Paper Marbling Workshop

Fellow artist and friend Judith Segal is offering a paper marbling workshop. She asked me to spread the word. Judy makes hand made papers that I use in much of my collage work, and her papers are exquisite!

Learn the science and magic of

PAPER MARBLING

Presented at:  The Hermits Pond Paper Mill

with special guest artist,  Steve Pittelkow

Saturday, January 29th, 2011 - Sunday, January 30^th, 2011   Time: 10:00 am- 4:00  pm.

Students will learn to marble on paper and cloth in this fast-paced  two-day intensive workshop designed to teach fully the process and practices of this historic medium using contemporary tools and materials. Students will learn to mix the bath of colors, complete the preparation of paper and cloth and create many traditional patterns. All students will use full size tanks large enough to accommodate 19'' X 25'' paper. This "at the tank" class will provide each student with a large portfolio of papers for use  in future projects. Tools and tanks will be available to purchase after the class.

As a bookbinder, Steve Pittelkow has been marbling for over 30 years. Steve's papers appear in museum collections and are used by bookbinders and artists in the United States and Europe.

Tuition: $95 for one day, $145  for both days.   Supplies: $25 (included in fee already)  

Deposit: 50%   by December 30^th.   Limited to 10 students only.

For questions:  call Judith Segall at (407)331-5008.  

Past classes taught at Minneapolis College of Art & Design. Asheville Bookworks. University of Minnesota. Studio on the Square, NYC. Penland, NC. University of Georgia, (Cortona, Italy). Morgan Conservatory, Cleveland, Ohio

Art With Heart; Raising Money for Cherie

Le Marchet (The Market) / pastel / 16x12 / ©Margaret Dyer

Margaret Dyer, nationally know pastel artist who taught a workshop in France last year, has offered to put an original framed piece of her luxurious work up for auction with 100% of proceeds going to Cherie's family! This is an amazing opportunity because if you google Margaret, you will see just how much of an accomplished award winning artist she is. This art would be an AMAZING addition to any collection!

This piece would retail at $1500 in any of Margaret's galleries. She has agreed to donate 100% of the proceeds to Cherie's family for living expenses and adaptations to their home for when Cherie comes home in a wheelchair from Shepherd Center.

Please click to visit Margaret's blog

Please click here to bid on this painting

Miriam Saves the Day!

My Facebook friend and fellow artist Miriam Hughes commented on the blog post about Cherie today and gave me a FANTASTIC idea on how to raise money for Cherie's family.

Calling All Artists!
please consider donating a high resolution image of your artwork along with the title, the medium, dimensions, and your contact information to be published in a book professionally designed by me.

I will self publish the book on either blurb or lulu.com (which I use for my collage process book and I am happy and familiar with) and 100% of the proceeds will go to Cherie's sister to help her cover living expenses now that she has quit her job and will care for Cherie when she returns form Shepherd Center.

Email me your image or any questions about this project. In order to get it up and running for a Holiday Gift Idea, I need to make the deadline for entries December 10. I know this rules out creating original artwork in the them of caring, love, dedication and healing for most, but if you have something like that in your body of work, I'm interested!

Update on Cherie at Shepherd Center

Cherie is small blonde girl in poncho, holding her shoulders is her sister Sue, who is holding her shoulders again these days. Off to the far left in the orange turtle neck is her brother Rich

Cherie has spent the last three days straight OFF the ventilator! This is a huge step and was the focus of the holiday weekend at Shepherd Center. Her sister and brother have been there with her, learning how to participate in her care; skills for the future. On Dec 9, their spouses will also be making the trip to Atlanta to take orientation classes as well as cheer Cherie on in her progress. This family is amazingly dedicated, and as a result they are financially burdened. If anyone has any ideas on how to help with living expenses for Cherie's support system, ideas are welcome. Both her sister and brother have had to quit their jobs and commit to providing her care upon release from Shepherd in 4-6 weeks.

Collage with Fifth Graders

©Amanda S. / Together We Can Save The Panda / collage of construction paper on cardboard

I volunteer at my local elementary school teaching art in a PTA sponsored program, once a month. Every year I go in and teach six fifth grade classes the art collage and talk about being a professional working artist today.

I show them my work, talk about my education and experience and then let them try their hand at collage.

Check out my Facebook fan page for  an entire album of wonderful work by the kids!

A Very Special Donation

Missy Mathis Stillwell contacted me via Facebook and asked if she could donate a piece of pottery to the efforts of raising money for Cherie. We kicked around the idea of logistically how we would do it- get the mug from her to whoever agrees to buy it, get the money from them to Cherie's family and who pays for the shipping? It got a little confusing.

