Cheerful and Colorful Paintings

Cheerful and Colorful Paintings in Oil, Acrylic, Mixed Media and Collage
nancystandlee@sbcglobal.net

Friday, March 28, 2014

"Abstracted Path" 14007, Carol Nelson Workshop and Paper 53 iPad app by Texas Artist Nancy Standlee

Abstracted Path 14007
Acrylic on Ampersand gessobord 3/4" cradle
10x8"

This small abstract work was completed in the Carol Nelson workshop at the Wenmohs Ranch in February. The sides are painted black on a 3/4" depth cradle and ready for hanging, no frame necessary. 

I'm practicing drawing, sketching and painting on the iPad with the Paper 53 app and getting ready for a workshop. 


Texas Daily Painter, Abstract Acrylic Painting, small  painting, ,  mixed media art,  Artists of Texas, Nancy Standlee Fine Art, Daily Paintworks, Pinterest, Canvas by Canvas, Paper 53, iPad,  Ampersand panels, Check Advantage, Etsy


Original fine art and affordable prints can be found at:
Follow me on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/NancyStandlee/
                           http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/nancy-standlee.html
Order personalized checks, side tear checks, checkbook covers and address labels with a choice of 20 of my paintings on them.





Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Landscape Oil, Sunday in Austria, New Menu at the Blue Mesa Grill, and Kanuga and Paper 53 by Texas Artist Nancy Standlee

Sunday in Austria 14012
11x14 on 3/4 depth traditional wrap canvas

Sunday afternoon several of my friends gathered at a local gallery to rent some work space and paint together, led by Margie Whittington, from a photo from one of the group of an Austrian lake. We painted in various styles and mediums and added our own touches. I chose to paint a red acrylic under painting and there are little touches of red in the trunks where I've scratched back into the canvas. There was a swan in the photo that I decided to leave him out. The painting is available on the DPW link above.

Fed Ex brought me a nice surprise today, the finished Blue Mesa Grill menu that I illustrated with watercolor. I went to the restaurant at Lincoln Square in Arlington in the fall over several weeks and painted illustrations from the actual food items. I've taken several photos of some of the pages that I've included below. The menu is an elegant addition to a remarkable dining experience with some of the best, made from scratch southwest food available in the metroplex. The menu is presented on a lightweight board about 14x6 inches. Now to celebrate a family dinner there to celebrate.










I'm making plans and lists getting ready for Kanuga and a workshop with David Rankin. He has an excellent watercolor tutorial and discussion on his Facebook page here. 
David has a book available on Amazon in softcover and Kindle, "Fast Sketching Techniques". 
In the a.m. the class will discuss the iPad app Paper 53 and David has more Facebook discussion here.
Google searches also came up with Sebastian's Drawings and Made Mistakes with more instructions with Paper 53. Paper support is here.
Strathmore has a YouTube discussion on types of sketchbook journals and they have an ongoing free workshop here for 4 weeks.

Do you want to take a break and hear some pretty music, Andrew Rieu playing music "And the Waltz Goes On", composed Sir Anthony Hopkins (of the Silence of the Lamb fame). 

Texas Daily Painter, Oil painting, small oil landscape, Austria lake, Artists of Texas, Nancy Standlee Fine Art, Daily Paintworks, Pinterest, Canvas by Canvas, canvas traditional, 11x14 Painting, David Rankin workshop, Kanuga, Paper 53, iPad app, Check Advantage,

Original fine art and affordable prints can be found at:
Follow me on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/NancyStandlee/
                           http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/nancy-standlee.html
Order personalized checks, side tear checks, checkbook covers and address labels with a choice of 20 of my paintings on them.




Dreams of the Turtle King blog http://www.dreamsoftheturtleking.com/

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Georgia Pears 14002, Oil Painting, Sketch Class for Free and Blue Mesa Menu by Texas Artist Nancy Standlee


Georgia Pears 14002
Oil on Linen on Canvas Board, 8x10"

Georgia Pears is now available on Daily Paintworks ready to ship without a frame. It has been painted on a linen on canvas board. I love painting pears and I've not painted in several weeks because it's that time of year when I have to gather up receipts for my not so favorite time of year - income tax time..grrr. I have my taxes done as my math maxes out at end of the month check balancing. Bravo to you if you can do your own taxes. 

Free Class:
But do I have some good news if you are interested in a sketchbook journaling class and it's free. Strathmore online workshop is offering 3 workshops with 3 different artists and the first one starts Monday, March 10 with Earnest Ward in his Back to Basics course and a supply list. From their website Strathmore states "Our online workshops are self-paced. Each workshop consists of four video lessons and supporting downloadable instructions. Students can participate in conversations and share their work." Earnest Ward is a Texas boy living nearby and I've signed up. See you in class.

Not so free class:
at Sketchbook Skool and yes, I've signed up for this one also.
6 weeks and 6 teachers for $99.00. Quoted from the website:
"Creativity isn’t about “talent.” It’s about having fun creating art and making it a regular part of your life. Anyone can do it and everyone should.
That’s why Danny Gregory and Koosje Koene founded Sketchbook Skool. To share with people how keeping an illustrated journal can rock your world. And to bring together the best-loved illustrated journal keepers to teach, inspire, and hang out with anyone who wants to be more creative."
I enjoy keeping a journal and here's a page from one of mine.
These are pages 18 and 19 from my 90 lb. Strathmore Visual journal from 2013. As you can see I use mine for a lot of note taking and reminders and it seems on these days I had an obsession with Lamy pens. Journals are so much fun to revisit. 

