Snow Sculptures in Breckenridge

Here's a few of the snow sculptures on display up in Breck.  The snow sculptures are an annual event that is very popular with visitors.

I had to go up to the mountains because yet another of my galleries is closing.  It's sad to pick up your work from a gallery that is closing it's doors.  The Columbine Gallery had been there for 23 years.

We had a lovely day anyhow.  After picking up the art, we drove to Breckenridge to see the snow sculptures.  We also took our three little mutts - shih tzus actually.  They LOVE to go in the van.

After walking around in Breck, their little legs must have gotten pooped out because they slept all the way home.

"SANDSTONE" 11005, daily painter geologic abstract © Carol Nelson Fine Art

"SANDSTONE" 11005

"SANDSTONE" underpainting

I took a workshop yesterday.  It was about approaches to abstract expressionism.  We examined the work of three prominent artists, including Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Richard Diebenkorn.

Of the three, Diebenkorn is my favorite probably because his style is the closest to the type of work I do.  We worked on raw canvas that was stapled to a firm support - masking tape covers the staples so they don't get paint on them and become harder to remove.

Above you can see the under painting, which was in warm tones analogous to the finished piece.  I scraped the painted surface with a large comb to make some parallel lines.

If you compare the random color fields of the under painting, you can see that I merely enhanced what was already there.  It was truly a case of letting the painting paint itself.

Of course, it ended up looking like a geologic abstract!  No surprise there.  I'm not putting this on my website yet because I'm not sure how I'm going to frame or mount it.  Right now it's stapled to a support and doesn't have a finished edge.

"KUNG PAO" daily painter textured metallic abstract © Carol Nelson Fine Art

This 24x24 vibrant abstract is looking for a home.  It has a crystal clear epoxy coating that enriches and enhances the colors.  Click here for more information on my website.

"A WINTERS DAY," daily painter winter snow painting © Carol Nelson Fine Art

"A WINTERS DAY"

I always liked this painting. I think I like it because of the perspective, but also because the scene at Cherry Creek State Park is very close to my home in Colorado.
If the sun is this bright, the cold doesn't seem to matter as much.  This painting is sold, but I have many others on my website.

36 Hours of Angst

Does that look like a nice booth shot?  I thought so.  It shows some of my recent abstract paintings I had on display at the Indian Market in Denver last Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

So where did I go wrong?  I was ITCHING for an indoor art show to come along.  The 30th annual Indian Market was just the ticket I thought.  I had NEVER BEEN to the Indian Market before, mind you, but another artist recommended it.

Great crowds, lots of print, radio and TV advertising. I cannot blame the sponsor for not getting the word out.  The venue was an enormous indoor space with very easy loading and unloading - it was heaven.

The fact that is was indoors meant I didn't have to worry about wind, rain, heat, cold - the usual bugaboos of an outdoor show.

So, why didn't I sell a ton of work?

I got my first inkling of trouble brewing when I read the list of participating artists.  I do several outdoor shows a year, and it seems I personally know, or know of, at least half the artists present.

At this show I knew ONE.

It was billed as the Indian Market and Southwest Showcase.  I was juried in with my geologic abstracts which have a strong southwest appeal to them.

But the crowds of people were NOT there to buy $2000 paintings, however.

They WERE buying incredible handmade silver and turquoise jewelry, beautiful leather handbags, clothing with silver trim and lots of fringes, pottery decorated with traditional Indian designs, and paintings (yes!) of Indians, pueblos, tee pees, horses and the old West.

If my name had been Carol Soaring Eagle, I might even have done better.  They were not looking to buy geologic abstracts from a Swede.

Of course, I cannot blame the crowd.  I should have done my homework.  I should have listened to a few artists who were guarded in their assessment of the show.

If you're selling contemporary fine art - make sure it's at a fine art show.  I met some fantastic fellow artists and we LAUGHED for three days straight.  As a matter of fact, the worse the sales were, the more we laughed.

Lesson learned.

"BEST OF FRIENDS" daily painter textured horse © Carol Nelson Fine Art

"BEST OF FRIENDS"

The National Western Stock Show is winding down in Denver, but I still have horses on my mind.

On this painting, I used a palette knife to texture the canvas surface with gel medium before I started painting.  Multiple layers of fluid acrylic washes create a richness and depth of color.

For purchase information, please click here to go to my website. 

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If you're in the Denver area this weekend, Jan. 21-23, stop by my booth at the Indian Market.  I will be in booth 218 in the Pavilion building. The Indian Market is held at the Merchandise Mart, 58th and I-25.

"FUCHSIA" daily painter original oil flower © Carol Nelson Fine Art

"FUCHSIA"

One of my favorite flowers, the fuchsia fascinates with it's unusual droopy flowers and vibrant colors.
This original oil is on gallery wrap canvas with the sides painted - framing not required.  Do you have a spot that needs a dash of color?
For purchase information, please click here to go to my website.

"IGNITION POINT II" 11003, daily painter mixed media abstract © Carol Nelson Fine Art

"IGNITION POINT II"

 

I'd like to see them try to copy this!  HA!!  This abstract features combusted metal foil AND there's lots of texture.  It is similar in concept and technique to "IGNITION POINT" (below) that I posted last month.

