Anne Bagby Workshop ~ Artists' Showplace ~ Texas Art Blog

Approximately 5" square image made from a collage of handmade papers from the Anne Bagby workshop held at Artists' Showplace. This example was placed in my journal. I made the face area from a page of the 1924 The Outline of History by H.G. Wells. I like some of the text to show.
Anne

Project on a 12" square of deli wrap of handmade papers done Saturday, colored and stamped and collaged. Anne said keep it simple and watch your values. This was anything but simple and it was too much the same value so I added lots of line work. Today I covered a 7" x 10" journal with the page. On the inside I'd pasted a Dan Burt drawing from his workshop. This journal will be used for drawing more than journaling. Anne says she takes the paper out to cover the journals but I worked around the rings and ran a line of paint connecting the edges. Not as neat but it's still together from someone who can't reassemble a ballpoint pen.


Art Journal Page 78
A trip to Aggie land for a wedding and seeing my first bluebonnets.

Art Journal Page 79
Still on the move but time to check out Grace Haverty's sketches. Packing, packing again for the Bagby workshop and it is a 3 day from Thursday to Saturday.
Art Journal Page 80
Anne's card, her chop, some instructions and my small work for my journal. See the stamp at the left of the image...it's an Anne Bagby original I won by using the most line - hope she doesn't ask for it back after she reads this post. Some of us Southern girls in watercolor workshops find great comfort sipping a cup of Earl Gray and applying a watercolor or two but mixed media artists are a different breed. They work really fast and do what's called "speed collage". I'm a Southern Texan. I work slow, talk and hear even slower and like to have time to inquire about my neighbor's Mama occasionally. Don't let Anne Bagby's diminutive size mislead you. She's a one woman dynamo, spewing forth tips, orders, suggestions, and ideas in a rapid lively way and hence the notation in my journal of "General" Bagby. I may have exaggerated a little when I wrote in my journal she said "Move it, Nancy" but I sat at the front table and was under her all seeing eye. At times she did remind me I needed to forge ahead.
I was glad I'd ordered her DVD from Creative Catalyst as I was a little more prepared to know what to expect. We cut out stamps and made our papers on Thursday and Friday and worked on our projects on Saturday - when I got to have a cup of tea while working. I've learned new paper and stamp making techniques, met a fascinating new instructor, made some new friends and visited with some old ones at Artists Showplace. They have a great facility for workshops and provide individuals with nice long tables and the owners are helpful and encouraging. Restaurants are close by and there is plenty of parking for unloading art supplies.
Another treat was Anne's show, Prototypes in Paper in the gallery and we could view many of her 12" canvases. The show will hang during March.
Thanks, Anne, for your patience and explanations. On Saturday, we packed away our supplies and cleared off the tables leaving only our handmade paper and our projects then each student had a show and tell time. The hand stamped and painted papers were amazing and beautiful and now for more projects with our wonderful papers.

On Friday night a student of Anne's, Dianne Hicks, stopped by. She has been to France with her and taken other workshops in the states. Her web site is a treat.

I've included a slide show of some of the activities during the workshop:

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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Carla O'Connor Workshop, Day 1, October 8, 2007 ~ Lubbock, TX ~ Art Blog

Carla O'Connor

Nancy's first day effort 11 x 15 Seated Lady Watercolor and Gouache on Hot Press Paper