Missy really wanted to make this donation in honor of her niece who passed away at a very young age of 8 years old after a very long hospitalization. She said that so many people were so good to her sister in her time of need, that she wanted to pay it forward by making it a little easier on people who have experienced heartache as a little way to honor her niece.

After some discussion, Missy has decided to donate the mug to someone in need this Christmas, and to donate the cost of the mug to Cherie's family. She and I agreed, it's a "win-win" scenario.

Won't you take a moment to visit Missy's Etsy store and consider thanking her for reaching out to Cherie? You might find something special for someone on your list.

If you are an artist and you are willing to facilitate a sale/donation of art on behalf of Cherie's family, contact me and we can work something out!

Give the Gift of Collage

So it's officially Christmas Shopping Season. If you are looking for the perfect gift for the artist in your life who might like to try something new, my Collage Process Overview book is available in hardcover, paperback, and PDF download.

Another great gift idea is my Collage Process Overview DVD, which has had rave reviews from all over the country, and the world!

The Paper Paintings coffee mug has wrap around graphics in vibrant color and is dishwasher safe.

iPhone 4 cases by Case-Mate are high quality and custom made. I can also have them made in other phone formats, but order FAST to allow production and shipping!

Over The Moon holiday cards are still available for a limited time, as well as the Ornament cards.


Flashbags™ hand-made in Vermont with my artwork reproduced on all sides continue to sell well in galleries and gift shops, get yours on their website.

WORKSHOPS are listed on the right hand side of this blog always. What an amazing gift, to spend the weekend with a friend or family member making art and meeting new people.

Don't forget that you can always email me about giclée prints on fine art paper of my original collages.

Saved the best for last,  how about an ORIGINAL work of art? visit paperpaintings.com and email me about any piece you might be interested in!

Thanks for the Small Things

Cherie on a boat somewhere exotic!

Today I just want to post this email that I received from Cherie's sister last night. I wanted to remind myself and all of you, how thankful we should be every day for the little things in life we take for granted.

Happy Thanksgiving. Cherie is getting settled in to Shepherd Center.  She has done well her first couple of days although she had been on the vent since she arrived mainly because of some secretions due to the transport and the need for the staff at Shepherd to do their own assessment of her.  She was up in her tailor made wheel chair today for a few hours and she said it was very comfortable.  They also started her on solid food and drink today!!!  She has not had nearly as many food requests as drink requests but this is very exciting!  We all shared chocolate cake tonight.  Tomorrow they will be moving her out of ICU and she will be able to get in her chair and tour around the halls a bit.  Rich and I are getting acclimated to our new surroundings as well.  We did take one of the family care lectures this morning.  It was good to get a chance to talk with a couple of the other families here.    The mailing address is the same as I had given in an earlier email: Cherie Stannard C/O Shepherd Center 2020 Peachtree Rd NW Atlanta, GA 30309 Love, Sue

New Opportunities

Over a year ago, I gave a workshop in Amelia Island and had a fantastic water color artist in my class named Sean P. Callahan. Sean and I "clicked" even before the class when he emailed me about the supply list. I went to his website and was in awe over his amazing water color work. I wondered what in the WORLD he could learn from me? We all know that being great in one medium does not make you great in all media however. I am not even going to tell you how difficult watercolor would be for me.

Sean has permanently relocated from Vermont to Key West, FL. When he took my collage workshop in Amelia Island, FL the timing worked out for him because he was driving from VT to Key West and stopped along the way to take my class.

Serendipitously, Sean called me the weekend I was teaching this year in Amelia Island again, to ask me to be part of a Small Works December show at Stone Soup Gallery in Key West, FL where his work is now represented and he is curating shows!

Over a year after meeting Sean, he has asked me to be included in this show. A mutual admiration for talent, having kept in touch, and the "click" has opened up opportunities for me in a whole new place. I have earned my placement in all of the galleries that represent me with some level of networking. Let's face it, it's not only the art but YOU that the gallery is representing. The more personable you are and the closer you stay in touch, the better your chances are of being included.

I'm looking for an excuse to head to Key West in the future! Hopefully my work will be well received and Sean will choose to keep  me on at the gallery. If you are in the area, stop in and say hello to Sean and have some soup for me!

Florida Museum for Women Artists

Martha's amazing work with wood "City of Angels"

Princess and The Pea...

5,000 Sq. Ft. of amazing exhibit space

My girls!

Abbe comes out from behind the camera

I visited the FMWA over the weekend, attending their opening of the first annual juried show. They had 1200 pieces of art submitted for this show and they narrowed it down to just 40. Kudos to all who were accepted!

