"Make a Wish" mixed media abstract painting by Carol Nelson

"Make a Wish" 10x4 inch abstract by Carol Nelson

This is another demo piece I did for students in my studio class.
The center section is actually one of my foam plate abstracts, but when I added it to the textured substrate board, it looked like a tree to me.

I did a controlled resin pour on the center, so it is shiny and has wonderful depth of colors.  The upper and lower sections are textured with a matte finish.

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

"Balancing Act" mixed media metallic collage painting by Carol Nelson

"Balancing Act" 5x10 by Carol Nelson

This was a demo piece for two students taking semi-private instruction in my Colorado studio.  It illustrates the use of mirror paper, glitter paper, metallic tape, and combusted origami foil.  It also has rusted corrugated paper.

Of course, it's in my favorite earth tone palette with plenty of shine and sparkle.  This is a very fun piece, and I just wish the camera could capture the shiny elements better.

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

"4 O'Clock on Rock Candy Mountain" textured landscape by Carol Nelson

"4 O'Clock on Rock Candy Mountain", 8x8, by Carol Nelson

This is a demo painting I did for some students in my studio.  The cool thing about this painting is the substrate.  It's a burlap canvas panel I found at Hobby Lobby.

I've never seen panels like that before.  Since I'm all about texture, the burlap panel is right up my alley.  To contrast with all that matte texture, I used embossed foil for the "sun."  The shine doesn't show in the photo very well, but looks great in person.

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

"Industrial Chic" mixed media abstract painting by Carol Nelson

"Industrial Chic" 24x24 mixed media by Carol Nelson

This is one of my early attempts at mixed media.  I was shocked and delighted when it was included in the FAV 15% for the July Bold Brush Painting competition sponsored by Fine Art Studios Online.

This painting was purchased by the City of Aurora, CO for their permanent collection, but you can still have your own version.

I have added this image to my Canvas Minis collection where each
mini is only $20.  Click here for more information on Canvas Mini
reproductions.

"Sunny Day" mixed media tree landscape collage by Carol Nelson

"Sunny Day" 5x7 mixed media on panel

I did this tree demo for some students studying with me privately in my studio here in Colorado.  Students love doing these tree collages, and, happily, most are successful in creating a great painting.

The unusual thing about this one, is that I based it on a Hansa Yellow Medium under painting.  I hardly ever use Hansa Yellow by itself unless I'm painting daffodils - it's just SO BRIGHT.  It's also somewhat opaque.

My favorite yellow is made by thinning Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold.  (I'm referring to Golden Fluid Acrylics here.)  The Nickel Azo yellow is much warmer and just works better for me most of the time.

Being a primary yellow, it is very bright and cheerful, and who doesn't want bright and cheerful these days?

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

"Blue Trees" mixed media collage painting by Carol Nelson

Blue Trees, 16x8 inches

At my recent workshop in Phoenix, I showed the class this easy method of making tree canopies with a variety of texture compounds.

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

"Copper Curls" metal mixed media abstract painting by Carol Nelson

"Copper Curls" 6x6 mixed media

This is a little mixed media piece I did to take to my Metals and Mixed Media class in a few weeks at Art Unraveled in Phoenix.  I will be teaching how to use metals in a mixed media painting.

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

"Twilight Dance" abstract tree landscape by Carol Nelson

"Twilight Dance" 36x24

This is a tree landscape in which I experimented with pouring and dripping on the canvas to simulate distant tree branches.  These drips were partially covered up when I painted in the foreground trees.  I like the abstracted effect of the loose, drippy background.

As with all my tree paintings, I paid attention to the value contrasts of light-on-dark and dark-on-light.

I painted this while we were spending a week at our condo in Breckenridge.  The couple that went with us loved it, and bought it on the spot.  Would that all sales came that easily.

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

"Billboard 3" mixed media abstract collage by Carol Nelson

"Billboard 3" 14x9 mixed media

This painting was started in my last workshop in Wisconsin.  I had the class work with printed papers, altered papers, stencils, gestural marks and model their composition after a painting by Robert Rauschenberg.
It was fun to see all their work which was similar, yet had a lot of their own touches added in.
For more information, click here to go to my website.

"Luna" mixed media textured landscape 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.