I am loving this first day of the Carla O’Connor Workshop. I put down my $50 deposit last year while in Lubbock for the George James workshop. I’d seen Carla’s work online and in art magazines, admired it, and decided if there was a way possible I wanted to take from her. It happened that it was back to back with the Robert Burridge in Mendocino, Ca. and I arrived home from that one Saturday afternoon, stayed up until 1:00 a.m. getting ready, and left Sunday for this one, but I’ve made it and didn’t fall asleep in class today.
I left Arlington about 8:30 a.m. Sunday and put on the cruise and drove like a mad woman to get unloaded and to the 3:00 demo which was about a five hour drive. I couldn’t help but compare the California twisty, turn signs I’d seen the previous week to the strait as an arrow ones I saw on Sunday. The most curved one was a slight curved arrow when the interstate narrowed down to one lane for road construction. The landscape didn’t change much from open land and ranches, with lots of oaks and mesquites, until after Abilene. On into west Texas, cotton was growing and oil wells began to pop into view. One farm had harvested the cotton and it was stacked and looked like giant loaves of bread with a silver covering over the tops. I made it with one gas stop, cheese crackers for lunch and not near enough coffee. I kept listening to country music and writing down possible painting titles from the lyrics.
Because of some miscommunication Carla didn’t make it on Sunday for the demo but we enjoyed one of the WTWS society member’s demo. Carla will demo Tuesday night instead. She is a delight. She said this was a first for her to miss a demo but as of late she’s been having some “firsts”…well, join the club.
Our class runs from 9-4 and is sponsored by the WTWS. They have a converted fire house for a meeting room and it is wonderful. We had a clothed model this morning in the center of the room and all of our tables were around the model stand in a circle and there was room enough for Carla to walk by for mini critiques. I would say this is one of Carla’s strengths. She gives a thorough explanation of the exercise and then is on the move constantly seeing each student’s work and speaking with them. She’d given us a handout about principles and elements of design and we tackled the first on the list today. It was all about SHAPES. She said, “I’ll give you about 10X more information than you can handle until another workshop with me next year”. I hope. I wish. She promises to tell a good “joke” after lunch to encourage people to get back on time. Carla says she is not a big colorist and likes grays and what do you expect as “I live in Seattle”.
She stressed to forget about the figure and look for shapes. I don’t think I did that very well during the painting session the last 1 ½ hours of the class, I see her my lady's arm needs more work. She told us not to pull it back to realism and I did and I'll try to follow directions better on Tuesday.
The first drawing exercise was something I’ve never done – short gesture drawing BUT we couldn’t change our sheet of paper. We kept working on that one sheet and overlapping the shapes. Finally, we changed sheets and drew some figures and divided it into 4 sections to look for possible figures for paintings. She cautions us to put your mark down with authority. We are creating the skeleton of the painting and you want your bones to be strong. I highlighted this statement after I didn’t do it “Resist the urge to make it REAL. Make a DESIGN.” We did exercises like the “raisin head”, no curved lines, “brain strain” and “dead body” and later we painted on quarter sheets in the afternoon.
After lunch, we had a group meeting to discuss some painting techniques with her admonition “All paint is the same, just different binders and use the fuzzy end of the stick”. All I can say is that Carla has certainly learned how to use the fuzzy end of the stick. Her palette is another story. Her arrangement was given by “I put reds on one end and blues on the other.” Yes, she’s a joy. She saved her old paint in the lid to use as a wonderful gray “Mother color” and she is not continually wiping it clean. Many of her paintings are done with a gold gesso ground on hot press paper. They have a beautiful glow. She prefers round brushes and less water for the gouache paints.
Creative Catalyst has made a dvd of her watercolor instruction but it is not available yet. You can always email them to be notified when it is available.

Other blogs where I post:

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

Burridge Workshop, Day 4, Thurs. ~ Student Slide Show ~ Oct. 4 ~ Art Blog

These are students who let me take a photo of them and a piece of their art work on Thursday during the Mendocino Art Center's class taught by Robert Burridge. (For more about this class see previous posts). A few naysayers said they were in a witness protection program or worked for the undercover branch of the FBI and couldn't have a photo appear on a web site.
It is Friday a.m. and after hearing stories about it being 90 in Dallas/Fort Worth maybe we'll try to bring some coolness back to TX. on Saturday. We won't have a model today (Friday) and it will be a time to work on these MANY stops and starts I've thrown under my table, in the suitcase by my work area or on boxes and chairs against the wall. At noon today we will see a slide show of Burridge's work which will inspire us to try even more. Bob says he'll stay there until 4:00 but I will have to pack up after lunch as we're facing at least a 4 hour drive over very, very twisty roads to Sacramento.
Bob demoed yesterday how to attach an acrylic on watercolor to canvas. He says nothing of his gets framed anymore as it will set the piece back 100 years. He gives details on his newsletter and you can search the newsletter for the information. His newsletter has now reached about 5,000 subscribers and I would recommend it to all as it contains some great information.

I found it interesting to step outside the studio onto the patio area and find wonderful memorial stones that made for good reading. One that I would like to know more about is the one for Wino Willie Boozefighters MC Teri Forkner. The Boozefighters are a motorcycle club and my son belongs to the Boozefighters in Fort Worth.

Hold MOUSE over slide for student's names.

Burridge Workshop, Day 3, Wednesday, Oct. 3 ~ Mendocino, Ca. ~ Art Blog

11x15 acrylic on gessoed watercolor paper

To read previous posts about this workshop click HERE.

There are approximately 22 excited, ready to work students in the Robert Burridge Figurative Class. On Wednesday, we had a female undraped model. We began with some 3 minute gestural drawings and then some 15 minute drawing/painting times. In the afternoon, we had two 45 minute sessions of drawing and painting. The models have my utmost respect as I marvel at how they can hold a pose for 45 minutes with only a short break. At times, they may need to be helped down if a limb has gone to sleep.
We’ve had some excellent models, but I have had very little experience with live model drawing and painting, but others have said how great these people have been. We have a beautiful, well lighted classroom but with the undraped class, we have to close the blinds and drape the doors for privacy.

