piece. Carol Nelson is an excellent instructor and has an active blog and a web site.
On the above painting, I added lots of textured grounds to the archival hardboard panel. I attached copper strips, collaged pieces of painted paper, Tyvek, and used acrylic tube and liquid colors along with some metallics.
This is as close as I can get to a landscape. I've tried painting realistic landscapes and I'm never happy with the results so until I can successfully paint a tree I'll continue with these highly textured pieces. Golden has so many interesting mediums and additives to choose from to add a textured ground to your contemporary abstracts and they give an added dimension to any landscape.
I've found another artist I really like that works with heavily textured applications. Jac Kephart has work in the Santa Fe Gallery, Deloney Newkirk Gallery. I've found one local gallery, The Edmund Craig, in Fort Worth that has a few pieces. I wrote to Mr. Kephart back in the spring to ask if ever gave a workshop as I'd love to study with him. He wrote that he'd been painting this style of abstracts for about 12 years and just didn't have the time to give workshops any more and felt the time left for painting was limited as he was 70 years old. I didn't tell him this month I'll celebrate my 75th birthday and I understand the pressure of time. He did invite me to visit him in Grand Junction sometime if I were in the neighborhood. He also shows his work in Breckenridge and Denver, CO. Jac enclosed 2 photos of some of his earlier landscape pieces which are beautiful but I find the newer abstracts so much more exciting.
Is there anyone in your art life you'd like to spend the day with, maybe in their studio watching them work? At this stage of my art life I would choose Jac Kephart. Maybe next week I'll be off wanting to learn something else but today I'd like to observe Jac making his mixed media paintings...just some senior citizens talking art and we won't even think about the time factor.

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

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

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

ARLINGTON TEXAS ~ NANCY STANDLEE FINE ART ~ DAILY PAINTER ~ TORN PAPER PAINTINGS ~ STAINED PAPER ~
CONTEMPORARY FINE ART ~ WATERCOLOR ~ ACRYLIC ~ COLLAGE ART ~ PAINTED PAPERS ~ PAPER PAINTINGS ~ GOUACHE
ABSTRACT ~ EXPRESSIONIST ~ ART FOR SALE ~ FIGURATIVE ~ MIXED MEDIA ~ ALTERED BOOKS ~ ACRYLIC TORN PAPER ART
~ ART JOURNALING WORKSHOPS ~ ART JOURNALS ~ SKETCHBOOK JOURNALS

Contact NancyStandlee@sbcglobal.net

Art Journaling Workshop “Love Your Life” with Nancy Standlee

Three Day November 6-8, 2010 Saturday, Sunday, Monday 9:30 – 4:30

The Upstairs Gallery

1038 W. Abram

Arlington, TX 76013

Contact: J. T. Martin 817 277-6961 to register or

info@upstairsartgallery.com

Carol Nelson Workshop ~ Metals and Mixed Media ~ Texas Daily Painter Nancy Standlee

"A Hole in One"
7" x 3 1/2" Mixed Media on MDF board

I loaded up with Google Maps and my GPS (Sugar Foot) and made it to Denver for the Carol Nelson Workshop on Friday and Saturday. (See the two previous posts on this blog.) She is a very kind and generous instructor and she had to keep reminding me about restraint and simple themes when she was presented with something like the above.

Carol: "Don't incorporate all the techniques you've learned in one piece". (said with a very kind voice.)
Nancy: "OK..Carol." then I'd proceed to do just that in this small piece. I brought my hammer and I was determined to use it and did by putting 3 copper nails at the top and if you use a hammer and nails then you first get to use Carol's drill to drill baby holes to get the nails started. I find it impossible to see a drill on a table without wanting to "drill" something.
We were supposed to dip the nails in the Yes glue before nailing and I forgot this step. I left my nails partially extended so I could add a little more bling and curly-Q's with some copper wire. And I did get a lot of techniques in this one piece with some Tyvek at the top with a HOLE in it (too much heat), some burlap for texture, and Gold Leaf accents. Does anyone have a spare tassel I can hang from the center?

Carol referred to these small studies as bozzettos, an Italian term for a small scale model in preparation for a larger work. See Robert Genn article from The Painter's Keys.
Oh, I love this word "Bozzetto". These are just small studies to get us warmed up and Robert Burridge would refer to them as his "little gems" and they help teach him how to paint and get warmed up for the day of painting. Myrna Wacknov in her Creativity Journey blog has several posts on the bozzetto.

Tomorrow I'll post our assignment piece. Carol thought we might be a little scattered and gave us some specific guidelines to follow. I can do that but I can't help saying.... from a Bobette and a Bozzettoist.

Please visit my web site and comment on my blog:

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

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

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

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


Contact NancyStandlee@sbcglobal.net

Carol Nelson Workshop ~ Denver, CO. ~ "Butterfly Dreams" by Texas Daily Painter Nancy Standlee

"Butterfly Dreams"
6" x 5 1/2" Tyvek, Venetian Plaster, Acrylic Paints on MDF board

Our Carol Nelson Class at the Arvada Art Guild Workshop

If this is your first visit to this blog, the previous post will give more information about this Carol Nelson workshop. Working and playing with Tyvek paper was the next step while our textured surfaces were drying.
I always like these instructions:
Carol "There is no right or wrong day to do this".
Take a piece of Tyvek paper and paint both sides with acrylic paints with colors you might use in one of the projects. Dry and iron. You may have some Tyvek around your house in the form of old Fedex envelopes. It's also available in 60 foot rolls at the hardware store if you go into production but you might find scraps around a construction site as it's used in construction as a vapor barrier.
Other uses - go to YouTube and just type in the key word Tyvek for more options. You will find lots of videos for making a wallet. Here's a neat wallet for sale but don't iron this one.
We found that when painting it worked better to use thinner applications of fluid acrylics or tubes. Just experiment to find the correct solution. One student made a beautiful piece using some metallic paint and sprinkled with gold flakes while the paint was still wet. My kind of bling. Paint both sides using different colors for more choices and dry before ironing.
If you're finicky about your iron, at this point you can protect the ironing board and iron by placing the painted and dried Tyvek in a parchment paper sandwich. Put the iron on cotton heat and press up and down and not the "iron a shirt" back and forth motion. You'll soon understand how much and how long to apply. If you lift the parchment and your Tyvek has disintegrated then that's way too long. Just a few taps and a look see at first but I really like the effect of a few holes. The Tyvek will make bubble shapes in various sizes and angles and lots of nice crevices.
Here is a big article on Tyvek or just Google for more choices.
In the above piece, I cut out the area that appealed to me and then used Yes glue to attach it to the textured board and used some coordinating acrylic paint and who doesn't like red. The section reminded me of a butterfly wing. The final varnish has not been applied. Check back soon for another post about this fabulous workshop.

Saundra Lane Galloway in her Art for Life Blog has added some posts about the workshop.

Here is another slide show from the workshop. Mouse over for the captions.

Please visit my web site and comment on my blog:

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

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

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

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