Amelia Island Artist's Workshop

Some photos from the weekend, tomorrow (Sunday) is our last day! We have been having a great time painting papers and applying them to collage. Today the students focuses on their "apple exercise" and tomorrow we move on to an image of their choice.

I was graciously invited to dinner with Pat and her husband Jack at their Amelia Island home on Friday night, and also invited downtown for dinner with Sandy this evening. Thanks so much for the hospitality of my students!!

Shirupa who came from Orlando, has been a wonderful friend over the weekend. I met her online long before I met her in person. A wonderful student and a great person to spend time with!

Laura gets the award for traveling the furthest! she is from St. Croix US Virgin Islands and heard about me online via my blog and her local community art group. How cool is the internet?

Music to My Eyes – a Progression

©St. Hilaire Nelson 2010

In progress, I have completed the dress and now working on the sleeves. I have been collecting paper doilies but have not used them for fear of a "country" look if not used in just the right place. Here I took advantage of the lace-like quality they offer since you can see the colors through them. To make them appear less like doilies, I have torn out the circular pattern and used it in pieces and parts rather than whole. I felt they added a fluffy lacy feeling to her sleeves, enhancing the undulating movement of her dancing.

Having completed the dress and sleeves, the next step is the face and neck. This is a challenge because I'm not feeling like my variety of flesh-toned papers is very large, but it's rainy this weekend and setting up to paint papers (outside) is just not looking like a good idea. I will have to struggle with a minimal palette and really challenge myself.

Its's been quite a while since I have done a person. I am enjoying this piece!

Happy Home for A Portrait of "Ike"

"Here Boy!" ©St. Hilaire Nelson 2010

It's not every day that a collector takes the time to contact the artist personally and tell her just how much their purchase means to them.

Today I received a wonderful email from a man in South Carolina who purchased "Here Boy!" at the Grand Bohemian Gallery in Asheville, NC over the fourth of July weekend. James took the time to let me know just how much he and his partner were taken with the collage when they saw it on an easel in the lobby upon their arrival to the hotel. He said they could not believe how much my dog collage resembled their 10.5 year old lab mix, Ike!

After looking at the piece all weekend, they decided they had to have it on the last night of their stay. James says,

"We waited for Laura to open the gallery the next morning. We had to have your picture. Our purchase instantly became the buzz of the hotel (lobby) because it touched dog lovers at the Grand Bohemian last weekend. We felt like celebs for a few minutes because we "got the dog!"

James sent a couple of photos of his dog. There is truly an amazing likeness, it's as if "Here Boy!" was a commissioned portrait of Ike.

James went on to say that they have hung "Here Boy!" as the centerpiece in their den, and that he is only one of four art treasures in their home.

Thank you James, for taking the time to send such a nice note and photos. It truly does touch my heart to know that my collage brings you such joy and that you will always remember your July 4th weekend getaway at the extra special Grand Bohemian Hotel in Asheville, North Carolina.