"Praise" ~ Textured Mixed Media Abstract ~ by Texas Daily Painter Nancy Standlee

"Praise"
12" Mixed Media Textured Abstract on gallery wrapped canvas

I textured the piece with modeling paste, burlap and collaged some aluminum embossed foil and painted it with various acrylic tube and metallic paints. This is one of the pieces I've sent to the Austin juried show.

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

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

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

ARLINGTON TEXAS ~ NANCY STANDLEE FINE ART ~ TEXAS DAILY PAINTER ~ CONTEMPORARY FINE ART ~ ACRYLIC ~ COLLAGE ART ~ MIXED MEDIA COLLAGE ARTIST ~ MIXED MEDIA ABSTRACT ~ ART FOR SALE ~ CONTEMPORARY MIXED MEDIA TEXTURED ABSTRACTS

"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

Lana Grow Workshop ~ Granbury TX ~ Texas Daily Painter Nancy Standlee

Gold Leaf Floral
(This wasn't painted as a floral but it reminds me of a floral.)
10 x 10" Illustration board
This is one of my favorite pieces I did while at the workshop and will probably try some others later. It is very difficult for me to get a good photo of anything with gold in it without it getting a bad glare. In the painting below I lifted up the edge so the painting is not square and the acrylic gloss medium made it shiny.
Abstract Landscape
10 x 10 in. Acrylic on illustration board with tissue paper collage
This is a great technique and Lana had some stunning pieces on a large piece of Strathmore. I didn't get to the workshop with my large piece but I used this 10" to learn the technique. This has lots of gel and gesso from a squeeze bottle for the lines.
Lana with one of her symbol pieces on Strathmore Illustration board 10 x 30. At the end of the post you can find other work in a slide show.

About the Lana Grow workshop:
Two friends, Pat and Marie, told me about the workshop in Granbury, TX. October 19-23, 2009, and I'm so glad I made the effort to go and it was an effort as I came home from the Liz Hill workshop on Sunday evening, unloaded and loaded and drove over early Monday morning. Lana, A.W.S. is an excellent teacher and gives the kind of workshop she says she would want to take and I would recommend this one to anyone who wants to pursue some experimental abstract using acrylic paints. She won me over when she handed out a 3 ring binder of approximately 50 pages filled with wonderful notes about the techniques we'd be covering this week. She and her husband Norm, drove down from Minnesota so she brought lots of work to show us and all kinds of supplies to share.
In many workshops on the last day about 10:00 A.M. the instructor starts packing up and many do not have a demo that day. I could tell you some stories about some of the experiences. This class began on time at 9:00 A. M. and it was push, push all week and because she knew some would need to leave early on Friday and she wanted us to get our "money's worth" she had us all arrive at 8:00 A. M. Friday the last day of the class. Lana was always upbeat and sharing of all of her techniques and if you want to learn about acrylic or abstracts try to take one of her workshops.
Slide show and mouse over for captions:

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

Canvas by Canvas Abstract Painting ~ ISAP ~ by Nancy Standlee

Abstract Painting

16 x 20 in. (one of 9)
Bottom left portion
Acrylic on Canvas

Canvas by Canvas artists met Monday at our rented gallery space and continued with our recent abstract commission which will be the largest collaborative painting we've done. There will be 9 16x20" rectangles. My portion above is the bottom row, far left and watch for it on our CBC web site. The image may change somewhat after all the rectangles are finished and our client may have some suggestions as to some finishing touches.

ISAP
The International Society of Acrylic Painters
I belong to this group and it's a fast growing artists' group that enjoy acrylic as their medium. Members have a professional attitude about their work and the web site is a good source of information about exhibitions and member forums.

Nancy Standlee
a Texas Daily Painter &
member of Canvas by Canvas
Texas Collaborative Artists

Web Site Nancy Standlee
Web Site Canvas by Canvas
Web Site Artists of Texas.org
Blog Nancy Standlee Art
Blog Daily Painters of Texas
Blog Daily Painters Abstract
Blog Daily Painters Marketplace
Blog Artist Food Network
Blog Canvas by Canvas

Email for more info: NancyStandlee@sbcglobal.net

SUBSCRIBE to my NEW PAINTINGS posts by FeedBlitz. Just add
your email address HERE top right, below profile.