As you know, I love playing around with new things.  These were both done using my butane torch - AND I didn't even set off the smoke alarm!

I wish you could see them in person because they look SO MUCH BETTER when you can see the light dancing around on the metallic surface.

For more information, please click here to go to my website.  These WILL be at the Indian Market show at the Merchandise Mart in Denver next weekend.

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Do you want to add the copyright sign © to your posts?  It's easy.  Just type &-copy-; where you want the little c with a circle around it, but leave out the dashes.

Stolen artwork update

Thanks to all of my fellow artists and friends for your concern about this all-too-common issue that could affect any one of us. 
EmptyEasel.com has a couple articles about copyright infringement.  Click here to read them.

I have found out the iOffer is a site similar to eBay.  Sellers can set up a "store" to sell things.  When I contacted them about this issue, to their credit, they removed the listing.

However, the individual store owner, identified only as hnzp197738, still has my painting for sale.  I've sent him/her a message the he/she is infringing on copyrighted material and to remove it immediately.

I think it is incredible that the painting is listed as a "hand painted original."  Totally bogus!!!  I think they make a print of a painting, and then paint over it with clear gel so it looks like brushstrokes to the untrained, half blind eye.  Or, they have factory artists, typically in China, add some paint on top of the print.  Even I could not paint such an exact match again without a print underneath.

Stolen artwork

This is a painting I did a couple years ago and the original is sold.  My signature is written vertically on the right stem.

This site, iOffer, is selling unauthorized reproductions of this painting.  They didn't even remove my signature, but added someone else's signature!!!!  Click here to see the fraudulent sale.

One of the hazards of showing your work on the internet is that unscrupulous individuals can rip of your artwork and offer it for sale as a reproduction.

I have notified iOffer and Paypal that they are selling fraudulently attained work.

I would encourage other artists to check this site to see if they have ripped off any of your images.

Click here to see the original listing on my website.  This painting sold through a gallery in 2009.

"CANYON COLORS" daily painter mixed media geologic abstract © Carol Nelson Fine Art

"CANYON COLORS"

"CANYON COLORS" side

This geologic abstract has large areas of painted aluminum foil.  When painted with a transparent fluid acrylic, the effect is a soft metallic glow on the surface.  The camera does not show this very well.
I love the colors with that complimentary red/green thing going on. For purchase information about this painting, click here to go to my website.

"LIFE IS GOOD" daily painter hereford cows © Carol Nelson Fine Art

"LIFE IS GOOD" 16X20 oil on canvas

It all comes down to BEEF.  Here's another painting to commemorate the National Western Stock Show.  Yes, there's lots of events and lots of animals to be seen, but the prize that most tugs at the heart, is for the Grand Champion in the Junior Livestock competition.

4H youngsters raise their animals from birth to show ring.  The sale price of the Grand Champion steer is often over $100,000.  In the sad reality of what this is all about, the winning bidder is often a high priced RESTAURANT - there's lots of publicity in buying the Grand Champion.

You do see tears shed in this ritual.  Kids grow up knowing that the calf they've raised and pampered and nurtured will eventually meet the fate of all beef cattle.

Maybe that little guy in the painting will grow up to be Grand Champion.  For now, life is good for him and his mom.  For purchase information, please contact  me  at carolnelsonfineart@comcast.net.  This original painting is available as well as giclee reproductions.

"ROUNDUP" daily painter horse western © Carol Nelson Fine Art

"ROUNDUP"

The 105th annual National Western Stock Show, the Super Bowl of stock shows opened here in Denver over the weekend.  Ranchers, farmers, breeders, horsemen converge on Denver for 16 days to show their animals and compete against the best of the best from around the country.  There's horse shows, several rodeos, and every conceivable competition from sheep-shearing to mutton busting to horse dancing.

One part of the stock show that I try not to miss is the Coors Western Art exhibit, which features western themed fine art by incredible artists who are much more famous than I will ever be.

I also like to walk around the grounds looking at all the critters.  There are so many breeds of cattle, horses, sheep, etc. all getting groomed and foo-fooed for their moment in the spotlight.  There are small animals too - chickens, rabbits, ducks, guinea pigs - you name it.

For more information about the stock show and the art exhibit, click the link above.  For more information about this painting, which epitomizes the legends of the West, click here to go to my website.

Textured Mixed Media Marine Abstract Art Painting "BREAKWATER" by Carol Nelson Fine Art

"BREAKWATER" 11001

"BREAKWATER," side

  36"x36x1.5" Acrylic on Canvas/sold

  Commissions welcome.

  View more of my work at http://carolnelsonfineart.com

  Learn about my special Canvas Minis HERE

  Sign up for my quarterly newsletter HERE

  View my WORKSHOP SCHEDULE  Here

  View my available BOOKS Here

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Check out my video.....

