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"Summer Aspens", mixed media tree collage © Carol Nelson Fine Art

September 20, 2013, 3:36 pm
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Summer Aspens
I was cleaning my studio ( I know, shocking.) I came across a piece of wc paper on which I had put a drizzle of gel medium. I thought I should see how the paper would take color with the medium on there.

Then I put a stencil of numbers on it, thinking it would make a really interesting background for some future painting....

Well, the future is now, because then I came across some paint chips in shades of green and some blue "tree strips".

Hmmmm, I wonder how these would go with that interesting  background I had just done....

Long story short - I did this collage painting today and my studio is still a mess.

For more information, click here to go to my website.
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Houston demo 1 - mixed media contemporary abstract © Carol Nelson Fine Art

September 27, 2013, 7:32 pm
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Houston demo 1

This painting is impossible to photograph because it has a coating of epoxy resin, and there is a shiny silver band going across the middle.  I like it because of the neutral colors with a splash of red - it goes in my newly remodeled bathroom.
My Houston artists are doing their best to keep up with all the info and techniques I've been loading on them every day.  They are working hard on their masterpieces, and some times you can hear a pin drop because everyone is deep in concentration on their work. 
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Houston demo 3 - acrylic geologic textured abstract © Carol Nelson Fine Art

September 29, 2013, 8:32 pm
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This is another demo piece I did for my workshop class in Houston.  They were very interested in seeing the step by step process for creating some of my geologic abstract series.
THis piece is sold.

Click here to see this and other paintings on my website, carolnelsonfineart.com.
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Art of the Carolinas

October 3, 2013, 12:52 pm
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I can't believe that Art of the Carolinas is a little more than a month away.  Especially if you live on the East coast, you HAVE to check this out.  Click here for general information, and click here for information on the workshops I'll be teaching.

One of my workshops is sold out already, so don't miss out.  Imagine, 100's of workshops, and 1000's of artists all in one hotel in Raleigh, NC. 

Think of the people you'll meet, the thrill of just hanging out with more like-minded artists than you've ever seen. If you only do one art event for the year, this is the one! It's going to be such a blast.
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"Forest Wonders 4" mixed media tree abstract © Carol Nelson Fine Art

October 4, 2013, 4:28 pm
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Forest Wonders 4
I love including these mixed media tree paintings in my workshops.  The color combinations are endless, because in my world the trees are vibrant. 

Students do very well with these.  This is one of the workshops I will be teaching at Art of the Carolinas on November 7, 2013, in Raleigh, NC.

For more information about this 6x6inch painting, click here to go to my website.
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"New London" mixed media geologic abstract © Carol Nelson Fine Art

October 6, 2013, 2:00 pm
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New London



This is another in my geologic abstract series.  The inspiration for palette is my newly remodeled bathroom, which has some really cool tile accents.  The name of the tile was New London, and, of course, I have red accents.



Sometimes people ask me, Where do I get my inspiration?  This is a perfect example.  It's just colors and textures that get me going in a new creative pursuit.

For more information, click here to go to my website, carolnelsonfineart.com
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"London Vibe" mixed media contemporary collage © Carol Nelson Fine Art

October 17, 2013, 4:37 pm
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"London Vibe"




This is a tile and stone collage made from pieces from our recent bathroom remodel.  The name of the "bling" tile was London Sky. I just fell in love with the colors and design.  This is the second painting inspired by the colors in the tile.

I mounted the collage on one half inch thick board, so it is both sturdy and heavy.  The pewter easel is perfect with it.

For more information, click here to go to my website.
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"Dream Remnants 2" mixed media contemporary abstract © Carol Nelson Fine Art

October 19, 2013, 5:28 pm
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"Dream Remnants 2"









This is a commission piece I did for a client who saw another version of this painting on my website that was already sold.  I came pretty close to replicating the original work for her.


Although recreating a work I have done previously is not my favorite thing to do, this is the second one this month I've done that way.

The client fell in love with the COLORS.  What scares me is that her whole collection consists of realistic paintings, and this is her FIRST abstract.  I'm anxious to hear what she thinks of it.







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Golden training in New Orleans

October 27, 2013, 11:16 am
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Have you ever wondered what all those jars of medium are in the Golden Paint aisle at your art store are for?  I was familiar with several of them, but there were many more I had not worked with.