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

Tony Saladino Abstract Acrylic Class

"Choose Your Dream", 20" x 20", Acrylic with some collage on gallery wrapped canvas, 1 1/2" depth (Click on the image to enlarge)

"A man's reach must exceed his grasp, or else what's a heaven for?" Robert Browning
Tony Saladino began our one day abstract acrylic class with these words to remind us that this is a journey and we should not expect to leave in the afternoon with a finished painting, but concentrate on the process and find our personal expression of marks and color. We had an advantage painting in a beautiful studio and grounds in North Richland Hills. Thanks Karen. I've included some photos at the end in a slide show which show the progression of his demo and he used a landscape photo for the initial reference.
Tony uses Purdy house painting brushes from Lowes in sizes 1", 1 1/2", and the 2" being his favorite and he scumbled his color keeping a fairly dry brush. In fact, he didn't wash his brush until about 20 minutes into his demo. A hint: He kept a blank canvas nearby to scumble leftover brush color before picking up new color. He says it's OK to look childlike in expression as it frees us from trying to please others. He urged us to bring all the areas of the painting together at the same time and not finish one area to completion. As his demo progressed he had many layers of color and areas of very thick paint with some of the layers showing through. He feels it lets your personality come through. He continually stressed to us "It's not about the subject but the division of space."


A painting he brought to show us above.
Tony didn't finish his demo as his ideas will change with future viewings. He feels it's finished when he thinks it's stimulating or stimulates a viewer. If you enjoy a good Argentine tango, search the dance floor as you might find Tony or Karen. In fact Karen's studio doubles as a tango dancing space. During the critique, Tony respected each individuals personal marks and inspired each of us to express those that reside deep within.
He was correct that we should not expect to leave the class with a finished painting as I finished the above painting in my studio and had good starts on two others before the day ended. What a great day of painting on June 10. His next critique class will be July 9.

Mouse over the photo for captions.

Canvas by Canvas TUG Show ~ Salsa Abstract

"Salsa" Acrylic Abstract on Gallery Wrapped Canvas by Nancy
24" x 24"
The Upstairs Gallery Show
Canvas by Canvas is having a show opening with a wine and cheese reception on Saturday July 19th and you are invited. Several works by some of the individual members will also be on display.

Canvas by Canvas works:

n

Nancy's Personal Work for the Upstairs Gallery Show:

Acrylic Abstract

"Glacial Terrain"
24" x 24" Acrylic on Canvas, 1 3/8" depth gallery wrap, black edges

This is the third of four abstract paintings I've completed for the Upstairs Gallery Show and delivered them Wednesday. You are invited to their annual show and sale of art by the students of The Upstairs Gallery, and the show will be up until May 27, 2008. Several friends mentioned the look of ice and translucency the painting had so that is how the title derived. One comment at the opening reception when viewing one of the abstracts, "Oh, you've changed your style?"....Nope just added another as I'm still wanting to try a lot of painting styles I find. Another said "Whatever your style, I can pick your paintings out" and I don't see how yet but I found the statement interesting.
Other abstracts can be found on my web site which is always under construction.
Listening to conversations (think cell phone in the grocery store), lyrics and friends' suggestions all can contribute to your arsenal of song titles. I jotted one down last week from the grocery store when I heard a woman telling a man, "I'm not paying $5.00 for something like that." I wanted to turn around and see what she thought was overpriced but instead just took out my journal and pen and make a quick note. Since I'm now a GPS owner, I'm waiting for my painting titled "Recalculating". There will be one.
Happy Mother's Day to all and enjoy this special time set aside to honor mothers, living and dead. It's a time to acknowledge your mothers contribution in your life and I suggested to my children, they spend the day with their spouses, girl friends, boy friends or significant other and not be put on a guilt trip to visit, but maybe just call - certainly not going out to eat as the National Restaurant Association says this is the most popular day of the year to eat out. That means to me - stay home. Don't come over today but call me as we have several family graduation events for the last of May when we can enjoy each other's company. I know you love me. It's o.k. We'll celebrate then. Google the history of Mother's Day and it's an eye opener. It began as "Mothering Sunday", then a Mother's Day for Peace and now it's a highly commercialized holiday with flowers, cards and gifts. Maybe by next year I can have my kitchen back in the cooking mode and I can invite my children to dinner.
At present, I have numerous (think maybe hundreds) of watercolor paint tubes out on the table preparing my palette for the Myrna Wacknov workshop tomorrow at the Visual Expressions Gallery and School. Myrna has addressed the problem of too many palettes with this post and it's for me:
"I have too many palettes and most of them have been loaded with paint! In an effort to use up some of the paint and not be wasteful, I started painting sheets of watercolor with random wet into wet washes. I would take these watercolor starts to model sessions and then I would draw the model on the paper with a Japanese brush pen that takes ink cartridges and finish the painting with pastels. It was amazing how these random colors worked so well every time! I love the look of the watercolor peeking through the pastel and part of the ink drawing showing here and there. It's a fun process. Give it a try."
As I am thinking watercolor after making the abstract jump, I've discovered a wonderful watercolor video of about 15 minutes from Jim Chapman that you can watch. If you'd like to paint along go find your watercolor paints in colors: cadmium yellow, raw sienna, raw umber, burnt umber, cadmium red light, red-purple, purple, ultramarine blue, cerulean blue, cobalt blue, peacock blue, viridian, yellow, black, and your Aquabee sketch pad and brush (now your kitchen table is looking like mine). He sounds Texan but he's a Georgia boy (and he can paint and talk at the same time) and he has a fresh, loose sketch approach to a still life set up of a cowboy hat, bottles and a quilt. He leaves specks of white which I like and some art instructors say nay, nay and you do it your way. Also read his art columns about taking workshops and how to expose yourself to better media coverage.
The email from last evening brought excellent information and a lot of it about online marketing can be found in the recent post from the Art Group DFW blog. The ArtGroupsDFW News Blog is devoted to news of art events in the North Texas Area and is updated frequently and you can subscribe.
Enjoy your day and thanks to all the Mom's who have directed our paths.