"New Approaches to Mixed Media Materials,"

If you want to see what all the hoopla is about, click this link:

www.craftsy.com/ext/CarolNelson_10658_D

CHOCOLATE, PAINT, and TENNIS

My latest newsletter was about resolutions:  I am keeping my resolutions for 2011 simple:  More chocolate, More painting, More tennis.  My newsletters also function as a thinly veiled marketing ploy to get my latest art work in front of people's faces, but you didn't read that here.

To make a newsletter interesting, you have to give people a thought or a glimpse of something personal.  After all, they signed up for my newsletter because they liked my painting, so what else can they expect?

Very often, a reader will respond to some blog post I've written saying that I inspired them in some way.  I never thought of myself as an inspirational figure ( I think you have to be taller than 4'11"), but I have found the teaching I've been doing CAN inspire other artists to try new things.

So, in my last newsletter, I suggested to readers that they should take the plunge.  If there is something you've been wanting to try for a long time, but just haven't gotten around to it, put it on your TO DO list in 2011 - AND THEN DO IT. Hope I'm not sounding too much like a Nike commercial. Most of the time, it's just inertia or plain old fear of failure that keeps us from trying new things.

I wish someone had kicked me in the butt and got me into painting DECADES ago.  When I was in college, it was fear of failure that pushed me out of my art major into something safe that would pay the bills when I graduated.  If I had stuck with the art, I bet I'd be famous by now!

Click here to see my latest newsletter - then take the plunge.

Surprise in my back yard

 

I know this is an art blog, but I have to share this.  This morning there were a bunch of crows going nuts with a cacophony of cawing.

I went out to investigate, and there, in a tree in my back yard, was this beautiful horned owl (click on his picture two times for a larger view.)

He was just sitting there quietly, and the crows did not like him being there at all.  There were 7 or 8 crows jumping around the branches and screaming (cawing) at this poor owl.  They were careful not to get TOO close.  This went on for over two hours.

I went out to take pictures, and, I have to admit, it was a little scary when he looked right down at me.  Stupid me, it didn't even occur to me to turn on the VIDEO part of my camera.

With all the noise and commotion, this video might have gone viral on YouTube.  Oh well - NEXT TIME.

"DECEMBER SONG," daily painter winter landscape © Carol Nelson Fine Art

Winters in Denver have a good amount of snow, but with our abundant sunshine, it often disappears before too long.  I love the way the sun, being low in the sky, shines deeply into the house through the south windows.

I remember the frigid winters in Duluth, MN, where I grew up.  They don't get as many sunny days as Colorado, but when the sun was shining in my girlhood home, it would come in a large window in the kitchen, stretch across the dining room all the way to the blue recliner.  My Mom kept track of those sorts of things.

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

Alger is a winner.

"ALGER"

I entered this painting in a "White Cat Contest" on Fine Art America and he WON.  That is purrrrrfectly marvelous.  I sold this painting already, but if you want a high quality reproduction of it, or note cards, click here to go to Fine Art America.  I can vouch for the quality of the prints that FAA does - they are excellent - and they are available in several formats.

Reflections on 2010

Looking back on 2010, I think it was a good year for me to grow as an artist.  Starting the year off with the portrait project was (pick one or more) intense, inspiring, gratifying, awesome, instructional, wonderful, amazing, satisfying, helpful.....  I could go on and on with the adjectives.

I learned so much from that project and feel I got to know so many people.  The awesome power of the internet was certainly revealed to me in a way I never fully realized before.

It also made me ponder the allure of the painted portrait.  We live in such a techno age, where it is now SO EASY to take photographs.  And after you take them, with a little knowledge, you can manipulate them to make them look even better.  I guess it's the EASE with which one can print a photo of themselves or a loved one, that makes the painted portrait even more unique.

I conducted several workshops and, for the first time, taught a 10 week class on painting with acrylics.  I found out how enjoyable it is to share my knowledge with others.  It also made me get organized.  My desk is still a mess, but the information I wanted to share with students had to be presented in a clear and logical fashion.

It's good to have order in your brain.  My studio is another matter.

I love new gadgets.  I bought my husband a smart phone for Christmas, and, as luck would have it, it was a buy one, get one free.  Woo-hoo! Did I luck out! I can take photos and videos with it, check email, check internet ... all kinds of cool things above and beyond calling and texting.  

Last night, being the good Mom that I am, I texted my daughters (who are responsible and in their 30's) to not drink and drive.  Actually, I KNEW I didn't have to tell them that - I just wanted to use my phone for texting, and that seemed like an appropriate message for New Year's Eve. They both texted back that they were wasted, on drugs, and texting while driving.  LOL  LOL

What's ahead in 2011?  Well, right off the bat, I have another class to teach starting Jan. 10th.  Then I have a large indoor show in Denver on 1/21 - 1/23.  

I have several workshops coming up in Feb, Mar, Apr, May and July.  My semiannual Youngberg Cousins Reunion is also planned for 2011 here in Denver. I am the host this year, so gotta get going on that planning!

Well, enough of this rambling.  I want to thank all of you who follow my blog, and especially when you to take time to leave me your comments.  Your observations and insights about my work are very valuable to me and I truly appreciate it.

My sincere wishes are for each you to have a 2011 that is better in health, happiness, and prosperity than ever before.

Carol