The Scenic Route

 

Happy May!

It's a whirlwind in the Curry household as we count down the last month until our daughter's wedding in Bermuda, but I am taking a breather to share with you my latest stencils from StencilGirl.  The three releases are part of a collection I am calling The Scenic Route and all three stencils have been recreated from my original watercolor paintings.   Floral Carpet, Sojourn, and Solitary Tree  showcase particular moments in time that stay in my memoy from the last decade.  Along with some inspiration projects on how to use these stencils, I also included the original painting in the sample area. Join me directly here or  as I introduce the series and entertain you with a watercolor video tutorial.  It's always a pleasure designing for StencilGirl and I very much appreciate the opportunities to share my story through my art. 

  Solitary Tree         

Sojourn

                      

Floral Carpet

 

I've been very lax during the last couple of years keeping up with this blog.  I promise I am still enjoying my studio practice and do a much better job posting my art on Instagram.  My store is now on my website here. To keep up to date with new releases, go here for my low volume newsletter. 

I'll check in once again after our wedding extravanganza. 

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers, mentors, and nurturers.

xoxo

Nancy

I Must Have Flowers, Always and Always

 

It's a busy week here for me following a busy last two months.  We finally got to go to our trip through Holland and Belgium and managed not to get Covid.  I only took about 300 tulip pictures and 200+ canal views.  I didn't want to forget a thing.  It was a fabulous trip.  On the heels of that trip, we came back to celebrate Sammi's birthday and prepare for guests in late May.  In between,  I fit in a ton of art, getting prints made, my StencilGirl blog post, lots of housecleaning (aka decluttering), and some sniffles that may or may not have been Covid.  Five negative tests but I had all the symptoms. Then, the moment came.....

Because we're going to the chapel
And we're gonna to get married...

 

Now I'm even in a bigger flower mood!!!

    

 

 

 

I am exploring many different flowers with different points of view all this year. Today I am on the ®StencilGirl blog with a different take on florals (and some abstracts) done with alcohol inks and gesso on an interesting substrate.  There is a video that should give you all you need to know.  I will want to explore this further.  

I have a five day long sale going on right now in my store.  Your code for it is JUNESALE (highly original, I know), but if you've already signed up for  my newsletter, you've had a different code mailed to you.  There is a new and now tab on the front page for new prints, but the entire site is on sale.  Quantities are limited so take an early gander if you're intrigued.  

Stay cool this summer.  I'll be back before you know it!!!!

xoxo,

Nancy

Heart and Soul

 It's the day after Valentine's, but we are still celebrating those we love and have loved in our lives.  I did this project for StencilGirl® in late January but as you can tell, I was already looking to this special day.  Truth be told, I adore hearts all year round.  This is just an excuse to have some fun with a shape I already love.  It's linked above should you want to see how and why this musical-themed series came about.

 

We are in the doldrums of winter here in St. Louis.  While we've had some crisp, blue sky days sprinkled in, we've also had some snow events and will have yet another one later this week.  It's been a busy January and partial February deadline-wise  so I have hunkered down most of the time.  We did have an outing in late January to see Justin Willman here in town.  I love his magic and it did lift the winter blah spirits.  We were also all in the football state of mind. Or should I say minds?  We all supported different teams and the Bengals were the last team standing until this past Sunday.  

 

 

 

 

I've been having a great time with the #28februaryflowers challenge.  This is my third year participating and I am enjoying varying my media and point of view.  I'll be posting those on my Instagram (more detail) and my Facebook biz page.  Some may be available to purchase later this year.  To stay up to date with my sales/classes, follow my low volume mailing list here.  I also began the #100dayproject his week.  It was hard to decide on my topic, but I decided yesterday on visual texture.  I'll be posting those pieces in the same places as mentioned above.  

 

We are hoping to finally go on our river cruise to see the tulips in April.  Time will tell if Covid allows it this year.  It's our third attempt!  Other than that, I'll be in my studio most of the time.  I will be doing in-person classes when possible this year so again, get on my email list for up to the date info on that.  See you soon here or there!  

xoxo

Nancy

Everything Happens at Once

 It's the last day of November and not only was this a holiday week, it's also a week with small business and cyber sales galore and announcements ....drumroll, please.