Burridge quotes and admonitions for the day

1. Handouts included one on varnishing acrylic paintings and he gave us a demo on several paintings and on using a spray varnish for watercolor.


2. Pretty pictures are so boring. Don’t paint boring pictures.


3. Show the world something they have never seen before and “Paint something you have never done before”.


4. Complicated paintings are boring….SIMPLIFY.


5. He discussed and showed us the New Burridge Goof-Proof Color Wheel. I purchased 2. One for me and one to give as a drawing at the SWS meeting when I get back to Texas. I was awarded the Stepping Stone Award and that paid for my tuition to this workshop and I will bring back a surprise drawing for a SWS member.


6. Give yourself goofy assignments such as don’t use brushes today, only paper towels.


7. He discussed more on how his color wheel is set up and a demo on how to use it by painting with 4 colors and black and white.


8. Have your painting tell a story. Every painting is a metaphor. Stories fall into 2 categories – Romeo and Juliet or David and Goliath or a combination of the two.


9. He mentioned the “painting groove” we get in and once in, we can’t stop but the bad thing, once out of it, it’s difficult to get back in.


10. He discussed brushes and gave out a supply list for his materials. He does list some cheaper bristle brushes from the hardware store as some of his favorites along with the more expensive synthetics.

The weather has been ideal here this week – in the 50’s and 60’s in the day and low 40’s at night. I wear a light jacket and hat everywhere as the wind from the ocean can be brisk at times.

On Sunday, September 30, 2007, it was about 51 when we headed north toward the Avenue of the Giants (Avenueofthegiants.net) – home of some ancient redwoods. It was a 31 mile scenic drive of old highway 101 and an outstanding display of these giant trees, some as tall as a 30 story building. Mendy is the name we gave the GPS system in honor of Mendocino and Mendy needed a wake up call several times as she’d get lost in those tall, tall trees. We did see and touch a drive through tree and witnessed a smaller car drive through the opening. Our final destination was Scotia, one of the few company towns in California. It is a Pacific Lumber Company town that we’d wanted to eat at the Inn but looked like it had been closed for the season. Most of these towns were lumber towns and one, Westport, had 20,000 population in it’s heyday but now about 254.

I saw directional highway signs that are completely foreign to flat land Texans. One was a horseshoe shape and many said speed limit 10 or 25 miles along with those crooked signs and one that said “Narrow winding road next 22 miles”.

Along the coast tourists are warned about rogue waves or sneaker waves and not to get on the rocks as these sudden waves can sweep a person out to sea.

We got a snack at the Riverwood Inn in Phillipsville. The Riverwood Inn was built in 1937 and is the last of the old roadhouses that populated the Avenue of the Giants which also used to be Highway 101. I nearly let my purse fall out an open window about a story high when I set it on a window ledge and the window flew open. My new camera was inside and just considering the consequences makes my heart jump.

Later that evening we ate our dinner meal at Sharon’s by the Sea on the Noyo Harbor in Fort Bragg.

One of the west coast's most scenic harbors, Noyo Harbor is tucked into the forested hills at the south end of Fort Bragg. You may remember seeing Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell sailing out of the harbor at the end of the movie Overboard. Noyo Harbor is your starting point for a day out on the ocean, whether it's on a fishing or whale watching charter, or paddling your own kayak.

Burridge Workshop, Day 1 ~ Mendocino, CA ~ Art Blog

Mendocino, California October 1 – 5, 2007

I’m not in Texas anymore! I’m taking an acrylic painting class, "Contemporary Abstract Figurative Painting" in Mendocino, California and Monday, October 1 was the first day. Robert Burridge is the instructor.

The class description:

"This is a class for drawing and painting the contemporary nude. You will learn expressive painting techniques for the modern painter. If you have ever wanted to learn how to paint the free style abstract figure, this workshop is for you. Color theory explained and explored. You will learn the 12 Design Compositions for a successful painting. “Drawing the nude” skills are not a prerequisite. Variety of poses with the undraped model. Lots of paint sketching, gestural wet drawing and finger painting techniques. Be prepared to paint loser, bolder, freer, lighter and more intuitively. Plenty of time for action-filled painting exercises, demos and personalized attention. All eater-soluble paints are welcomed.”

