Easter Chickens

Chick-A-Dee, 24x24, collage on panel, Grand Bohemian Gallery

Being Easter Weekend and all, I think the Chick was a good piece to bring the the Grand Bohemian Gallery in St. Augustine this weekend. The opening for the show and my demonstration of collage technique was enjoyed by a very consistently large crowd at the gallery on Friday night.

The crowd was steady on Friday at the Grand Bohemian Gallery in St. Augustine

I started the chicken piece as a companion to Rock-A-Doodle (a rooster), which I also completed this week for the gallery and my featured exhibition there.

Beginning stages, pencil sketch on birch panel

Beginning stages, acrylic underpainting

Beginning stages, acrylic underpainting

Beginning application of collage paper overtop

Rock-A-Doodle, 24x24, collage on panel, Grand Bohemian Gallery

Penultimate Peafowl and other flying things

Peter Peafowl / 36x48 / collage of hand painted papers on panel

The peacocks were the penultimate set of twosies for the Noah's ark exhibition which delivers April 17th for an April 27th opening. I had a great time creating Peter, he dominated my easel and my studio with his width! Peter and Priscilla will be the cornerstone pieces of the exhibit due to both their size and my signature image being the peacock. 

 Dover Dragonfly / 20x24 / collage of hand painted papers on panel

 Deandra Dragonfly / 20x24 / collage of hand painted papers on panel

The final set I created for the show, by popular demand, was dragonflies. When I asked for suggestions with regards to what to make the final set, an overwhelming amount of people suggested these colorful insects! And many thanks to good friend and fellow artist Kim Santini for sparking the red/cyan color combo through our many inspired art convos. 

How does it feel to be done? Well, it's been a year in the making and now that it's done, I'm thinking I'll do something other than animals for a while. Botanicals, portraits, flowers, maybe?

But rest assured, I've got another deadline right behind this one....

Noah's Ark Series Exhibition Guide

The Exhibition Guide is a 56-page spiral bound booklet in full color

The Noah's Ark Series opens this month at the Thrasher Horne Center for the Arts at St. John's River State College in Orange Park, FL. This show has been one year in the making and is my largest solo exhibition to date. To commemorate this event, I have designed and printed an Exhibition Guide for the show which features all 50 pieces, 25-sets of twosises.

The Exhibition Guide is a 56-page, 8x10 spiral bound booklet with graphic design by Yours Truly. The Guide features 50 large color images with several insets of work in progress photos.

Opening Reception April 27th

Show Runs April 28 - June 16

Thrasher Horne Center for the Arts

Cherie's Progress

Friends forever: Barbara Beasley, Cherie Stannard, Yours Truly

Cherie has a brand new place where you can make TAX DEDUCTIBLE donations! Her uncle worked hard at finding out how to make the possible. She really still needs all the help she can get as she has no health insurance and is relying on Medicaid to pay her bills and they do NOT cover everything she needs.

Cherie and Yours Truly last February on her birthday

President Obama raised a record breaking amount of money for his campaign in $5 increments online. Can you give $5 to help an amazing woman in need?

As of late she has been making progress! She has been gaining strength in both arms and is finding she has more sensation in her right arm. She is able to keep herself up sitting straighter without the benefit of armrests and THIS IS HUGE! It means that the muscles in her torso are getting signals, which means her spinal cord is making pathways and her brain is getting the message. She is also getting tingling in her legs, which is also new. Physical therapy has helped this very much, but PT costs money and Medicaid does not cover all of it.

Here is the link, check it out for yourself and consider a small donation, forward to your family and friends. Do something good for a stranger today. It will make you feel good, I promise.

 http://www.helphopelive.org/find-a-patient/profile/index.cfm/patient/E209D2EA-B1F5-9953-49F117782A848AC7

Progression of the "she fowl"

©St.Hilaire Nelson, sketch on cradled birch panel, 36x24

The female peacock marks my FINAL piece of the 50 for my Noah's Ark Series Solo Exhibition at the Thrasher Horne Center for the Arts. This show opens April 27th and runs through June 16. I need to finish the artwork this week in order to print the Exhibition Guide I have been designing.

©St.Hilaire Nelson, sketch with beginning under-painting on cradled birch panel

All of my pieces start with a pencil sketch on a clear primed birch wood panel. I prime clear in order to give myself the freedom to leave some of the grain and striation of the wood showing through, should I so desire. This is a decision I a make somewhere along the way, and it's not pre-planned.

I block in the local color and define my values with the underpainting. I am playing with the background paint application as I intend to leave the green above her head painted. This decision I THINK is made, but we shall see what happens when I get into the glue.

©St.Hilaire Nelson, under-painting on cradled birch panel

The "she fowl" is in my studio drying, I'll add collage application later in the day today or this evening. Most of the time I work at night and on the weekends as graphic design is my day job. Every now and then you do see daylight behind my easel in a photo though. I snuck out there this morning at 5:30 and this afternoon around 1:00pm. Nothing like a deadline to motivate!

The LUCKY artists of The Studios of Key West

The Studios at Key West in the old Armory Building

Today we visited The Studios of Key West. a nonprofit charitable organization founded in 2006 and based at the historic Key West Armory. They are managed by a professional staff, and governed by a volunteer board of community leaders. How lucky are these artists to have such a space in the heart of Key West to do what they love?

TSKW considers it their mission to support local creative people, celebrate the island's unique heritage and to foster new collaboration and artistic production.

A residency studio sponsored by The Green Parrot

All of the studios had plaques on the doors that indicated who sponsored them, mostly local businesses. You can apply for an artist residency at the studios on their website. 

These studio spaces were amazing! big windows, bright light, and big spaces. 

What a great space!

Peeking through the window into a resident studio

We enjoyed an abstract exhibit as we wandered through the upstairs of the galleries today. 

Beautiful upstairs gallery space

Abstract show in upstairs gallery

over the stairway

What a great stop on the way to Duvall St. to celebrate the luck of the Irish and St. Pats in Key West!

Me posing with some local color!

What have you been lucky enough to receive in your artistic endeavors?

Key West Show Opening

Sean Callahan (fellow New Englander) and I at the opening

The Stone Soup Gallery opening was a hit last night! We sold several pieces between the afternoon and the opening, I could not be more happy. Many people came out to see the show and meet the artist. The gallery director Sean Callahan and I had a great time goofing around. We met when he took my workshop almost four years ago in Amelia Island.

My son is always impressed with Mom's accomplishments!

I am enjoying exploring Key West with the family. We visited the Southernmost point for sunset on Friday, we had an amazingly tasty breakfast/brunch at Blue Heaven today. We indulged in homemade ice cream and mile high Key Lime Pie. I took a training run around the island yesterday morning, dodging roosters on Duvall St. and appreciating the view of the ocean from the Aids Memorial at the end of White Street. 

Coconut Palms and Stone Soup Gallery patrons

Butterfly Strings and Night Owls

Key West is a very cool place. I saw a lot of bumper stickers and wrist bands that said "One Human Family" so I had to ask a local. What it means is that people are gay/lesbian friendly, believing that this tight knit community is one big family that accepts everyone and does not judge. I really am loving the vibe here. 

me and the kids at the end of the world

Tomorrow is day one of the workshop here in the gallery, I'm really looking forward to playing with painted paper and collage with some very excited students. Stay tuned for updates from that.