 

I'm so excited to announce that I'll be teaching with Creative JumpStart (CJS) 2021 again. This year CJSis celebrating its 10th Anniversary and is bigger than ever! If you're not familiar with CJS, it's a one-of a-kind knock-your-socks-off online workshop hosted by Nathalie Kalbach, designed to kick your creativity into high gear in the New Year. 

Beginning January 1st, each day a new video lesson will go live in the classroom. As this is the special 10th Anniversary edition, CJS includes 45 different mixed media artists and videos will go up through February 14th. Participants get access to 45 downloadable videos from 45 featured artists, called “JumpStarters.”

You'll learn techniques, discover new materials, and connect with other artists and crafters. I am always blown away at the different points of view and styles.  It’s quite an international crowd, too, and that in itself broadens perspective. I've thoroughly enjoyed every year I've participated at any capacity. I alsolove that so many of the participants showcase their own work as they are trying out the techniques.  It's not required, of course, but it does seem to become contagious and the inspiration flows.

Here's a little preview of what you can expect:

With Creative JumpStart 2021 you will get 45 videos - over 8 hours worth of video content. It is just $49 USD if you sign up today until 11:59 pm EST. Yes, it is just $49.00 for today.  Afterwards it will be $59 USD through December 4th, 2020, and $69 USD until December 31st 2020, before it goes to its normal sale price of $89 USD on January 1st 2021. Here's my special link to head on over to Nathalie's site to sign up and learn more: https://nathaliesstudio.com/learn/online-workshops/?wpam_id=61


 
                                                                                                                 You'll be glad you did!!!!!   

 

CJS21 Trailer from Nathalie Kalbach on Vimeo.

MORE NEWS....MORE NEWS... MORE NEWS

I launched my yearly sale to thank all of my collectors, supporters, enthusiasts and friends near and far on Saturday and it runs until Friday.  This year I have a huge collection of pandemic originals and new prints joining my Bird Brains series, watercolors, and alcohol ink in different genres. I loaded videos showing my new and returning work on YouTube here: 

The sale itself is taking place over on my Facebook business page and below are the direct links to the two sale albums.  Something new this year is the extra sale I'm offering to you with additional % discounts for multiple print purchases.  Everyone needs something fabulous during this long roller coaster we've been on this year.  Just comment sold and I'll find you with the shipping details. If the print you like is sold out, comment that you'd like to be on the waiting list for one when I print again in December.  You will still get the sale price.  Below is a mini sneak peek of some new prints.  Merry Merry!!

                                PRINTS SALE                                      ORIGINALS SALE

Portals

Come Together

Bayou

I also have a large wall at the Green Door Gallery's Stars and Wonders exhibition for one more month. The work is all Citra-based mixed media and I had a blast during partial lockdown pushing the envelope and really seeing what else I could do with the organic process.  The gallery will ship so if you want to see the originals that are in the show and get more info, check out this photo and close up video.  Message me for any details. 

MORE NEWS..... MORE NEWS.....MORE NEWS

                                   

StencilGirl is having a whale of a sale.  Head on over and get in on the freebies and unbelievable sale prices

FINAL TIDBITS ........................  FINAL TIDBITS

 PANDEMIC PUPPY ALERT:  If you haven't already met him, this is Waffle.  He joined big bros, Angus and Tucker on August 10th.  Yes, we now have three standard poodles.  Insanity. Chaos.  Mayhem.  And much love.  Healthwise, currently all my doctors think I am cancer free.  I will continue on my regimen for as long as they tell me to.  The side effects are off putting, but I am grateful that I feel the most normal in my studio.  The family is doing well and staying as safe as we can during this endless roller coaster of a pandemic.  It has been wonderful having the Sams here with us, although I don't think Jim and I are exactly rousing company sometime.  I imagine it's been a tough year for all who will read this. I wish all of you a more peaceful, normalized life as we head towards a vaccine in 2021.  

xoxo,  Nancy

 

Merry Everything!

