"Luna" mixed media southwest abstract art by Carol Nelson

"Luna"   11x14 mixed media acrylic

detail

 

This is a demo piece from my recent workshop in Wisconsin in which we applied heavy texture to our Gessobords, let it dry for a couple days, and then poured acrylic paints on the surface.

Patience is the key here.  You have to sit back and watch while the colors mingle and create new colors and forms.  Slightly tilting the board with the wet paint helps it flow around the texture, but mostly you have leave it alone and let the paint do it's thing.

For more information, click here to go to my website.

"Red Muse" mixed media abstract collage painting by Carol Nelson

"Red Muse"

This was a demo piece I did for a mixed media workshop I was teaching last weekend.  The letters are words I found in the Sunday paper advertising section.

I like seeing the title of a painting IN the painting.  Also, you will notice some corrugated cardboard, burlap, stenciled letters, and gestural marks.

For more information, click here to go to my website.

"Arroyo" mixed media geologic abstract painting by Carol Nelson

This painting is a large (48x36 inch) triptych on three wood panels, each measuring 48x12 inches.  I added a LOT of texture, including gritty modeling compound, rocks, and glass blobs.

The most exciting thing about this painting is hardly even visible in a photo.  The area around the rocks has a pouring of epoxy resin resembling water.

For more information, click here to go to my website.

"Ancient Mysteries" geologic abstract painting by Carol Nelson

"Ancient Mysteries" 36x40 inches

First painting of 2014!  It's a departure from my normal saturated earthy palette.  It even has pink in it - a color I usually hate, but it seems to work here.

This painting was torturous for me.  There must be 8 or more layers of paint as I struggled to find the right color combination.  Close inspection reveals some of the previous color choices.

The unusual texture is achieved with Golden's Glass Bead Gel.  The little beads are about the size of a period on this page.  That isn't very big, but when you spread them out on the surface with a palette knife, they refract the light in an unusual manner.  It's also interesting the way you can charge in another color after they're dry, and watch the color working it's way into the beads.

For more information, click here to go to my website.

"Southern Relic" mixed media abstract rust painting by Carol Nelson

"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.

"Blue Grove 2" mixed media tree landscape by Carol Nelson

"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.

"London Vibe" mixed media contemporary collage by Carol Nelson

 

"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.

"New London" mixed media geologic abstract painting by Carol Nelson

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

"Edge of Red" mixed media tree landscape by Carol Nelson

 

It took me a while to do this latest one in my tree series.  The two canvases measure 24x20 inches, and 24x36 inches.

Various kinds of art paper were used, including corrugated paper, lace paper, watercolor paper, and Egyptian papyrus.  The sides are painted red - I like red.

The underpainting was red, with a layer of gold gesso over it.  This gives the painting a warm glow and soft sheen in places.  The most fun part to do, for me, was the freehand branches which were  mostly negatively painted.

For more information, click here to go to my website.

"Blue Invasion" geometric abstract triptych by Carol Nelson

Blue Invasion

This is a three panel triptych.  Each canvas measures 12 x 12 inches.  It can be displayed in multiple ways.  I textured the canvases heavily with stucco patch, which has a thick, gritty texture.

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