Nancy Standlee Fine Art

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Eat Well ~ Paint Your Food ~ Laugh Often

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

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:

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Eat Well ~ Paint Your Food ~ Laugh Often

Friday, August 10, 2007

Calf Painting ~ Cattle ~ Nancy Standlee Art Blog

Texas Calf
11 x 14 Acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas, 1 3/8 depth

My calf/cow knowledge would fit in a thimble and the closest I get to cattle is probably at the State Fair of Texas.
In my earlier days, I have observed my daddy milking and remember asking him if I could try but zilch on the milk.
I've seen a lot of cattle and horses on the daily painting sites and Canvas by Canvas had painted some longhorns so this is my attempt (My square in the CBC longhorn painting was the bottom left square (just grass and the signature) You can't draw the center square every time). My other longhorn painting was given as a Christmas gift and I have one that has been repainted several times and is not ready for it's debut yet. I'm still cattle challenged and I still prefer my associated to be limited by canvas and paints.
If you like jokes, here is one from MGR of Chaos about a Montana cowboy and some cows and calves.

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Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Gloria ~ Glorious Days with Gloria ~ Duck, NC ~ Nancy Standlee Art Blog

$25
5" x 7" Acrylic on canvas board
This small portrait is smaller than I usually paint and the colors are not as vivid but I love to try my hand at portraits and plan to do others. I named the painting Gloria, but it really reminds me a little of Helen Hunt and it doesn't look like Gloria. Gloria is the name chosen because several of the CBC group (but before it was organized) traveled to the Outer Banks, North Carolina to take a workshop with a long ago Virginia friend, Gloria Coker. She paints like I’d like to with very bright colors and in an impressionist style. We flew into Norfolk, Virginia. She has a beach house in Duck named the “Sketch Pad” and near the ocean but she was such an enthusiastic teacher and taskmaster we spent little time on the beach. Her forte was individual attention and getting us to find “our style” while working at our own level. I had met Gloria years ago (think 70's) while we were artist wantabe’s in Hampton, Va. She was already painting and selling fabulous watercolors and I have an early Gloria painting of her cats. I was very involved with batik and as I remember we probably traded a batik and a painting.

One distracting little activity we were prone to do during our photo ops were to display friends (who were absent) photos on sticks to include them in the activities. Gloria would be giving a demo and a head on a stick would appear behind the easel so the missing person would still be in the photo. Gloria indulged our little whims. This photo was taken at the airport before the heads were on a stick.

Gloria is in the process of developing a blog sometime during the summer. It will be a welcome bookmark and she says she will contribute a painting and recipe to our Artists Food Network.
I should have named the painting, “Glorious Days with Gloria” to remind us of those early mornings sitting on the covered deck drinking our coffee and planning and looking forward to a day of instruction and painting. Gloria, please let us know when your blog's grand opening will be.

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Poppies ~ Poppy Painting ~ Afghanistan Poppy ~ The Red Poppies Dance ~ Nancy Standlee Art Blog

12"x16" Acrylic on watercolor paper on gallery wrapped canvas 1 1/2" profile
No flowers were harmed in the making of this painting. They came from my flower imagination. Each spring I have always loved shopping the seed packets and seeing the Oriental Poppies and I'd buy a package just to have. I love the genus name of Papaver. But poppies can generate a multitude of memories.
Here is more information on the poppy that I found at Answers.com.
pop·py (pŏp'ē)

n., pl. -pies.

Any of numerous plants of the genus Papaver, having nodding buds with four crumpled petals, showy red, orange, or white flowers, a milky juice, and capsules that dehisce through terminal pores.
Any of several similar or related plants, such as the California poppy.
An extract from the sap of unripe poppy seedpods, used in medicine and narcotics.
A vivid red to reddish orange.