I spent last night reworking and updating my website a bit so thought I would take the three hour late night drive to update my blog and fill in the blanks since I last wrote. Healthwise, it’s been a long road back, but at least I’m on a straight stretch of road and not taking detours. I feel mostly good but every now and again I hit a wall and need to take a breather. Creatively speaking, I’ve been in a burst most of the year. But even that has worn me out at times. The first half of the year was almost exclusively Citra artwork as mentioned in the last blog post. The cherry on top was the filming of my first online class in March for StencilGirl’s new class platform. Citra Solv Art debuted in August and has been well received. I am posting bonus material for those taking the online class and for those who have taken my in person class, Transformations. Message me if you are interested in knowing more about it.

Madcap

Imperfection

October also saw the release of my first club stencil kit for StencilGirl. For those that don’t know, StencilGirl has a monthly subscription service that I’ve participated in since its inception. It was fun to design for it and then even more fun to see them in use by others.  The best part is that if you join you can always order past month's stencils. 

Into the Woods

                              

                                   Umbrella

                                       

Alcohol ink work has dominated the second half of my year. It started with my incarceration at St Luke’s. I had no idea said incarceration would occur so I was unprepared and my anxiety went through the roof. It didn’t help that we were all wheeled into the hallway for a tornado warning during my first few hours there. My husband saved the day and brought the only art supplies I had packed. A new series was born that week. I’ve had two small batch sales and I am so grateful for all the support for this new direction. I was even more grateful that my work caught the eye of Dick Blick and I had a featured demo there in November.  Into the Woods and Umbrella are fall additions to the series. The rest are not up in my gallery (updating over the Christmas holiday) nor Etsy yet but if you follow me on Facebook and Instagram, you’ve probably kept up. The next pop up sale will be the first week in February. Newsletter recipients will get sneak peeks and other perks. Sign up here.

In between paintings, I’ve become obsessed with making ornaments so much so that I’m adding them as a class opportunity next year. I’ve got some special tips, tricks, and tools to share with everyone. I’ve had a blast and there are several time lapses and lots of photos sprinkled on my social media to show my enthusiasm. This is my new favorite done on a navy glass ornament. True confession:  my favorites come in and out of focus because they all have different vibes.

I’m sure there will be many more to come as I explore the possibilities. I’ve been very blessed to have sold quite a few from Instagram and local queries and I love sending them out into the world. The most interesting commission so far has been the order of a blue and a pink to become baby reveals for  the grandparents on Christmas Day. 

For those interested in non-art sightings, here are the boys dressed to the nines for the holiday season.  Angus is on agility hiatus until January 5th.  I've been told they're crowd pleasers when they run.  

            

and the best for last..... DPT White Coated daughter.  I also call my dear husband and her #myeverything. She's about to finish her first of three clinicals in Knoxville.  Next up in January she heads to Virginia Beach and finally to Annapolis for the summer.  Then it's time to graduate and take her boards.  She's my inspiration. 

If you've stuck around this long, I'll let you know I've already picked my word of the year for 2019.  It's actually two words and it's very important to have both.  "Live inspired" will be the focus next year.  It's one thing to inspire.  It's another to model living inspired.  The components are mind, body and soul.  Stay tuned.  My teaching schedule will be evolving so stay tuned for that as well. 

I wish you and yours a wonderful holiday season and to look upon the new year with expectation. 

Play all the Time

Alcohol Ink

My book, Texture Effects for Rubber Stamping, is now thirteen years old this week.  In the art/craft word it would be considered a dinosaur.  We'll take that one step farther and say that I am a dinosaur, too.  I've been traveling, teaching and reinventing myself for over twenty years.  It's hard to believe it's been that long, but it becomes easier when you are contacted by the teen-age daughter of one of your early students.  Molly  found the book in her mother's craft room and proceeded to work through it, but had some questions.  Some of the inks used in it are now gone, but she had scavenged the net to find some. My favorite King James glossy paper was what brought her to me.  I answered her question about what could be substituted and she asked about ten more.  She was totally enthralled with cardmaking and was a little miffed when I said I didn't do it as regularly as I used to.  I enjoyed the back and forth, but especially liked her probing questions because they got me thinking.  She'd mentioned her favorite techniques in the book and what a variety of effects she found she could get and some other interesting discoveries. She said she thought it was still very relevant.  Well, she actually said "on trend,"but I paraphrased that because I've never thought of my art as being trendy.  