"Ignition POint 2" mixed media metallic abstract by Carol Nelson

"Ignition Point 2" 10 x 10 mixed media

There's gold leaf, aluminum foil, mirror paper, origami foil, and glass beads in this on.  It seems my love for shiny stuff is without limits!  In person, this looks so much better than the photo.

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

"ABC FGH" mixed media abstract by Carol Nelson

"ABC FGH" 8x8 mixed media

detail view

I really wish the shiny metal parts of this painting showed better in the photo.  It adds so much when you can see all the shiny/dull and rough/smooth parts of this mixed media piece.

Yes, I know "ABC FGH" is not the most inspired title, but when my husband suggested it, I couldn't get it out of my head.

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

"Billboard 2" mixed media abstract collage by Carol Nelson

"Billboard 2"   8x8 acrylic collage

This is the second in my Billboard series - collages of various printed papers and stenciled letters.

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

"Wood Rock" mixed media geologic abstract painting by Carol Nelson

"Wood Rock" 36x24 mixed media

This painting was based on a piece of petrified wood I found in a gem and mineral store in Taos.

The wood/stone was polished on one side, but the other side, which was rough, was the one I chose to paint.

I added more "stones" in the center crevice.  Those "stones" are actually pieces of shells and broken auto glass. 

It was a lot of fun to paint a geologic abstract with the model, with it's amazing subtle color variations, sitting right in front of me.

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

"Billboard 1" mixed media abstract collage painting by Carol Nelson

"Billboard 1"

This started out with me trying to remove some collaged papers from a wood panel using a razor blade and sand paper.  The paper that remained stuck on the panel suddenly presented itself as an artsy possibility.  You always have to be on the lookout when you're deconstructing a collage for new unplanned accidents.

I decided to work with what I had. I did a little stamping, and a little painting, and voila!

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

"Autumn Glow" mixed media tree landscape collage painting by Carol Nelson

"Autumn Glow"

What can I say?  I could go on endlessly making variations of these colorful tree collages.  This was another demo for private students in my studio.  As a teacher, this tree technique is very satisfying because all my students have great success with it.
For more information, click here to go to my website.

"Winter Garden" mixed media abstract colorful tree landscape by Carol Nelson

"Winter Garden"

This is another in my  series of tree collages.  What doesn't show in this photo image is the sparkle of the pearl mica flake - it just looks dirty yellow in the photo.

For more information, click here for my website.

"C6" mini wall sculpture by Carol Nelson

"C6"

This is another in my mini wall sculpture series of "combines".
This one combines ordinary metal hardware parts that have been painted with alcohol inks.

If you love color, working with alcohol inks is both fascinating and amazing.  It is mesmerizing to watch them interact with each other.

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

"New World Trilogy" mixed media abstract triptych by Carol Nelson

I love tall skinny canvases and panels - maybe because it's what I am not.  These measure 6 inches wide by 48 inches tall.  For some reason, composition is a breeze with this size.

I started out with some gold metal leaf in a random pattern on my black gessoed panels.  The stripes are Golden fine pumice gel that I used a sculpting tool to make stripes.

I messed around with some corrugated paper - some painted blue green, but decided to try fiber paste.  I also antiqued the gold leaf using raw umber and wiping most of it off.

Then I added Blended Fibers by Liquitex.  It dries transparent, but when you paint on it, it has texture and absorbs the paint differently than the black gessoed surface.

The rest of the panels was painted with Golden Fluid Acrylics in black, white, raw umber, and Paynes gray. I was going for a muted palette where the metal leaf is the star.  I'm in the process of adding epoxy resin to the metal leaf areas only.  I think the play of shiny and matte surfaces will be good.

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

"Fantasia" mixed media abstract landscape by Carol Nelson

"Fantasia"

Here's another of my muted palette mixed media pieces.  Lol - just kidding about the "muted" part.  This was a demo I did last week for some students taking semi-private instruction in my studio.

It started out as a monoprint, but in the following day or two, I kept adding stuff (acrylic drizzle skins, marbleized/stamped paper) to this painting. 

That's a joy/curse of mixed media - you never know when you're DONE!
Who knows? - I may add MORE stuff to this one (but probably not).

For more information about this 8x8 inch painting, click here to go to my website.