Caramel goes to a good home

Lucy naps with her reindeer

Angie B. was taken with Caramel and purchased my Paper Painting by the end of the day yesterday. I asked her if she had a golden retriever or yellow lab, since she was so excited about the piece. "Yes I do and her name is Lucy!" Angie told me, and she sent me this photo. 

Thank you Angie for your purchase of Caramel, I hope it will bring you almost as much joy as Lucy does.

New Work - Caramel and Co.

Caramel, 12x16, collage of hand-painted papers on cradled panel

Over the holidays I worked on four 12x16 dog collages and Caramel is my favorite. Do you think it's any coincidence that it's the last one I did? Do you think that once you get yourself into a good groove with your art that you really do your best work?

Yorkie, 12x16, collage of hand-painted papers on cradled panel

Chi Hua Hua, 12x16, collage of hand-painted papers on cradled panel

Shih Tzu, 16x12, collage of hand-painted papers on cradled pane

Now that I've I just entered the "good dog" groove, I'm moving on from dogs to another big peacock (you can see the sketch on my Facebook fan page) because I have a short attention span and I'm all dogged out. Do any of you experience short attention span with your art? do you feel the need to jump around just to keep yourself from going crazy? I sure do. But short attention span also means that I never sit still, or if I am sitting still, I'm not idol (Yorkie was created while I was a passenger in the car on our holiday road trip. Shih Tzu was created in the hotel room on the same trip). I just have to be doing something at all times, the key is to learn how to make your shortcomings work for you and not against you. I use my restlessness as motivation toward being a prolific artist.

So I've moved on to peacocks again, another favorite subject of mine. This time I'm working on a 20x40 piece, a very extreme horizontal format.

In Addition to Art

Spring is coming and that means Triathlon Season! I have started my training regimen (four months to prepare for May 8) and have committed to start the season off with the Danskin Women's Triathlon, which was my first triathlon ever. This will be my third time competing in this race which takes place at Disney World in Orlando, FL.

If you have ever thought about trying Triathlon, this race is amazing! First, it's all women (so I guess that means it's amazing for you if you are a female!) Second, it's all levels of fitness, from folks who don't even exercise, to elite pro athletes! Third, a portion of the proceeds go to breast cancer, cancer survivors participate in the race. How cool is that?

Look them up online, they are all over the country!

Pier One Imports

Love, Dream, Laugh, 12x20, collage of hand-painted papers

Pier One Imports has accepted these inspirational patterned pieces for their 2011 print collection. Be sure to let me know where you spot them! I'm super excited about this opportunity and hope to hear from you when you come across them in your neck of the woods!

After putting together the images for Pier One digitally, I cut the 12x24's in half to create brown barn-wood framed original 12x12's, currently featured in the Grand Bohemian Gallery in Asheville, NC and Orlando, FL.

Atlanta Collage Society Show

Ferst Center for the Arts at Georgia Tech

I am in good company in the Atlanta Collage Society Show at Ferst Center for the Arts in the heart of Atlanta, GA. I have been a member of the Atlanta Collage Society for over a year now and have to say that they show in some fantastic venues!

Last year the ACS afforded me the opportunity to show at the Quinlan Visuals Arts Center in Gainesville, GA where I am scheduled to present a workshop this year.

Undulation and Syncopation, 20x20, collage of hand-made papers

The ACS is a wonderful group of diverse collage artists from the Atlanta area, but their reach is broadening. There had been some talk of them becoming a South East Collage Society, I'm not sure if that will come through, but you do not have to reside in Atlanta, or GA to be a member of this group.

I am also a member of the National Collage Society which has members from around the world. This year I was accepted for the second time into their Annual Juried Exhibition, quite an accomplishment! This means that I am 2/3 of the way toward earning my "Signature Member Status." The NCS only accepts about 20% of submissions each year for this show. 

The Annual Postcard Exhibit showcases 4x6 pieces from EVERY member who submits, if you want an opportunity to hang your work with other collage artists! Both of these Collage Societies are worth looking into if you are interested in collage art.

Cherie's Progress

Cherie in her room at Shepherd Center in December

It's been a while since I noted Cherie's progress and I wanted to let you all know that her time at the Shepherd Center for Spinal Cord Rehabilitation in Atlanta has been extended! Her original discharge date was January 13, but they have given her another week, now she will discharge on January 19 and hopefully continue to receive outpatient services after that, until the end of the month.

Since Cherie has no health insurance and the rehab is being paid by Medicaid, we are all very happy and thankful for this extra time she has to perfect her skills with adaptive equipment. When I was there she told me that she was learning to operate the computer completely by voice, with Dragon software. She was also learning to control her electric wheelchair with "sip and puff" technology. Basically, since she is paralyzed from the shoulders down, all adaptive equipment utilizes "sip and puff" which is basically using a tube positioned near her mouth at all times, to blow or inhale, as a controller for highly specialized equipment.

Cherie maintains a positive attitude, she has made friends with another patient across the hall from her and now has someone to talk to and share down-time with. Her sister told me that they all enjoyed Christmas dinner in Cherie's room. It snowed in Atlanta this Christmas, I think it was the first time it did that in about 100 years! Maybe this is a sign of very special things to come for Cherie.

I wanted also to report that my fundraising book Art with Heart has raised over $500 to date for Cherie's family, which they are utilizing to convert her sister's home to accommodate Cherie, building ramps and widening doorways. The biggest expense they face is a customized van, the expense of this is overwhelming.

visit www.cheriestannard.com

Vadim Bora Legacy

Playful cat public sculpture, one of many by Bora in Asheville, NC

Vadim Bora, husband of my friend and Grand Bohemian Gallery director Constance Richards, passed away this week. My heart goes out to Constance, she did a wonderful job on Asheville TV, speaking of her husband's incredible artistic accomplishments.

read more about his work in my previous post

You can see Constance in the Asheville TV news story here:
WLOS ABC 13 News :: Top Stories - Vadim Bora Legacy