ROBERT BURRIDGE paints almost every day in his country barn studio located on California’s Central Coast along the beaches of San Luis Obispo County. His style explores and interprets “real life” in his own passionate, painterly voice. Art critics describe his work as “vibrant, beautiful, masterly done and just a little tweaked;” and “His use of bold, rich color and adventurous texture, while complex, is uplifting and Pop.” His current subjects feature “the Good Life,” as seen through his life as an artist. He is the President of the International Society of Acrylic Painters. His work is featured on Starbucks Coffee mugs, Pearl Vodka bottles and on eight commercial tapestries.

The class is being held in the Mendocino Art Center and it is an educational, exhibition, and resource center for the visual and performing arts founded in 1959 and it overlooks the Pacific.

Mendocino County’s most visited city, Mendocino, a quaint New England style town with many of the buildings dating to the turn-of-the-century. The Mendocino Coast is one of the most picturesque areas of the state. Main Street is filled with dozens of shops on one side as the other side is left for a spectacular ocean view. There are art galleries and lots of restaurants and B&Bs. Many of the small towns along the Northern Coast region had their beginnings because of the logging and sawmill industry. Mendocino started as a logging town and has become an art colony and in the center of the village is the Mendocino Art Center, which hosts classes and seminars each year.

Classes run from 9:30 to 4:30 each day. Our model, G., arrived about 10:00 a.m. and we drew and painted all day except for a lunch break and short model breaks. These sessions ran anywhere from 2-3 minute poses to two 45 minute drawing and painting sessions. The room set up is not ideal. There are 2 adjoining rooms and the model stand is in between. The class is full with about 20 students and 30 on a waiting list. My biggest concern is there is not a table and chairs set aside for Bob to do demos – the main reason I take a workshop is to see the instructor paint. I hope this situation improves. We are the only class this week in session and I hope later we can have a demo set up on the patio area.

Some Bob instructions:

1. Maintain a GOOD attitude. Don’t expect to do a great painting. Paint the way you’ve always wanted to paint. If you end up with a lousy painting so what. Do hundreds of paintings and drawings.
2. Try to find a theme or series. For example, at present he’s doing a circus theme. He’s just finished a Wingland/Lovers theme. He recommended the book “Water for Elephants”. A theme is something closest to your heart. Know and trust your heart and develop a theme and place a model in your theme.
3. Nothing is original. Everything has been done before BUT not by you. That’s what makes it your original.
4. Experiment with your drawing. Draw with twigs, paper towels, big brushes, pens, charcoal. You can include more than the model.
5. For the gesture drawings, do not put in eyebrows or fingernails.
6. Most people make the head too large. Try to exaggerate a feature.
7. We used very little color and started with black and white paint or gesso and then added one color, and later added one more color just as a highlight color.

After the class, I visited 2 local art supply stores and just looked. You never think you have enough supplies but I restrained myself and settled for a wonderful dinner, upstairs and overlooking the city, in Fort Bragg at the Mendo Bistro. for fresh pasta and wine. Too tired for any homework and fell asleep reading my handouts. I'm being courageous posting this initial attempt but I'll work on her later.

Mini Portrait ~ Port Bolivar Red Dress ~ BlogRush ~ Art Blog

$30.00
5" x 7" Acrylic on Canvas Board, mini portrait
This is the second mini portrait to post painted while some of the CBC group painted at Port Bolivar. See this post to see where we stayed.
I may not may not look at reference material when painting these mini portraits as they usually don't look like anyone I know when completed. But they are fun to do after finishing a project for our collaborative group, Canvas by Canvas. While at our rental beach vacation home, we painted pigs, lures, chickens/roosters, and cats in preparation for fall shows and some of these have already sold. Click HERE to see what is on the easel. I believe all of the lures have sold BUT we will always take orders and we'd be glad to discuss a personal mini you'd like to commission.
BlogRush

BlogRush is still the talk of the blogosphere. The talk is when you add the BlogRush widget to your blog, your post titles will immediately start showing up across a bunch of related blogs that have signed up for BlogRush themselves. I signed up for the Art/Design category. If your blog gets 100 page views a day, your links will show up 100 times on other blogs. If it gets 1,000 page views a day, your links will show up 1,000 times. I don't understand exactly how this works or will work out, but I will try it for a week or so and see if my stats show more traffic to my blog. That's the goal of all bloggers to increase traffic to their blog. A list of related Art sites will be showcased in the widget with the idea of clicks to other sites.
And what’s even better is that if you refer another blogger to BlogRush, your links will be shown even more based on the traffic they receive. That is done by sending invitations to your blogger friends that might be interested in installing it on their blog.
It is estimated that more than 20% of blog readers are also bloggers! Go to the help tab Step-By-Step Video Tutorials For Installing The BlogRush Code for different blog types, Word Press, Blogger, Type pad, Movable type as they show you exactly how to add your BlogRush code to your blog if you'd like to participate in this experiment. It is all free. I have recently added the BlogRush widget to my sidebar. It's a new way to promote your own blog across other relevant blogs (i.e. in the same subject area) and its free. In the widget you'll see links to other Art and Design blogs participating in BlogRush. You can find out more by watching the BlogRush video on the homepage. If you join, one question is throwing some of my friends... You will not be able to complete the registration process until you know the address of your feed. In Blogger, at the very bottom of the page is this statement: Subscribe to: Posts (Atom), click on that and the URL address will appear in the address bar, copy and paste into the blank.
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Eat Well ~ Paint Your Food ~ Laugh Often

