My Moos

#30 ©St.Hilaire Nelson

I bike several times a week training for the upcoming triathlon season. When I ride I bring my iPhone and I always ride the Seminole Wekiva trail which passes a wonderful pasture area that is home to several cows and horses. As most of you know, I am not a fan of horses.... but the cows are another story. Cows are my muse. Or should I say, my "moos"

Curious, ©Doug Nelson

My husband is the pro photographer, which means that even with his iPhone, he gets better shots than I do! This cow was very curious of Doug's phone the day we stopped our bikes and I put him to work photographing future collage reference for me.

#31 ©St.Hilaire Nelson

The last cow I collaged from these reference shots Mary Moo sold in Asheville, NC. I'm headed to Asheville again this June and so I have been thinking about creating another cow for the occasion.

Mary Moo, ©St.Hilaire Nelson, SOLD

I am a big fan of the farm fence in the foreground. This is a composition that has become a theme for me and I will probably utilize it in future work for the Asheville, NC show.

Stay tuned for another cow in the near future. BUT for now, I am still plugging away at the Noah's Ark Series. I have two sets of "twosies" to go. I'm also going to be the featured artist at the Grand Bohemian Gallery the first friday of April for St. Augustine, FL's Art Walk. That's Easter weekend, so I might have to put some baby ducks into the mix.

Curious 2, ©Doug Nelson

If you have any farm reference photos you'd like to give me permission to paint,
send me an email!

Inspiration From Farm Animals

People here in Florida often ask me "What is your inspiration for the cows and the roosters?" I usually tell them that I grew up in rural New England and leave it at that.

Lately I've been remembering the times my family used to pack up all the stale bread and "heels" and head to Southampton, MA to feed the farm animals at the side of the road. We went in all seasons, even in the snow! This was regular entertainment for us as children, a fun family outing.

I probably never thought that trips to feed the farm animals who RAN to the fence to greet us would stay with me into adulthood and provide inspiration for my collage art. I guess you never know what will stay with you from your childhood. Our parents tried to do things with us that we would enjoy in the moment, maybe never realizing the impact they would have. Although, I'm not sure my brothers are particularly fond of farm animals....

Pictured above, my brother Joe as a baby with my mother, Joe is now 25. The little guy at the fence is my brother Chris who is now 30! These photos were taken in 1985. Part of that proverbial "personal effects box" my father gave me a few years back... he keeps adding to it!

Two Moo's

Cows from Gateway Workshop, Completed

20x24, collage on panel

Here are the completed cows, I worked on them last night until about 1am, as I was determined to finish them! I struggled a little bit with the white fluffy fur on the top of the heads and down the nose. I feel like I never have just the right white to work with, many of my papers look white, but when you glue them down and look at them, they are more of an off white or a "warm white" rather than bright clean white as cow fur and clouds would require. 

I ended up toning down the sky a bit and eliminating some of the busy clouds, there was too much going on with the patterns and text in the heads of the cows, I needed a restful space where the busy heads meet the sky.