In Addition to Art

The offician race results are in from the Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon I ran with my husband two weekends ago! I'm happy to announce that I did pretty well for my first time running 13 miles, at night even!

I trained for 12 weeks and that really helped. By the end I was tired of running every day. I am used to triathlon training which mixes running with swimming and biking.

Considering I am the patient of three full open knee surgeries (no arthroscopy in those days), I am truly lucky to be able to do as much running as I do. My sister, a triathlete and runner, said to me, "Look at you go, I NEVER thought I'd see you RUN!"

Cherie's Progress

left to right: Michelle, Cherie, Me, Eileen, Graduation from WHS, 1986

I'm happy to tell you that Cherie is making some progress. She can feel the pressure of being touched on her arms and all the way down her legs! She's looking much better and in good spirits. I visited her at the Lawn Wood Regional Medical Center in Fort Pearce, FL yesterday.

The card writing campaign has brought tears to her eyes, I was lucky enough to be able to read her some of your cards and notes and she cried when I told her that so many artists friends had offered to make her hand made cards, and so many people had offered to send letters and notes!

She truly appreciates all the efforts, and this is going to be a long road to recovery for her. There is plenty of time for you still to send notes and well wishes.

email me for the mailing address, and THANK YOU for making a difference.

Changing Seasons

©St. Hilaire Nelson, 24x24, Cup of Conversation

The weather here in Florida is getting to the point of a smidge cooler in the morning and at night, but still reaching 80+ during the day. It's just starting to cool off, and I am starting to think about pulling out my one fall skirt and my halloween decorations.

Constance and Laura in Asheville had asked me for some coffee and cakes imagery with a fall flare for the Grand Bohemian Gallery in The Grand Bohemian Hotel.

This Cup of Conversation is what I sent them last week. I was definitely inspired by the law firm café project, as i really enjoyed working with the cups and the large fields of color they offered.

Oh and guess what? I now own the URL paperpaintings.com how cool is THAT? Thanks to my fantastic husband and his left brain abilities.

Amelia Island Artist's Workshop

Some photos from the weekend, tomorrow (Sunday) is our last day! We have been having a great time painting papers and applying them to collage. Today the students focuses on their "apple exercise" and tomorrow we move on to an image of their choice.

I was graciously invited to dinner with Pat and her husband Jack at their Amelia Island home on Friday night, and also invited downtown for dinner with Sandy this evening. Thanks so much for the hospitality of my students!!

Shirupa who came from Orlando, has been a wonderful friend over the weekend. I met her online long before I met her in person. A wonderful student and a great person to spend time with!

Laura gets the award for traveling the furthest! she is from St. Croix US Virgin Islands and heard about me online via my blog and her local community art group. How cool is the internet?

Southeast Regional Juried Exhibit; The Art of Hope

©2008 St. Hilaire Nelson, Collage on panel, Rays of Hope

The Art of Hope opened on Thursday night at the Alice Jenkins Gallery of the Crealdé School of Art and the Heritage Center in Winter Park, FL. My friend emailed me today to let me know that my art has a nice place in the gallery, immediately to the left upon entering. I was unable to attend the opening as I am in Amelia Island teaching a collage workshop. I am super proud of having been chosen for the show, there was a lot of competition.

The opening featured jazz music with the Chuck Archard Trio. The curator is Bobby Scroggins, Associate Professor of Art at the University of Kentucky, he selected 32 diverse interpretations of the significance of this Election.

Ten Good Women

©St. Hilaire Nelson: Hope #2 (top) Hope #9 (bottom), 12x12, collage on painted panel

Another opening I missed this weekend (when it rains, it pours) was my work at the Art and Soul Gallery at the Women's Center of Jacksonville in the show "Ten Good Women." I was invited to show 10 collages and Cookie Davis, the curator of the show,  decided at the last minute to come over to Amelia Island and take my workshop! So nice to meet Cookie even though I could not attend the opening. Thank you Cookie!

Amelia Island Workshop and Card Campaign

First let me start by saying a great big THANK YOU to all of you who have emailed me for Cherie's mailing address and offered to send hand made cards and notes to my childhood friend. The latest on Cherie is that she will have a tracheotomy and a G-tube surgery on Sunday. Keep her in your thoughts and know that she has been moved into her own private ICU hospital room. This means she now has a window and a WALL for hanging photos and cards and art on.

The card shown here was sent by Jason McCollum of North Carolina. Thank you Jason! I'll be visiting Cherie in the coming week and will let you all know how her room is and how many cards she has received.

I am in Amelia Island, FL this weekend teaching collage to nine wonderful students! Today we spent the day painting papers and preparing them for collage, which we will start bright and early tomorrow morning! The weather is beautiful and the students are very motivated. Pat even invited me for dinner at her beautiful home this evening, which was a wonderful time. Thank you Pat and Jack!

Calling All Artists

On the left in this photo is my best friend (me on the right) the day we graduated from HS in 1986. My friend Cherie has been part of my life since she lived around the corner from me in kindergarten. We met each other in the neighborhood and when her parents divorced and she moved away into apartments, we were still connected through public school. We were lab partners in middle school science class, and we hated gym class equally! Her last name being Stannard and mine being St. Hilaire, we ended up with adjacent desks in high school homeroom for four years.

Cherie's mom was a pastel artist. She was the first person in my life who ever took me to an art museum. One weekend when I was sleeping over with Cherie (which I did a lot) her mom packed us egg salad sandwiches and drove us to Connecticut to see real art, by real artists, in real life.

These are things you don't forget.

Now we are 42, my friend Cherie and I have managed to stay in touch all these years. Last week Cherie was in a terrible car accident. She rolled her Jeep and suffered a broken neck. Cherie, my rock, my one stable friend through the tumultuous years of my childhood, is helpless in a hospital bed.

Why am I writing this? I want to ask you, any of you, all of you who are artists, or just creative in your own way... would you consider making a card, a sketch or a scribble and joining me in a creative letter writing project to her? I want to send Cherie a hand written note or hand-made card every day starting today. Cherie's sister Susan and her sister in law Alison have agreed to bring my letters to ICU and read them to Cherie.

Wold you join me, even though you don't know her?
If you knew her, you'd love her like I have, all my life.
And she would so much appreciate our creativity.

Email me for a mailing address
thank you so much,
Elizabeth