Music to My Eyes

initial sketch, pencil on birch gallery boxed panel 

For those of you who have been following my work for Exquisite Harmony, my solo exhibition at Maitland Art Center, this is the final piece that I am working on for the show. Delivery date is September 5. I have been adding hanging hardware  and labeling the pieces as I go along, so there will be no final rush to prepare works for the gallery the night before. I have also been creating the art cards and have typeset the Bruce Adolphe poems to go along with the 13 Carnival of the Animals collages.

I wanted to include dancers as representatives of music from the beginning, but I saved her for the end. I'll be listening to flamenco music on Pandora as I create this piece. I might even have to eat some Latin food to help me get into the rhythm of things!

Once again, I'll be looking for a title for her when she is complete, as I have nothing in mind at the moment. I just have always loved the color and intensity of these dancers and their costumes.

She is started in my typical process,  a pencil sketch on birch gallery boxed panel primed with Liquitex clear gesso. I prefer a Faber Castell 9000 series pencil, as it has some varnish mixed in with the graphite and tends to smear less when I apply the clear gesso over the top of the sketch. Experience has brought me to the point of sketching directly on unprimed wood, and then priming over both sketch and panel before creating my acrylic under-painting.

Typically I had been working on un-cradeled panel which I framed in barn wood hand-made by my frame maker in Kentucky. For this show, I decided to use the gallery boxed panel so as to keep the look clean and contemporary. I felt that this would lend itself to the variety of subject matter that makes up this  body of work.

So, be thinking of a title as we go through the process of this final installment to Exquisite Harmony, on display at the Maitland Art Center in Maitland, FL from September 10-October 24.

100% Pure Florida Exhibition

Once I Had A Crazy Dream / 24x33/ ©St.Hilaire Nelson

I am happy to announce that I have been accepted into the Fifth Avenue Art Gallery's 100% Pure Florida exhibition again this year. Three years ago, one of my collages won Best of Show there. That's a tough act to follow, right?

I am feeling pretty good about having been selected, as there were 240+ pieces submitted for consideration from 100% Florida artists, and mine was chosen to be among the 64 pieces of artwork that will be included in the exhibit.

This piece was one of six finalists in the 2008 Sport Art Competition for the U.S. Olympic Committee. The kid looking through the Olympic rings is my daughter, Emilie. My husband took a fantastic reference photo with his underwater camera housing!

The quote is by Wilma Rudolph, an absolutely amazing athlete who overcame incredible odds.

Birch Trees Need A Title

"untitled birch trees" / two 24x24 panels / ©St.Hilaire Nelson 2010

Once again I'm looking for some help with a title for this diptych. A departure from my normal style, I am enjoying creating these abstract landscapes. I did the sketch for this piece on the couch while watching TV back in the middle of June. I am so impressed with myself for not losing it before I actually put it on the wood panels and made it into a finished piece!

I painted the black outlines as part of the under-painting with black gesso and decided to leave them painted, not collage over them. I also have an under-painting of a gray blue that shows through some of the sheet music pieces that form the tree bark. This was an experiment with leaving the underpainting showing through, and using different colors under there. A departure from my typical style of painting the same color underneath that I intend to collage on top.

This diptych will be a part of my solo exhibition "Exquisite Harmony" at the Maitland Art Center. Show opens September 10, 6-8pm and runs through October 24.

What do you think?

Cool Coffee Cup

Collage Coffee Mug has wrap around graphics and is dishwasher safe. Now you can have coffee with your favorite collage artist!

Remember, all proceeds go toward online purchase of art supplies.

Quantities are limited at this point, if they do well I will order more

August Altamonte Workshop

Thanks to fun and talented student, Joyce Shelton, I have a good photo of me teaching and  her blog post to link to about my most recent workshop!

Joyce took the class with her good friend and kids book illustrator Loreen Leedy who also blogged about her experience in preparing for my mini-class in Altamonte.

I thank both of these women for offering me some great TESTIMONIALS! Something I was lacking a link to before.

In the second photo, the group is hard at work with paper everywhere!
A good time was had by all.

Barnyard Friends Note Cards

Barnyard Friends / 20x24 / collage on panel / ©2010 St.Hilaire Nelson

4x6 glossy note cards with envelopes are packaged in a clear plastic box with silver stretchy ribbon.
Makes a nice gift for yourself or a friend.

All proceeds go toward the purchase of art supplies online!

Skeleton Crew

©Doug and Elizabeth Nelson 2010

This morning I dropped off the Red Chair entry I was asked to create for Seminole Cultural Arts Council. Linda Moore, from the City of Casselberry, FL was thrilled with the skeleton my husband Doug built, and I collaged. Doug also distressed the red chair and we put a box on his lap to hold the SCAC tickets they are giving away to their annual "Howl for the Arts" event. "Howl for the Arts" is a halloween theme, which is why we chose to embellish the chair to match.

The Sixth Annual Red Chair Affair raises money for the arts in Central Florida. If you are interested in tickets and/or the themed chair auction, visit their website