I'm also going to Kanuga for their watermedia workshops and study with David Rankin who uses the iPad and Paper 53, an app, to keep sketchbooks in the morning with watercolor afternoons. If you are on Facebook, David posts some wonderful art several times a week so make him your friend.

Here is a link about David Hockney about how the iPad inspires him.    

Thanks for reading and I hope one of the classes inspire you to make a journal entry after you get your taxes done. 

Just sold Pop Star and it stays in Texas and around the area where it was created.

Blue Mesa Grill:
Here is a blog post about painting some menu items for the Blue Mesa Grill. I was commissioned to go to the restaurant, paint some food items for their menu revision and the menu debuts in mid March. If you sign up to be a Chilehead on their website you will get Blue Mesa newsletters but the March issue has gone out but just in case you missed it I will include a portion of the very nice write up here about how this came to be. Yes, I did have some complications from cataract surgery, then some laser surgery, with both eyes dilated, went to the nearby Blue Mesa Grill to hang out, journal and eat because I couldn't see to get home but could see well enough to draw my food and stayed there until it was dark. Who wants to go home when you can eat some fresh southwest flavored food? Liz and Jim Baron liked the sketch and over a period of several months I ate and sketched, sketched and ate, felt like Van Gogh hanging out at a French cafe except I hung out at the Arlington location and was treated royally every time I made an appointment to sketch.
A portion of the newsletter: (the white plate on right is my original journal entry)


Blue Mesa

Blue Mesa
Recipe of the Month

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Blue Mesa
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Blue Mesa

March 2014

Nancy

Sometimes less is truly more. In mid-March we introduce our new menu. Simple, straightforward and honest are the menu's passwords. We believe our food speaks for itself. It does not need a lot of marketing spin - glowing adjectives, long descriptions, artistic photographs. People go to restaurants for different reasons - for status, it's new and trendy, a good place to socialize or meet people or it's kid-friendly. At Blue Mesa the main reason is the food. We really do make it all from scratch and offer bold and distinctive flavors of the southwest. We decided to focus on the essential elements. Simple descriptions of the food and honest pricing - e.g. $9 vs. $8.95. Less spin, more direct. Blue MesaWhen we were brainstorming this format, we agreed it should include small "jewel-like" illustrations that conveyed the artisan feeling of our concept. Coincidentally, a guest at one of our restaurants, Nancy Standlee, wrote to ask if we bake our sweet potato chips (we don't, we fry in a non-hydrogenated, zero trans fat oil), and she included an illustration she had done of the food she had ordered. We couldn't believe it - it was exactly what we were thinking of. We called her immediately and asked if she would consider doing the illustrations for our new menu. She agreed. So, all the new menu illustrations are Nancy's. They really capture the handmade quality of our colorful southwestern food. As Liz is always saying to Jim, if we consistently have the best tasting food, we don't have to spend so much time worrying about marketing ideas and social media trends. Good food sells itself because it is so rare. It is the meaningful difference that sets us apart. "Let's just do that, okay?"

More sweet potato chips!

Blue Mesa
Liz & Jim

TACO FESTIVAL CONTINUES

Two great tacos are featured every week through March. These are tacos we have offered as specials or on the menu over the years. We feature Korean short ribs with kimchee relish, chicken fried rib-eye with tomatillo gravy, buffalo chicken with wing sauce, jicama slaw and blue cheese, and Thai spiced corn-crusted grouper with macadamia nut-pico. I think you would agree this is a trifle different than the ground beef-iceberg lettuce-cheddar cheese taco that Glen Bell of Taco Bell fame introduced to hungry California customers. Tacos are $11.50. We serve two with ginger rice, smoky black beans, and corn cake. Enjoy one of the most popular food items this world over - and in a place that does a mighty good job with them.

All locations

CHILEHEAD REWARD
QUESO SAMPLER

Our queso sampler, one of our most popular appetizers, is offered this month. Three versions: classic queso blanco, chorizo and ground beef, and spinach-artichoke. Just print this page and bring it in, or show us this email on your phone. Available with the purchase of any entrée, any time through the month of March.

Not valid in combination with any other offer. One per Chilehead, please.
Expires March 31, 2014.


All this was going on in my October birthday month and they let me invite some girl friends to join me for lunch.
 Later in the week they hosted one of my sons and a friend.
As my musician son would say "This was a very good gig". Thanks Liz and Jim for a very pleasant commission.  Here is a page from my journal that started it all, a 9x6" 93 lb. Aquabee Super Deluxe journal, 6-21-2013 entry. (This is a nice size to stick in your purse/backpack to make entries during your wait times and it takes watercolor well enough.) Later when the menus are out I'm taking the whole family to the Blue Mesa to celebrate and yes, there will be photos and journal entries.
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Texas Daily Painter, Oil painting, small oil still life, pears, Artists of Texas, Nancy Standlee Fine Art, Daily Paintworks, Pinterest, Canvas by Canvas, Check Advantage, David Rankin workshop, Danny Gregory, Koosje Koene, Earnest Ward, Strathmore Visual Journal, sketchbook journaling, , Blue Mesa,


Original fine art and affordable prints can be found at:
Follow me on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/NancyStandlee/
                           http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/nancy-standlee.html
Order personalized checks, side tear checks, checkbook covers and address labels with a choice of 20 of my paintings on them.


Dreams of the Turtle King blog http://www.dreamsoftheturtleking.com/
Dreams otTK on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dreams-of-the-Turtle-King/523637907718244