SOLD ~ Pigasus ~ Port Bolivar Vacation ~ Nancy Standlee Art Blog

SOLD
$40.00
6" x 6"
This little piggy can be purchased through the Canvas by Canvas web site.
He was painted at the southern part of Texas on the gulf, Port Bolivar, one of the first ports established in Texas. Some of the Canvas by Canvas art group, packed up their bathing suits and painting supplies and headed to this rented vacation home on the gulf side overlooking the beach at Grand Pelican - Sandy Shores. Even before our week's stay was over we were planning a second trip. I had never visited this area and since we went after Labor Day, on September 6 - 11, 2007, we had the beach to ourselves much of the time. We did take lots of photos that we will paint later. Morning coffee on the deck overlooking the ocean with thoughts of a day of painting is indeed a vacation. Throw in a new restaurant search for the evening and maybe a trip to the dollar store for beach chairs makes it complete.

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Grackles ~ Opportunity Calls ~ Frames by Mail ~ About.com ~ Art Blog

$80.00
11" x 15" Watercolor on 140 lb. paper

Grackles are a nuisance bird in some Texas cities. They are an iridescent black with purple and bronze close up but at a distance they appear just to be a black bird but an interesting bird to paint for artists. Usually straight black out of the tube is a no-no for watercolorists as a more exciting black could be made to mix it from other colors. I like the freedom to use arbitrary color..what ever color strikes my fancy at the moment. In this watercolor I’ve left some unpainted places on the birds, sparkles. Some purist watercolor painters approve, some don’t. So paint how it pleases you.

If you want to learn more about painting and try it out for yourself, there is an excellent tutorial and information at About.com. If you want to learn to paint and have any time at all, I would encourage you to begin your journey by reading THIS article.

There are color tips here also.

Color Mixing Tip No 5: Don’t Overmix
If, when you mix two colors together on a palette, you don’t mix and mix until they’re totally, utterly, definitely combined, but stop a little bit beforehand, you get a far more interesting result when you put the mixed color down on paper or canvas. The result is a color that’s intriguing, varies slightly across the area you’ve applied it, not flat and consistent.

Read these tips for creating black..

Choose a painting medium and if watercolor as these grackles are, paint your first painting, and then for your first show, order a simple metal frame, white matt, and plexiglass from the largest collection of Custom and Ready Made picture frames on the Internet, Frames by Mail. They have a simple process set up for measuring your art and adding the dimensions and figuring your cost; however, I allow a smidge more area than the 1/8 they suggest. That is playing it too close in my book. Another suggestion would be to frame a painting is wait for a picture sale at a local hobby store, buy a sale item and remove the print and place your original in its place.

Now go have fun. Paint your own black grackle in glorious colors. And if you want to learn to paint, just do it while reading all you can about painting. Start a sketchbook and paint in it. I’ll talk about choosing a sketchbooks on another day.

Other blogs where I post:

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Sunflower Painting ~ Summer Friends ~ Thru the Bible Radio ~ Art Blog

$80.00
11" x 15" Watercolor
This summer has brought changes in my lifestyle as I've become interested in blogging and in some weight issues. ( See Post in Artist Food Network) and for the past two weeks I've begun a walking program. I have listened to Thru the Bible Radio off and on for years but this is the way I'm listening while I walk. On the home page you will see a free MP3 Download option.

WELCOME! Thru The Bible is a 30-minute Bible study radio program that takes the listener through the entire Bible in just 5 years, going back and forth between the Old and New Testaments. This Bible study program has been aired on radio stations in the U.S. since 1967, and is now being produced in over 100 languages around the world.

Because the mission of Thru the Bible Radio is to take the whole Word to the whole world, we are making these files available to you free of charge for your personal use.

John Vernon McGee was born in Hillsboro, Texas, in 1904. Dr. McGee remarked, "When I was born and the doctor gave me the customary whack, my mother said that I let out a yell that could be heard on all four borders of Texas!"