Abstract Acrylic ~ Pasodoble ~ Upstairs Gallery

"Pasodoble"
24" x 24" Acrylic on Canvas, 1 3/8" depth gallery wrap, black edges

This is the second of four abstract paintings I've completed for the Upstairs Gallery Show and delivered them Wednesday. You are invited to their annual opening reception show and sale of art by the students of The Upstairs Gallery, May 10 from 5-8 pm. The show will be up until May 27, 2008. My friend and Canvas by Canvas member, Connie, emailed after seeing this painting and suggested the title as she was watching "Dancing with the Stars" and this painting reminded her of the word, Pasodoble. I don't watch the show but like the word.
I got an email from Creative Catalyst this morning and went to their site to see if the Nicholas Simmons art dvd was available yet. No, but some good news they are placing some of their art instruction dvd's in retail stores.
On their site you will find a wide selection of carefully edited and content rich art instructional video DVD workshops conducted by the nation's finest artist-instructors.
While on the site, I saw a Judy Morris checklist for success that I thought artists would like to review.
Today I will begin packing art suppliesfor the Myrna Wacknov workshop at the Visual Expressions Gallery in Cedar Hill. I'm so glad I can commute and not be trying out all the suitcases in my garage. She got 2008 off to a great start and a great honor - read about it here and see her creative portrait.
I became a fan after reading the October 2007, Watercolor Magic article, "Face Forward" and she included a lesson on Photoshop about Capturing Expression Through Photoshop. You can read about these steps here. I started writing her fan letters and contacted a local gallery that might sponsor a workshop. Myrna started a blog and ran a contest for one of her drawings for getting blog subscribers. I have 2 drawings that I cherish and she has progressed with more subscriptions and she shares freely with her drawing and painting knowledge. I've never gone to art school (but have taken my share of workshops) so I appreciate any technical help with photo manipulation in drawing preparation. Now I see today she's posted something from Sue Archer about drawing being the heart of art. Oh, Myrna, what am I going to do with you. I see you have upgraded to Photoshop Elements 6 and I only have 5 and that probably means PE now includes some cool new tool I can't live without, but I've got the brushes you suggested. One salient point from her blogs I have to repeat from the Feb. 19 post.
"The other thing I noticed in myself was how quickly I want to give up and tell myself this isn't for me because I'm not any good at it. We don't give ourselves very much time to succeed, do we?"
The artists I know are all pretty guilty of that one..just throw in the towel if their work doesn't look like a piece of art that an experienced artist produces that may have produced 500 pieces before - mea culpa - just some ground work in case I produce more turkeys next week. (Don't ever change colors on these posts if you use a black background because you have no idea what the original color was..If you change to white then you can't see it in your edit post.) Makes me want to throw in the towel!!