Martha Lent works with wood and power tools, I have three of her pieces in my own art collection. I was proud to see her work City of Angels featured so prominently and well lit.

My favorite piece was a clay sculpture by Barbara Balzer of Tallahassee called "Princess and the Pea, Sometimes Power Knows Sensitivity" simply amazing, the colors, the concept, bravo!

The best part about the evening was running into Martha & Larry and my photographer friend Abbe Eshack Arenson as well as spending time with my artsy mother-in-law, Pam and Talie for a girls night out!

Raising Money for Cherie

Wildflowers #2 / 12x16 / collage on cradled panel / ©St.Hilaire Nelson

Crista Porpiglia (above) purchased a Wildflowers collage from me in my efforts to raise money for Cherie's family in their amazing support of her in this awful situation. She contacted me via Facebook and told me she really wanted to help and that she really enjoyed my artwork. It's not a coincidence, Crista has been Cherie's Trauma PA since she arrived at Lawnwood Regional Medical Center on September 30!

Both Cherie's brother Rich and sister Sue had to commit to caring for her 100% after her rehab at Shepherd Center in order for Cherie to be admitted. They both have had to quit their jobs and head to Atlanta with her tomorrow morning in order to receive full nursing training for Cherie's needs which will involve 24-hour care.

Many thanks to Crista in her donation of 100% of the purchase price of this collage which was transferred to Cherie's sister Sue today.

You do not need to make a big purchase to help this family! We are working on a donation website as soon as we can get a trust fund setup for Cherie. I will also have a new address for Holiday cards which I will let you know as soon as I find out.

I'll be talking to Cherie tomorrow morning at 7am before she flies out, thanks to Crista and her cell phone!!!

iPhone 4 Cases are Here!

Last week I created four custom iPhone 4 cases with case-mate and they came out fantastic! This is a Barely There dual-layered Tough Case, it has an inner lining of thin black silicone and an outer lining of custom printed plastic. It comes with a micro fiber cleaning cloth and a full face screen protector. This case offers extra protection for your phone but is still very low profile and sleek. The art wraps around the edges as well as the back side.

I can also custom order iPhone 3G/3GS, email me for info on those. iPhone 4 cases can be ordered in four designs via PayPal below. Please allow 4-5 days production time (plus shipping) as I am making cases on a per order basis.

A perfect gift for yourself or a friend! Packaging is signed by me and includes artist info postcard.

Custom Paper Paintings iPhone 4 case is $39.95 plus $4 shipping.

4 Designs

Butterfly Tuscan Trees Peacock Plumage Florida Coconuts

New Work - Indian Paintbrush

Indian Paintbrush Series, 12x16, collage on cradled panel, ©St.Hilaire Nelson
CLICK TO ENLARGE

More work in the flower series to be considered by Pier One Imports for reproduction on canvas. This particular set utilizes "another man's junk" as my treasure! Three steps show above, 1) Sketch, 2) Under-painting, 3) Finished Collage.

Kimberly Santini of Painting a Dog a Day sent me discarded palette papers from her work in open acrylics to consider using as collage material. Kim and I have gotten to know each other through blogging and email and I have to say that she has become one heck of a good friend. The kind of person you look forward to reading email from with your coffee in the morning!

I absolutely love these palette papers and the combination of colors that happens randomly from Kim mixing paints! Keep them coming Kim, I am officially a HOARDER.

Good News for Cherie!

Today may just have been my last visit to Lawnwood Regional Medical Center in Fort Pearce, FL. While I was in with Cherie this morning, the social worker, her brother, her sister, her trauma PA and her Reiki Massage therapist all crowded into the room for some "good news"

Here's the news: Medicaid has approved the extension of benefits and the out of state transfer from FL to GA so that Cherie can move on to Shepherd Center in Atlanta!

We are so excited! One last signature is needed, Shepherd Center big wigs need to put the final signatures on the dotted line. Once this is done (we are hoping today/tomorrow) she will be air lifted from Fort Pearce to Atlanta to start learning how to use adaptive equipment, and to get as much as she can out of her physical conditiion.

I am really going to miss seeing her every week, but I promised to fly up to Atlanta as soon as I have the dates and details of her rehab.

Please continue to send your love letters and cards, I hope to have an Atlanta address to share soon. Today Cherie told me (with her VOICE) about the card that Teresa Palomar Louis sent her from SPAIN! Cherie and I visited Spain together in high school on our junior class trip, our first time to Europe! She said to me, "HOW do you have connections to people in SPAIN?????" I told her " People are inherently good, and the internet is an amazing thing"


Isn't that the truth?

