One More, Before I Go

Collage Withdrawal?

Cherry-on-Top, 12x12 Paper Painting

I will be out of town all next week, going on a Disney Cruise to the Bahamas with my family, in-laws and all! What that means is no technology and no art for a week, what will I do! At sea I will not have my cell phone, my computer, OR my collage materials! yikes.

I am thinking it will be a good break to cleanse my mind of cupcakes! My sister-in-law came in last night with her family from New Jersey, along with my other sister-in-law and family. (I am so lucky to have two great sister-in-laws!) The entire Nelson clan is going on this trip... Anyhoo! Wendy said to me "I thought you were DONE with cupcakes!" And that reminded me that after the Scrap Bag Studies I had indeed said I was done with cupcakes. We have Christine to thank us for these recent cupcakes, as she wanted me to do one for her, and then I liked them so much I did another one. The truth of the matter is that cupcakes are fun, who doesn't smile about cupcakes?

Have you figured that I like working in a series? I sure do, because I don't have to spend a lot of time thinking of what I am going to do next, AND I can take what I have learned from the last cupcake and apply it to the next one, and the next one, and the next one... remember the roosters?

Speaking of roosters, when I come back from my art and technology break, it is going to be time for me to switch gears and prepare for my February solo exhibition at the Katharine Butler Gallery in Sarasota. The series of roosters I did was for this gallery and they have already sold one. In February I will be adding other barnyard friends and objects of nature. So, stay tuned for that big shift in gears and if anyone has any suggestions of animals I can do, post a comment. The most interesting request I have gotten so far?

Alpacas.

Cupcakes in Progress

It all Starts with a Sketch

Here are my two sketches for the new work I am doing, 12x12 cupcakes. I start with a pencil sketch on wood panel.

Under Paintings

Here are the under paintings for the cupcakes. I do a loose acrylic painting on unprimed wood panel before I collage. I use this part of the process much like a pastel artist uses a colored paper to start, rather than white, so that any paper that shows through is complimentary.

Final Pieces

Flower Cupcake and Pink Whip Cupcake 12x12

Final Paper Paintings of the two cupcakes. I hoped that YOU, my blog subscribers and viewers, would help decide which cupcake you liked the best for my friend Christine.

Cupcake for Christine

From Scratch

Having seen my eBay auction for Strawberry Cupcake, my friend Christine asked me if I would create a small cupcake collage just for her. I figured it was time to do another "in progress" blog posting since I have gotten several new subscribers since the Cloth Paper Scissors magazine article.

Today I give you the reference. My next step is the sketch and the underpainting. Christine said she wanted it to be "Pink and Girly", I can work with that!

Fiddle Head on eBay

Fiddle Head, Click to Bid

11.25 x 15.5 unframed

This Paper Painting is the top of a violin, the peg box and fiddle head. The background is created from nursery rhymes, sheet music, and French text book pages. This collage is on wood panel and is varnished, intended to be framed without glass. This piece is unframed.

eBay Cupcake Collage

Strawberry Cupcake Click to Bid

12x12 framed in natural light wood 

This is an original fine art collage, "Paper Painting" on wood panel, framed in 1.5-inch natural light wood contemporary squared edge molding, and signed by the artist. It is from my cupcakes series and would look nice in the kitchen! 

For coffee and tea lovers, there are many scraps of Starbucks bags in the foreground of this piece, with tea bags for the cake wrapper and book pages for the frosting. The ochre background is acrylic paint glazed over wood panel, with the grain and striation showing through. The yellow rectangle on the horizon line is a Tazo tea bag tag!

Email me with any questions: ejnelson@mac.com or leave comments on this post, thanks!

Sweet Things in Small Packages

Small Treats 10x8 collages

I have taken a diversion from tree branches to work on some small collages (12x12 or less). I have an upcoming trunk show where these small works and my flashbags will be featured here in Orlando in December. These small but sweet pieces are more stylized and less detailed than my larger pieces, so they are fun to work on between larger, more time consuming works.

Growth, Change, Hope

New Branch Series

I have been working on a series of branches and flowering trees. These pieces are at the request of Juxtapose Gallery in Westfield, NJ. Gerri Gildea has had success with Paper Paintings there, recently selling Infusion and Moritake Butterfly, as well as Dogwoods. 

Juxtapose is a small gallery in a very unique town. Having grown up in Westfield, MA– I do smile every time I address a package to Westfield, NJ! Simple things make me smile.

Let me know what you think of the Growth, Change, Hope series, won't you? 

"Shaken" now on eBay!

SHAKEN, Click to Bid

SOLD!

8x10 collage of handmade and found papers

Art does make a one-of-a-kind Christmas gift! This original collage is framed in a 1.5-inch flat, plain, dark wood molding with finished back and hanging hardware. 

The first collage I posted on eBay had bidders the same day I posted it, so I figured I'd make another small collage available for auction. These small collages are not available in galleries.

An Obama Victory

Where Were You on Election Day 2008?

A Brighter Future, 18x24, collage on panel

This Paper Portrait was completed last night as the election results poured in. This morning it is the featured collage on my website.

Last night in my studio I was working and listening to NPR, but it was my husband who kept running out with the good news, who really kept me on top of the CNN coverage and results. "Take a break and come in!" he kept saying as I struggled with the corners of Obama's smile. And so, I was back and forth between the studio and the living room...

I was really hoping Obama would win the majority vote in Florida. For the past three weeks I have been phone banking and canvassing as a volunteer for the Barak Obama Campaign for Change. I was lucky enough to attend both FL Rallies with my good friend and fellow volunteer, Jodi. We even took our young daughters to the midnight rally in Kissimmee! The campaign was up against a big challenge here in the I-4 Corridor of Central Florida. Obama actually did it, he won the Orlando area... all our volunteering efforts made a difference. Yes We Can!

Everyone will always remember what they were doing on this historical election day. I was lucky enough to be doing what I really enjoy and believed in. I did phone banking for the Obama Campaign for four hours in the morning, and I cannot tell you how overwhelmed I was when I arrived at our Longwood office to find volunteers filling the rooms to the point that there were no more chairs! We had to sit on coolers at card tables in the "food room" to make our phone calls, urging voters to get out and make their voices count. Speaking of food, that also poured in, in the arms of volunteers who just walked up the steps and said, "what can I do to help?"

After completing all my phone banking sheets, I headed over to my son's elementary school for Art See, a PTA sponsored program that presents famous artists to students at the elementary school level. On election day, I taught 3rd graders about the abstract art of Paul Klee. I reminded them that art did not need to look like a photograph, and that everyone has a different view of the world, that is what makes us unique and individual.

In the evening I went to work in my backyard art studio, which I am so fortunate to have since it keeps me close to home and my family, but carves out a space where I can do what I love -- surrounded by piles of bits and pieces and scraps of paper, a wonderful mess!

I truly believe that with our new leader, our country is going to head in a new direction. I have learned through volunteering that people from all different backgrounds can come together and work toward a common goal, even though they might have different views, toward a brighter future.

A Brighter Future - Unframed
24" x 18" (61.0cm x 45.8cm)
collage on Panel
$400 plus $12.95 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

Trying Something New

Click Here to Bid on This Paper Painting

SOLD!

This 10x10 original art collage titled High and Dry is framed in a contemporary 1-inch square edge, gold leaf frame.

While I admire the artists who can produce "A Painting A Day" I can't imagine keeping up with that pace! I do have a few small original collages which will ship easily enough and I decided to test the water with selling them online. If it works, I will do more. Who knows....

Take a minute to click the link, and let me know what you think!