Besides symbolizing sleep and unconsciousness, poppies were also associated with death, and already at the time of Waterloo it was said that those growing on the battlefield had sprung from the blood of soldiers (Dyer, 1889: 115). This symbolism was taken up during and after the First World War; in the period leading up to Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday (11 November, and the Sunday nearest to it) they are widely worn as lapel badges, and wreaths of them laid at memorials for the dead of all recent wars.

Country beliefs about poppies were chiefly warnings: to pick or sniff them supposedly caused headaches, earache, blindness, warts, or a strong possibility of being struck by lightning. The purpose may have been to stop children trampling the corn in order to pick flowers (Vickery, 1995: 286-90).

Disturbing and alarming news on the poppy front from Strannix blog and he reports that Afghanistan will produce another record poppy harvest this year that cements its status as the world's near-sole supplier of the heroin source and that the country now accounts for 95 percent of the world's crop. Good news for dealers and junkies.
Another report from Matthew Lee mentions that almost all the heroin from Afghanistan makes its way to Europe; most of the heroin in the U.S. comes from Latin America.

The poppy has been the symbol of the dead and of sleep since antiquity. The poppies of “Flanders fields” are celebrated in a poem by John McCrae and are the Memorial Day emblem of World War veterans. The poem can be viewed on Tom's MySpace . In Flanders Fields" is one of the most famous poems about World War I, and has been called "The most popular poem" produced by the war. Green Fields of France - Memorial Video
is a must see with a beautiful song with the lines "The warm summer breeze makes the red poppies dance"

An interesting tidbit is the false positive drug tests when ingesting small amounts of the seeds. Although the drug opium is produced by "milking" latex from the unripe fruits ("seed pods") rather than from the seeds, all parts of the plant can contain or carry the opium alkaloids, especially morphine and codeine. This means that eating foods (e.g., muffins) that contain poppy seeds can result in a false positive for opiates in a drug test.

I hope you enjoy this poppy painting about dancing poppies. For a wonderful poppy seed dressing recipe check out the Artist Food Network.

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Friday, August 3, 2007

Daffodil Painting Series #4 of 4 ~ Art Groups DFW

$40.00 each

Daffodil Series #4 of 4

Weekend Sale 2 Daffodil series $60.00 or 4 Daffodil Series 1-4 for $100.00

5” x 7” watercolor with light beige mat

How do you get visitors to your web site or blog site? There are many opinions to that question. This week I invited everyone in my address book and that gives you pause. You’re afraid that Yahoo will think you’re a spammer or your friends will not appreciate you filling up their inbox. Fortunately I’ve had some positive response and thanks to you who have subscribed. One email came from Sharon Giles from the Art Groups DFW and she asked me to contribute an article on blogging and my art blog. You can read the article here.

The web site is a hub for the DFW area artists and those living in the North Texas area. It is The Place to discover what is happening in the art scene in the metroplex and surrounding area.
It is devoted to news of art events hosted by nonprofit visual art groups as well as news about their member artists. Artists can find out about exhibits, meetings, art instruction, and opportunities. You may find a exhibit you would like to visit over the weekend.

Or take a cruise over to Canvas by Canvas.com and see our mini paintings of high heels and cupcakes. We have reduced the prices to make them affordable for gifts - maybe an early Christmas present. It is always a difficult process to find the correct selling price for a painting. We have reached the conclusion that these were priced more than some competitive paintings. Our goal is to sell so we can keep painting. Your comments on this would be appreciated. Since lowering the price to $40.00 earlier today, one has been sold so that tells us something.

I hope you have an enjoyable weekend. I wish on these little holidays you take the right exit and you travel without any warning lights appearing on your dashboard.

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Eat Well ~ Paint Your Food ~ Laugh Often

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Daffodil Painting ~ Starry Night ~ Lorelle VanFossen

$40.00
Daffodil Series #3 of 4

5”x7” watercolor with a light beige mat to fit 8”x10” frame

What is your favorite Van Gogh painting? Yesterdays post introduced 2 daffodil paintings and you visited YouTube to hear that wonderful tribute in song to Vincent Van Gogh and Starry, Starry Night and to see the slide show of some of Van Gogh's paintings. Starry Night is special to me because it was my oldest son’s favorite painting when Van Gogh’s paintings were introduced into the school art curriculum in his elementary school days.