How To Download:

Please note that these zipped MP3 files are large and therefore suitable for download only by using a high-speed internet connection. Dial-up users are advised not to attempt to download them. To begin the download, simply click on one of the primary download links in the first two columns and choose where on your computer you'd like the zipped file to be saved. Before you can play the MP3s, they must be unzipped or extracted back into individual mp3 files. To do this you will need a zipping software (such as WinZip or the Extraction Wizard in Windows XP) to unzip the file. Once they have been downloaded and unzipped, you can begin studying the Bible along with Dr. McGee!

Hints: Download to your Desktop and on the last Extract choice of the original file you are trying to extract - (Extract to Title of what you have downloaded or you’ll have files all over the desktop.) Right click on the Last extract. Delete the original book type icon and start saving all the Bible Books to a folder. I save the current Book only and delete it when I’ve finished listening to save room on my Samsung Digital Audio Player. It’s easier for me to just start playing where I’ve left off the day before. I tie the Sportline Step Counter around my waist and when I return from about a 30 minute walk, I post the activity on the Calorie Counter Plus site.
With a MP3 player download you can start anywhere you like in the J. Vernon McGee broadcast and listen when it’s convenient. I am listening to these chapters as I walk in this Texas August heat and each day I look forward to my chapters and my walk as I find walking needs a little something extra. Walking is a priority as I’ve mentioned before as some of my collaborative painting group from Canvas by Canvas are in a weight loss war and the weigh in date is drawing near, September 4. There is a cash bonus involved plus the benefit of some better fitting jeans.

If you like a little religious humor, you might find this worth looking at; however, there are several comments posted pro and con about the Baptism Cannonball.

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Oh, yes I forgot to mention MySpace has been updated. I visited a 13 year old grand daughter yesterday and she thought my site was much too plain. I asked her to find me something she would recommend. I like her choice.

http://artistfoodnetwork.blogspot.com

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Eat Well ~ Paint Your Food ~ Laugh Often

Figure with Flowers ~ Diadem ~ Wotartist ~ Facebook ~ Art Blog

NFS
18" x 24"
Acrylic on watercolor paper
This week I was notified that my art work been accepted from the http://Wotartist.com site. Wotartist was voted one of the top 50 web sites in the Times poll, a roundup of the most interesting sites of the year. At Wotartist you can search for an artist by genre or by the artist's name. For a ex-librarian this is hard to understand but their entries are alphabetical using the first name. So I would look for me by Nancy Standlee instead of Standlee, Nancy. Here is my listing http://www.wotartist.com/directory.asp?Author=Nancy%20Standlee

When you mouse over the painting an image will appear. If you click it takes you to the blog site. If you’re interested in looking at art of any kind, it can probably be found at Wotartist.
My big objection to the Times site was that I could never find a way to print their poll off. I ended up doing a print screen to get them down on paper as I think this would be a very good list to refer to.
If you want to vote for Wotartist you can here. You can rank the Times' picks.

This elegantly designed portal is a beautiful introduction to artist websites from around the world. Listings are organized by region (Americas, U.K., Europe, Australia, Asia/Middle East) and directory pages list types and genres (sculpture, painting and photography; Figurative, Surrealism and Expressionism). They are clues that are to be explored—moused over, really—so you can discover who, and what, lies beyond. Trigger the pop-up windows to see the artist's name and a sample piece. One click takes you to that artist's website, where you can see more images of their work, learn about gallery shows and get other information. Whether you're a serious collector or just plain curious, it's fun to hop from Nick Milliner's animations (listed as "Weird" on the U.K. page) to bright clay pots by Pippin Drysdale (ceramics, in Australia). But if you're looking for a particular artist, just Google him or her, as there's no search-this-site option. If you're an artist who needs help designing a website to showcase your work, Wotartist has a Wotdesign team for hire. Another site that can quickly suck you in: Getty Images' 10 ways, 10 separate, uniquely structured virtual paths through one immense collection.

Who could resist reading about the 25 sites we can’t live without?

Scroll down and you’ll see the 5 worst web sites. Wouldn’t you love to have the time to explore the 50 best, 25 that we can’t live without and yes, even the 5 worst.

From the Wotartist web site:

About wotartist

Wotartist is unique in being an artist directory run voluntarily by artists themselves. It is a non-commercial site, with the sole aim to promote some of the best artists currently exhibiting on the internet. Designed with ease of use foremost as a consideration, we hope that the buying public, publishers, art students and art agents will all find wotartist a useful tool. Please contact directly with individual artists if you are interested in their work and send selective artists e-cards - which can be used for all occasions. New artists are actively sought out and added to this site daily, so please visit frequently to discover new and exciting art work.