Featured Artist for December

Come out and say hello in downtown Orlando
December 16th 5:30-8:30pm!

St. Augustine Collage Workshop

Green Apple, 12x12, Rebecca's apple exercise

We had a great time at the Casa Monica Hotel painting papers and collaging in a three-day workshop through the Grand Bohemian Gallery in St. Augustine, FL recently. I have posted an album of the apple exercise on my facebook fan page where you can also see several great photos of student paper painting.

The Casa Monica Hotel's award winning 95 Cordova Restaurant catered lunch every day, and the food was excellent (lunch is included in the workshop fee!) Many of the students complimented the workshop hostess, Vanessa Hall, for coordinating such a successful weekend. On Friday, we painted papers out by the pool deck and enjoyed our lunch in the artistic setting of the restaurant. Saturday and Sunday we worked in the hotel's Alcazar room which overlooks the pool. We spent the day collaging and enjoying coffee and lunch catered in the room. The weather was so nice on Saturday that we took our lunch out by the pool.

Grand Bohemian Gallery represents my work in six locations nationwide. We have done workshops together in Asheville, NC and St. Augustine, FL. I can honestly say that Vanessa puts on a first class weekend for the students and myself. I always have a featured show opening on Friday night and if students stay in the hotel, they can take advantage of a reduced room rate.

Keep your eyes open for future workshops with the Grand Bohemian!

Cherie's Progress

Cherie visits me at college, 1986

I visited Cherie today and I'm happy to say that when I got in the room I HEARD her say "Oh, Hi!" Actually with her own voice. She has been doing 2+ hours at a time off the ventilator lately, with a speech collar in place so that she can use her voice and be heard. She asked the nurse's to set her up so that when I got there, she could talk.

I nearly cried, I have not heard her say anything since September, and to actually be able to talk back and forth with her was wonderful.

One of the things she told me in about an hour of speaking was "I am getting so many nice cards, EVERY single day. I want so badly to tell you something to write on your blog, to thank people." She was too tired to dictate today, but I told her next week we will see how she feels. Stay tuned for that!

She told me a story of a a card she received from a woman who told her she had bought it years and years ago and saved it, she loved it so much. This week, she sent it to Cherie. Thank you all so much for your kindness and generosity.

She told me that yesterday she called her brother Rich, and actually told him on the phone, "Happy Birthday" He cried. Wouldn't you?

Rich lives in Colorado and since the accident has made two trips back and forth to Florida. Since Cherie's father died, Rich has tried to be her protector in this ordeal. He has quite a heavy burden on his heart and mind.

Raising Money for Cherie

Wildflowers, 12x16, collage on cradled panel

Cherie's brother Rich has been flying back and forth from Colorado to FL to spend weeks at a time at Lawnwood Regional Medical Center with her. Rich is a professional musician (drummer) and the economy has taken its toll on his line of work.

Rich is headed back to FL tomorrow, after hearing Cherie speak on the phone to him and actually say "Happy Birthday!"

On my drive home from my visit today, I was thinking about how much money Rich and his wife Alison have had to come up with just for plane tickets. The first time they both came, this will be Rich's third trip.

I've decided to offer this collage "Wildflowers" which is being considered for fine art reproduction by Pier One Imports. ALL of the funds from the sale will go to Cherie's brother and his wife to help pay for plane tickets either to FL or to GA when Cherie gets into Shepherd Center for rehabilitation. There's a Colorado postage stamp included in there with Rich in mind.

Retail price on this piece is $495, I'm offering it online for $395 to anyone who wants to support a good cause, and buy a piece of art. I'm offering FREE shipping to anywhere in the US.

Wildflowers
12" x 16" (30.5cm x 40.7cm)
collage on Panel
$395 plus $0 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

iPhone 4 Custom Cases

My husband found a place where I can have iPhone 4 cases with my artwork on them custom made. What fun I had playing around with cropping art images today!

If I had a few limited addition cases for sale, would you have any interest?

Compliments

As of late I have been cleaning up my mailing list. I sent out an email and asked people to let me know it they wanted to unsubscribe. I thought it might be time to make sure that everyone who is receiving my monthly newsletter and collage updates is a willing recipient.

I have had a few requests to "unsubscribe" and a few folks who say "keep me on." I figure no news is good news and that means if I don't hear from you, I'll leave you on the list.

The response that really made me smile this weekend was from Catherine. She took the time to format me a fun and colorful email, just to tell me how much she appreciated my correspondence.

Wow.

My Art Hat is off to YOU Catherine!