National Collage Society 26th Annual Juried Show

©St. Hilaire Nelson
Poised Peacock #1 and Song of Sunrise #2
24x20 collage of hand painted paper on panel

I am thrilled to let you know that I have been notified by the National Collage Society that the jury has selected BOTH of my pieces for the Annual Juried Exhibit! This is exceptional because I have not been accepted into the show for the past two years, and was accepted three years ago.

This year the show will be an online exhibition with an online catalogue. As soon as they get it up and running I will share the links with you.

Jurors include Matthew Kolodjiej, Associate Professor of Art at the Myers School of Art, University of Akron, Akron, Ohio and Ellen Rudolph, MA Art History, Case Western Reserve university, Curator of Exhibitions, Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH


Thank you for sharing in my excitement!

Getting Published

Artwork ©St. Hilaire Nelson / Cock-A-Doodle / 

20x20 / mixed media collage on panel

Thanks to the efforts of Gretchen Bierbaum and the National Collage Society, I have been invited to show my rooster collage from the NCS publication "Collage in All Dimensons" at the Peninsula Art Academy in Peninsula, OH in October.

My Story on Growing Bolder

Visit Growing Bolder for more inspirational and positive stories about ordinary people doing extraordinary things!

Portable Art for Small Spaces

On my trip up to New England, I worked on my "Think Pink" flamingo series for the Grand Bohemian Gallery in St. Augustine, FL. October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and they wanted to add some pink to their gallery walls. I figured what better in FL than our favorite bird?

I packed my usual tote bag (carry on size, fits under the seat) with gallon zip lock bags of collage paper divided by color (squeeze the air out before you zip, to save space). I brought one #8 filbert brush, four 6x6 pre-painted cradled birch panels (images of flamingoes with splattered backgrounds) and I emptied my kids old finger paint plastic jars out (less than 3 oz each, this is crucial when flying) and funneled gloss gel medium into them with tinfoil. I then put the small jars of glue into a zip top quart sized bag, as required by TSA.

One thing I would have done differently would be NOT to have taken a long handled brush, that proved a little challenging for the tight space. I recommend you invest in a short handled #8 filbert when working in tight spaces such as coach class airline seats! The seat back tray table proved to be very helpful, as did the air sickness bag for all scraps and trash. I asked the hostess for two cups of water, one for my brush and one for drinking, which they totally do not mind giving. I would recommend bringing your own couple of sheets of VIVA paper towel for drying your brush, the cocktail napkins were not very good quality and fell apart when wet.

I created two 6x6 collages on the way up, and two on the way back. (two hours flying time each way) I have to varnish them here in the studio. Even acrylic varnish is flammable and this liquid would not pass security. It's no big deal to save varnish for home.

My New England Trip

This weekend I went to visit my family in New England. What fun I had taking iPhone photos of cows, goats, pumpkins, old gas pumps, tobacco barns, and agricultural scenery! My sister is part of a CSA (community supported agriculture) in MA through Bloody Brook Farm in South Deerfield.

I took tons of photos of their cows because they were so darn cute! We went to pickup her farm share there on Saturday. Since my trip to the farm country of Western Massachusetts, I now have a bunch of new photos reference for my ongoing images of New England.

Find Bloody Brook Farm on Facebook here

Bolder Media Group

©Doug Nelson Photography

This morning I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Marc Middleton and Bill Shafer of Bolder Media Group when they came to my house to interview me for a web and public broadcasting TV based human interest story!

Marc Middleton was interested in talking to me about my triathlon experience, and my current training for the October Walt Disney Inaugural Wine and Dine Half Marathon in addition to my current solo exhibition at the Maitland Art Center, Exquisite Harmony.

The team filmed me sending Emilie and Connor off to school, running with my husband, here in my art studio and graphic design office, and down at the Maitland Art Center with my artwork. We had fun joking and talking about living life to the fullest through a variety of experiences and interests.

Growing Bolder is a team of good friends and Emmy Award-Winning TV and radio people who like to tell stories or ordinary people doing extraordinary things. A positive spin on reporting, for a change! I remember Marc Middleton and Bill Shafer on TV here in Orlando, they were on Channel 2 for years and years.

The Growing Bolder TV Show will eventually feature my story, it's available on public television stations across America! Find their Facebook page here

The Growing Bolder Web Channel will feature the video story and I'll be sure to give you a link when it's up and running!

The Marc Middleton Blog talks about the reasons why he left his corporate TV career to pursue his goal of giving a voice to people who are out there enjoying their lives, pursuing their passions, chasing their dreams. Positive stories about positive people!

The folks from Bolder are doing great things, check them out!

Amelia Island Workshop

Don't forget to register for the Amelia Island collage workshop! They may still honor the $25 discount if you register this week. I'd hate for this class not to run because we don't make our student minimum, so if you know anyone who might be interested, would you send them my way?

Exquisite Harmony Reception

©Doug Nelson

View all of the opening photos from the show at my Facebook Fan Page Album! Many thanks to my husband for taking the time and effort!