I was fortunate to be part of a group of 18 artists from around the country to be chosen for Golden's Artist Educator Program (GAEP).  For a week in New Orleans, we worked making sample boards, banners, charts for almost the entire product line of Golden Artist Paints, Inc.

Our instruction was headed by a fantastic team from Golden, including PattiBrady, author of Rethinking Acrylic, with an encyclopedic knowledge of all things acrylic; and Pat Pirrone, whose job included logistics of shipping supplies, setting up hotel accommodations, picking restaurants, and taking care of the needs of all of us.



We worked with High Flow Acrylics (think ink), Open Acrylics (think slow drying), Fluid Acrylics (my favorite), Heavy Body Acrylics (think thick, luscious paste), Iridescent Paints (think metallic shine), and Interference Paints (think two tone light refractive).




There also were many specialty gel and paste mediums to try, such as crackle paste, fiber paste, molding paste, absorbent ground, course pumice gel, glass bead gel, clear tar gel, and gels of varying consistency.

We explored printing on digital grounds, monoprints, Gelli printing plates,  subtractive painting using the open paints, and painting with all the above mediums added to the paint.  We practiced color mixing and made color charts with modern pigments (think translucent, high chroma), and mineral pigments (think opaque, lower chroma).

We added fluid colors to all the iridescent paints, which I KNOW will end up in my future paintings.  My head is still spinning with possibilities for sharing these fantastic painting compounds in my workshops and incorporating them into my own work.

Here I, home in my studio with some of the training materials we made.
Now that I'm home, I can't wait to get started applying some of my newly acquired knowledge to my painting.  Stay tuned.....
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"Blue Grove 2" mixed media tree painting © Carol Nelson Fine Art

October 31, 2013, 8:29 pm
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"Blue Grove 2"





I included a couple angled shots of this painting because it's hard for the metallic background to show.  The foliage is made from crackle paste.  After painting it mostly shades of phthalo turquoise and paynes gray, I used Golden High Flow burnt sienna, and Com.Art transparent phthalo blue for airbrush to drop color into the cracks of the crackle paste.


I was given the package of High Flow paints at the Golden Art Educators program I recently attended in New Orleans, and the ComArt air brush paint was given to me at Jerry's Artarama when I taught a workshop there last April.  This is the first time I've gotten around to using either product.

The long pointed dispenser tip on the ComArt bottle really lets you pinpoint where you want the color to flow, which is a nice feature. These paints are very thin, with a consistency like ink.

I did this painting as a demo for my Mixed Media Trees workshop I will be teaching next week in Raleigh at Art of the Carolinas.  The workshop is only 6 hours, and I'm worried the class' crackle paste won't crackle soon enough for them to paint on it, so I need to have something to show them how it will look when it's done.

For more information about this 12 x 5 inch painting, click here to go to my website.
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"Big Red" acrylic poppy flower © Carol Nelson Fine Art

November 2, 2013, 2:04 pm
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"Big Red"

This is one of the projects we're going to do in my Dallas workshop at The Artists Showplace next week.  The petals are sculpted with medium before painting, making a 3D effect.  These little 6x6inch paintings look so good in groups of three, or the same technique can be expanded into a larger work.

"Poppy Garden"
For more information on "Big Red", click here to go to my website.
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"Gemstone 19" mixed media acrylic geologic abstract © Carol Nelson Fine Art

November 11, 2013, 5:20 pm
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Gemstone 19

I never dreamed I would still be working on this series when I did the first one.  They are very popular in my "Effortless Abstracts" workshops.  This one was the demo for the workshop I did in Raleigh, at Art of the Carolinas.

That trade show/art gathering was one of the highlights of my art career to date.  Imagine a whole hotel (the Hilton Midtown) taken over by like-minded individuals - artists from around the world.
And vendors of all your favorite art supplies offering them at rock bottom prices.

I taught a 6 hour and a 3 hour workshop, and I TOOK two 3 hour workshops.  One with Bob Burridge, and one with Joe DiGiulio.

Confession:  I took their workshops, not so much to see how they do their paintings, but to see how they conduct 3 hour workshops!!  I was a SPY.  I learned a few tips too.  I know that students really like it when they have a painting they've created to take home with them.