Locate an artist

• Use continent region links to browse for artists.
• The drop down list of genres allows for a more specific look at the artists listed.
• A further detailed search can be made by using the search box. Try searching by using the first few letters of a name, or a specific location and e-card to select all artists with e-cards to send.

I found it interesting that FaceBook was not listed in Time's top 50 web sites but it was included as #9 as the 25 we can't live without. Some of us from Canvas by Canvas have joined Facebook and we would welcome you as a friend. To find more information about Facebook, click HERE:

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

SOLD ~Copper Curls ~ Small Portrait ~ NeoCounter ~ Art Blog

SOLD to an art collector in Plainview, TX
5" x 7" Acrylic Portrait on canvas board

I have a fondness for painting girls with red hair. Red hair is more fun to paint than just plain brown. I see that this redhead may have gotten a little too much sun on her cheeks. Wikipedia has this to say about people with red hair and I learned that Scotland is the country with the highest proportion of redheads in the world.
And talking about countries, I've found the neatest, coolest web widget in the Blogosphere. When you scroll down my page you'll see a list of visitor's cities and countries beside their flag. I found it in operation on a site in Australia, Life in the Health Lane while visiting Blog Catalog.
Then I couldn't wait for Megha to click on my site so Australia would show up on my NeoCounter. You can download your free copy at Neoworx.
Today some from Canvas by Canvas painted at the Upstairs Gallery on an upcoming project of mini flies and lures and the rest will have to be a surprise (no sneak peeks yet). This is just the "bait"..sorry. But while there the gallery owner, J.T. Martin, stopped by from his UTA teaching position and I had to snap a photo of this handsome Southern Gentleman.

We have a NeoCounter on our Canvas by Canvas site and I am jealous. I see they have had 2 hits from my home town of De Leon, Texas (population 2200) and I haven't had one De Leon visitor. I think I may have to email some old classmates! Also, my brother lives in Midland and I don't see a Midland visitor yet..hey, Bro.. come visit my blog but there is a Midland visitor on the CBC web site. OK, this could get addictive.

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

Autumn Portrait ~ Art Workshops ~ Elvis Week ~ In the Ghetto ~ Nancy Standlee Art Blog

Autumn 2
Autumn 1
Not for sale
11" x 15" Watercolor portrait on 300 lb paper
Autumn 1 was painted in a Ted Nuttall workshop in 2004 in Dallas. It was one of my first portraits and I am just now ready to pass the painting on to the subject as she is leaving for college in a few weeks. A painting holds so many memories that it's hard to let go of some of them but it's time. Later, I painted Autumn 2 for me to keep as a remembrance. Ted had told us not to paint a loved one as it would be more difficult because of the emotions involved so I didn't listen. Sometimes I do listen. Ted is a wonderful person and delightful instructor. Since that time I've taken other Ted Nuttall workshops and one of the best was in Italy where we stayed in a Tuscan villa with side trips to neighboring towns but that needs to be told in an additional post.
Another reason for thinking portraits is my October 07 copy of Watercolor Magic that came this week and it contained a portrait article: Face Forward, p. 48 about Myrna Wacknov and her portraits. I love her technique and corresponded with her immediately to tell her so. Watercolor Magic has a file to download about using Photoshop Elements to enhance the color of photos and it is excellent. Now I want to take a workshop with her but for now I'll try out the Photoshop Elements Technique. Thanks, Watercolor Magic for that pdf file.

Since this is Elvis week and it's drawing to a close, I need to mention him. He performed in the early 50's around Stephenville but my thoughts were about making some summer school credits at Tarleton State and I missed the opportunity to see him early in his career. I've been to Graceland, saw him in concert in Virginia, and in 2005 the Texas State Fair had an exhibit with him carved in butter. You be the judge.

And in Texas we have fans that grew up with Elvis and here is a photo of one I couldn't resist taking as he was viewing the Elvis exhibit of his personal memorabilia on that Fair Day.

There have been blog tributes all week.
I enjoyed this video clip of Lisa Marie and Elvis singing In the Ghetto..

Have a great weekend, paint a portrait and remember Elvis!

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

Lady Portrait ~ Kimbell Museum ~ Modern Museum ~ Art Blog

$45.00
9" x 9" Acrylic on watercolor paper
Road trips are always popular with my Canvas by Canvas painter friends. Yesterday, August 14, the temperature was about 102 in the shade when some of us decided on a Fort Worth museum day where air conditioning is king. We were all in need for a “girlfriend fix” as we were on the verge of a major hissy fit. The Purple Cow and a hamburger fix nixed the fit. Cindy Y drove us , Maryann was available, and Betty needed a break from her web duties, and Connie met us for lunch.