The Generosity of Others

Once again, I have to talk about the generosity of others, something that never ceases to amaze me! At my gallery talk over the weekend, Kristy Worden introduced herself to me and told me she had come over from St. Petersburg (over an hour drive) to hear me speak about my work. Kristy found my blog through another artist friend we have in common, Julie King. 

At the end of the talk, Kristy GAVE me an album of postage stamps that she had collected with her Dad when she was a kid. She heard me tell my story about my Australian postage stamps going all the way back to 1970 and she told me that she had stamps in her book way older than that! I could not believe that Kristy wanted to part with this album, but I am very grateful.

Thank you for your generosity Kristy, and know that the stamps you collected with your dad will live on forever in my collage work. I will think of you when I apply them and I will be sure they shine.

Gallery Talk for Exquisite Harmony

©Ellen Lindner

I know many of you have been following the progress of Exquisite Harmony since the beginning here on my blog, and that makes it even more special for you to know now that the opening was well attended, the quartet played beautifully, the DVD looped perfectly, and the hanging, lighting and newly renovated gallery space were fantastic!

Saturday afternoon at Maitland Art Center,  I gave a gallery talk (pictured) on to a very nice group of people. I have an album of photos from the talk on my Facebook Fan Page and I will be putting up an album of opening reception photos there in the next few days as well.

Thank you for sharing this journey with me. If you are in the Central Florida area, this show runs through October 24. I will also be giving a collage workshop at the Maitland Art Center on the weekend of October 22.

Exquisite Harmony Heads to the Museum

Today the Exquisite Harmony show that has been a year in the making, was delivered to the Maitland Art Center. I'm very excited about the completion of this project. Yesterday my son helped me put bumper feet on 40+ cradled birch panels and carry them out of the studio and into the house, on their way to the van for the trip down I-4 this morning.

After we moved the work into the house, we cleaned the studio! We vacuumed up a lot of bugs and dust that had taken up residency while the work was piled up. We cleared floor space and shelf space and there was so much room that even the dogs did not know what to make of it.

Now, let's keep our fingers crossed that a good portion of the work sells, so we don't have to bring it back in!

Show Runs September 10 - October 24
Opening Reception is September 10 6-8pm
Maitland Art Center
231 West Packwood Ave
Maitland, FL 32751
407-539-2181

Register Early for Discounted Tuition

Amelia Island Fall Artists Workshop
I have been invited back to Amelia Island to teach again this year! October 8-10. This workshop is wonderful because it is a three-day class which includes hand painting collage paper techniques all day Friday. The success of any Paper Painting is really in the papers you have to work with.

We will be using fluid acrylics to do hand-tinting and staining art store papers, personal memorabilia, maps and old book pages, along with rice paper and anything else that stirs your creativity. I like to use postage stamps and sheet music, you may have other things you want to put in the mix as well.

Homework for you before you attend the workshop is to do two under-paintings. The first is for the apple exercise which you will use a photo reference (bring this!) to paint a simple, large apple on a 12x12 thin plywood board or American Easel Wood Painting Panel primed with either Liquitex Clear Gesso (tooth) or Golden GAC-100 (no tooth). The second panel should be about 16x20 and can be any image of your choice for your main collage project.

The workshop will be held at the Amelia Hotel at the Beach, they can be reached at 904-261-5735. Tell them that you are with the workshop and / or ask for Elizabeth, she is the contact person for a room rate discount of $89/night.

Don't miss this comprehensive workshop in such a quaint location! You might like to bring family members and make a mini vacation of it.

Register HERE
if you register before September 8, you will receive a $25 discount!

Mall Rats

When I was a kid, I loved going to the mall, hanging out with my friends. Now my daughter wants to do the same. Since they are pre-teens, I'm no comfortable letting them roam the mall totally alone, so I often chaperone my daughter and her friends. I drive them, I am in the mall, and we are in cell phone texting contact, but I can't be close enough to be seen. This means, once inside the doors, she says "bye!" to me and I'm on my own.

This weekend I'm working toward a show in Jacksonville, FL called "Ten Good Women/8th Annual
Art Invitational." I plan on shipping this work, so my plan is to work small and all in the same size (for stacking and packing purposes). Working small like I have in the past in the dance competition dressing room, is a good way for me to multi task my art.

Here i am in the food court, while the girls are roaming Hot Topic and Spencer's.... brought a stack of 10x12 pre cut panel (thanks to my husband) a set of sketching pencils and erasers, and some reference photos.

My Day Job

A few months ago, an artist who took my workshop in Jacksonville called me and asked me if I could do a logo for her barber shop. Yes, this is the very person who traded me the portraits of my kids in exchange for my graphic design services!

Today, Jami Childers sent me this photo of her logo and window graphics that I designed, in place. As a graphic designer, I do get to see my work in this type of application. I actually designed the RDV Sportsplex logo that adorns their building here in Orlando. But there is something very satisfying about helping out a fellow artist, and small business owner. Jami told me she had been in this storefront for six years and never had any window graphics! I think she just might get some walk-in traffic to her Barber Shop and Art Studio.

If you ever need a portrait, as a gift or for yourself, please look her up and tell her Elizabeth sent you! And if you need any graphic design services, I'm here all day.