For more information about this painting, click here to go to my website.

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"Turquoise Ridge" acrylic geologic abstract © Carol Nelson Fine Art

November 14, 2013, 9:31 pm
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Turquoise Ridge

 

This is a demo I did in my recent Dallas workshop.  As often happens, when I get home from the workshop, I have time to take a more critical look at the painting, and make adjustments if necessary.
This one needed color and value adjustments.  The composition was set in stone, as it were, because of the textured sculpted areas.

For more information about this painting, click here to go to my website.

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Christmas came early! by Carol Nelson

November 16, 2013, 9:42 pm
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OH MY GOSH! I AM BLOWN AWAY! One of the benefits of being selected for Golden's Artist Educator Program was that, after completing and passing the final exam to be "certified," Golden Artist Colors, Inc. would send me $2500 worth of their products.

The FedEx truck pulled up with two boxes of Golden products today  There are Open Acrylics, High Flow Acrylics, Flourescent High Flow Acrylics, Tube Acrylics, Fluid Acrylics, Interference Acrylics, and Iridescent Acrylics. There are jars of Fiber Paste, several kinds of Molding Paste and Gel Medium, Digital Ground, Pumice Gels, Clear Tar Gel, and many more.

Fortunately, after our week of training last month in New Orleans, I know how to use all this stuff. Golden is such a generous company, and their products, which are MADE IN THE USA, are top notch professional quality. I am so grateful for this wonderful opportunity to share these products with my workshop students.
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"Southern Relic" mixed media abstract rust painting © Carol Nelson Fine Art

November 17, 2013, 3:25 pm
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"Southern Relic"

Progress photo showing metal piece and iron paint.
When I was wandering around the French Quarter in New Orleans last month at the Golden training workshop, I kept an eye on the ground for treasures - you need to do watch out anyhow because the pavement is so uneven.  This old piece of metal was one of my finds.

To make more rusted patterns around the piece of metal, I applied iron paint over textured paper and molding paste.

For more information, click here to go to my website.
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"E4" geologic mixed media abstract © Carol Nelson Fine Art

November 22, 2013, 9:25 pm
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"E4"


There are five visual and tactile texture elements in this geometric abstract:  the backwards "E" and the "4" are raised, stenciled characters; the face is a collaged, oversized, FAKE $20 bill; the grid is a piece of black fabric; the corrugated swirl paper (green); and a page out of a puzzle book I bought at the Dollar Store (red).
For more information on this painting, click here to go to my website.
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"Winter Wardrobe" mixed media winter tree landscape painting © Carol Nelson Fine Art

November 23, 2013, 5:24 pm
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"Winter Wardrobe"


I just realized that I never posted this demo painting from my recent workshop at Art of the Carolinas.  It's another from my tree series.  I never tire of the seemingly endless opportunities to use color in this format.

It's painted on a cradled wood panel - I think that has to be my favorite surface.  I like the firm feel under the brush.

For more information about this painting, click here to go to my website.


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"Ocean Blue" acrylic seascape abstract © Carol Nelson Fine Art

November 24, 2013, 9:58 pm
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"Ocean Blue"



Some areas of this painting were poured color mixes.  I like the way the colors mingle and create new patterns on their own.  I then did quite a lot of brush work to make things do what I thought was needed.

I have new respect for artists whose work is done primarily using pouring methods.  It is much harder than it looks to come up with something good.

For more information about this painting, click here to go to my website.
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A new toy - Darice Crafting Tool

December 1, 2013, 9:41 pm
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I read about this on Myrna Wacknov's blog.  It's a crafter's soldering iron with several kinds of tips.  As soon as I got one, I started melting everything in my studio.

I thought I was going to use it to make stencils, but have not had the best luck with that so far.





I love what it does to foam plates - this was a black foam plate that I burned a random pattern into.  You can get very intricate designs.



This is a piece of deli paper that I folded in half to make a Rorscach-type design.



I know I'm going to figure out a use for these designs sooner or later.
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"Introspection" gold leaf abstract © Carol Nelson Fine Art

December 2, 2013, 9:42 pm
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I like the gold leaf substrate.  It gives the painting a warm glow.
The photo does not do the painting justice - it's so hard to show metallic shine.
For more information, click here to go to my website.
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