For more information on Starry Night go to the Van Gogh Gallery

Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh has risen to the peak of artistic achievements. Although Van Gogh sold only one painting in his life, the aftermath of his work is enormous. Starry Night is one of the most well known images in modern culture as well as being one of the most replicated and sought after prints. From Don McLean's song 'Starry, Starry Night' (Based on the Painting), to the endless number of merchandise products sporting this image, it is nearly impossible to shy away from this amazing painting. (read more at the Gallery)

The Official Don McLean Website..

For the Bloggers:

Because I’m a “newbie” blogger, belong to a group of collaborative artists, Canvas by Canvas, and some have joined me in the Blogosphere, I give a hint or tip in my blogs when I find something of note – especially something about blogging. This morning C/NET News on my Yahoo page, staff writer Elinor Mills wrote an article “Please Don’t Steal This Web Content” about Lorelle VanFossen and her popular blog on blogging and her views on copyright laws. (Artists are always thinking about copyright laws such as whose photograph is that? Did you take it? Who took it? On and on…) This morning I learned about software bots that copy thousands of blog posts and republish on sites using ads to generate $$$. These sites are know as new word --“scraper sites”. The article gives some ways VanFossen gets around this practice.

At this stage of my blogging life, I like to read blogs about blogging. Do I hear a suppressed yawn out there? Ok, so finding an unused steno pad or a new yellow lined tablet at my house makes me ecstatic. To find my long lost stapler in a pile of papers makes me do the happy dance. (My daughter mentioned last weekend she hoped no one struck a match around here.) So back to BAB (blogs about blogging) and I plan to tag Lorelle’s site on Del.icio.us ( I Love Del.icio.us) . Fellow CBC painters, Lorelle uses WordPress and we use Blogger but I’m sure we can benefit when we check out some hints on her BAB. Painting, blogging, and music makes me do another happy dance.

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Monday, July 30, 2007

Kitty Wompus ~ Uncertain, TX ~ Wompus Kitty

$65.00
11" x 15" watercolor on 140 lb. watercolor paper

This was painted from a cat photo I'd taken at the Upstairs Gallery, Arlington, info@upstairsartgallery.com. where some of us meet to paint at J. T.'s and for while I called the painting J.T.'s cat. Several cats rule at the TUG and I don't know their true cat names or if they even have a name, but they pretty much take over the workshop area while we are there, coming and going as they please and ignoring us completely.
Now about that title. There are many word search results on Kitty Wompus. I found kitty-wumpus, catty-wompus, catty wampus,and catawampus (and this may be the one as it's a variant of mountain lion. It has come to mean askew or crooked and first appeared in print in 1843. (What about antigogglin'? or is this even how to spell it?) Anyway it brought to mind how my Daddy used the word with a slight inversion. If he ever said, "She's an old Wompus Kitty", we knew that was not good and might call into question a female's character.

The wild colors came about from taking my second workshop with Ken Hosmer and it was held at the Mossy Brake Gallery in Uncertain, Texas . Several of us rented cabins in the area and spent an enjoyable week painting on the Caddo Lake. I went to my first Hosmer workshop in Oklahoma by myself. I took his videos and my portable tv/vcr combination and ensconced myself in a local motel and painted by day and watched his videos some evenings. I'd found his web site first and loved his use of color and wanted to see him paint and take a workshop.That's usually my modus operandi when I discover a favorite painter. On the Ken Hosmer website he gives a watercolor demonstration of painting a calico cat.

After some consideration, I felt like with the wild Hosmer influenced colors my kitty could be a Kitty Wompus or a Wompus Kitty, just take your pick.

More cat humor can be found at I Can Has Cheezburger.com.

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