First stop was the Modern Museum where we viewed the Ron Mueck sculpture exhibition that runs through October 21, 2007. Ron is a virtuoso of hyper realistic sculpture and the exhibit includes 13 of his works and each will elicit a different response from the viewer. The sleeping elderly lady covered with a blanket made me want to view and then tip toe silently away as to not awaken her. The larger than life baby with umbilical cord attached brought a joyful shout just thinking about watching the birth of my last grandchild. A 30 minute video showing his sculpture process and the production steps of the pregnant woman is a must see.

The Kimbell Art Museum was exhibiting The Mirror and the Mask: Portraiture in the Age of Picasso until September 16. Some portraits by artistic giants such as Van Gogh, Matisse, and Cezanne could be studied and it is a dazzling collection of 100 masterpieces from 75 collections. One of my favorites was Maurice de Vlaminch’s Andre Derain.

The Buffet at the Kimbell is a favorite place to eat and we stopped by to share some of Shelby Schafer’s desserts and Mango tea. Shelby’s first Kimbell cookbook was published in 1986 and The Kimbell Cookbook was revised and published in 2001. I have both books and I use them regularly and I’m so grateful Shelby believes in sharing her recipes. We sampled the Mandarin Orange Cake, page 182 and Raspberry Truffle Brownies, page 204 from the new book and Mango tea for a pick me up before our Arlington return. The Buffet Restaurant is a welcoming stop after a museum tour. The area is a visual delight while enjoying Shelby’s culinary masterpieces.

This portrait is a very impressionist loose interpretation of an imaginary person lurking in my storehouse of mind portraits.

P.S. I've done a Technorati search and have found some recent posts about Ron Mueck you might be interested in:
Great photos http://caw-leen.livejournal.com/13046.html
YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwIkJiauV3U&mode=related&search=

Another blogger: http://subtledesigner.blogspot.com/2007/08/museums.html

Photos of installation: http://www.flickr.com/photos/10468439@N05/sets/72157601021948061/

Other blogs where I post:

http://artistfoodnetwork.blogspot.com

http://canvasbycanvas.blogspot.com

http://myspace.com/nancystandlee

TO PURCHASE PAINTINGS: Go to Paypal on http://nancystandlee.blogspot.com

Eat Well ~ Paint Your Food ~ Laugh Often

Blue Rose ~ Blue Vase ~ Floral Painting ~ Oskee-Wow-Wow ~ P and M Festival

Detail of Red Rose ~ Blue Vase
NFS
19" x 19" Acrylic on watercolor paper

This weekend was the annual De Leon Peach and Melon Festival. See my post on the Artist Food Network about the P and M Festival. Friday evening, August 10, found me at Proctor Lake celebrating with the De Leon, Texas class of 1954 with great snacks and ever greater memories.

Saturday was the all school reunion at the elementary school where kudos were given to the oldest student, the one that traveled the farthest, and ex-faculty present. Each class stood for recognition with the 50^th anniversary class given the privilege of some stage sitting and viewing by all. Neck hugs and howdy’s all around and with promises to return in 2008. I saw Charles Chupp and asked if he’d written an article about our school song, Oskee-Wow-Wow. He had but he said it was in a shoebox somewhere and had not been archived. He has a web-site that mentions it in the Article Words and Music, August 9, 2007.

All would enjoy his story about how the De Leon Peach and Melon Festival came into being. Texas History 101 by De Leon, Charles Chupp at the Texana Review.

After the song closing, tables were at the back to buy a quilt raffle ticket (Yes, bought 6), a De Leon Tee-shirt (Yep, I did), and Memorial bricks (I’m thinking about it), afghan of De Leon photos (yes, as well).

A trip wouldn’t be complete to pay my respects and a visit to the De Leon Cemetery where I observed these Confederate battle flags with the distinctive 13 stars marking some of the graves. I did not realize the cemetery held so many Confederate veterans and thanks to whoever is responsible for that display. One interesting note on a gravestone I saw were the words “1825 made the leg irons for Santa Anna after his capture.”

Also an interesting article about the Confederate battle flag.

Activities not attended were the Garden Tractor Pull and the Seed Spitting Contest but participated heartily in the Watermelon Slicing at 5:00.

Other blogs where I post:

http://artistfoodnetwork.blogspot.com

http://canvasbycanvas.blogspot.com

http://myspace.com/nancystandlee

TO PURCHASE PAINTINGS: Go to Paypal on http://nancystandlee.blogspot.com

Eat Well ~ Paint Your Food ~ Laugh Often