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!