I haven't heard from Molly lately, but our conversations got me thinking about how many of those old techniques I'm still using today with different media and different substrates.Whether it's ink or paint application oddities, substrate choice oddities,  or my infatuation with exploiting negative space, I still use over seventy-five per cent of the book's techniques day in and day out.  And yes, I've added quite a few more in the last seventeen years.  I dole them out liberally when I teach, which is not as often as before because of the whole dinosaur thing mentioned above.

CitraSolv & India Ink

What has changed is that I am finally taking my own advice.  During the heyday of my book, I signed quite a few copies.  I signed "Play all the time" on every one of them because I felt the most freedom when I just sat down and played, rather than looking for that "second coming" outcome.  That's how I approached my art for a long time until deadlines started dictating my pace and other commitments came my way.  My studio time became more purposeful and less about the journey.  Beginning last fall I made a concerted effort to leave time to explore new techniques/mediums, immerse in past favorites, and to just "be" in my studio and I'm a lot happier with my output.  I don't blog as frequently but I do a ton of social media uploading, especially on Instagram @nancycurryart.  It's a great world to step into if you haven't.  No politics, opinions, hoopla....just a moment in time photos or videos.  I do use the My Story a lot to show techniques in real time.  I cross post some to both my Facebook accounts so don't think you won't see the art there, too, but I'm consistent with Instagram.  It also take me a while to get my new art on my gallery.  I am doing so many pieces that are color or media studies that I get backlogged really fast.

Alcohol Ink & Oil Marbling

 

White latex & acrylic pour

I don't know what the next twelve months will hold for me, but I'm sure it will be a combination of new and old.  I'm still fascinated by the unpredictability of acrylic pouring and all the different ways to do it.  It does take a lot of space and time so I doubt I will do it day in and day out, but it will be interspersed with my other offerings. 


I am hoping soon to add resin coatings to my repertoire. That involves a learning curve for technique and safety so we'll see how long it takes this dino. 


I'll continue to work with CitraSolv and varying my choice of media. I love the intuitive challenge that these paper provide.  It's also been my most popular class for the last four years running.  I've got to keep my skill set up.  The piece below I did this summer for a blog entry for Rubbermoon.  I had a blast melding old and new techniques on the one piece.  And yes, the whimsy.  I'm all about the whimsy. 

I hope this catches everyone up on what's going on in my world.  If you're new to my art and want to see where everything is, go here.  All my links are there to social media, Etsy, StencilGirl and Rubbermoon.  Thanks for stopping by. 

 

CitraSolv & White Ink

Where in the World is Nancy Curry?

I may look like I haven't been too creative of late, but fear not, I'm a visiting blogger on the StencilGirl Talk blog today.  Come and see who I'm crushing on and what I was able to do with just one of her debut stencils.  Here's a sample to whet your whistle:

So what have I been up to since I last posted, you ask?   Pouring, pouring and more pouring. I've immersed in the fluid art process for the last couple of months with a few days off to teach and exhibit in Columbus at another great Artiscape event. Oh, and a trip to Virginia for Easter.  And then there was that longer trip to Bermuda and the East Coast in May.  After each trip I've come back to renew my excitement with something new.  I'm working hard to find my artistic voice and learn the ins and outs of densities, what additives play nicely with each other, etc, but it's mostly my voice that is important to me.  Each pour is an adventure and I'm happy to go along for the ride. Here are a few of my favorites so far: 

Stay tuned for more.  There are many more on all my social media sites (videos, too) that can be reached at nancycurry.com or search for  Nancy Curry Art on fbk, IG and YouTube.  My teaching schedule is there as well.  There are a couple of TBDs that aren't on the calendar yet.  Check back for that info later. 

Summer is a great time for artistic play.  Try something new.  Find a different medium to learn.  Immerse in one of these fine books that are out.  I've really been enjoying my stash that includes Jodi Ohl's, Natalie Kalbach's and Cathy Nichols'.  It's  5:00 somewhere...make it count. 

Anatomy of a Painting 101

It's been a long time since I blogged.  Life got in the way for about seven months last year so I spent this fall catching up with myself again.  Instead, I've used more immediate ways of communication, fbk live and videos to bring you along on my journeys and give glimpses of my process.  I've spread my wings even more on Instagram.  I love to incorporate my art  digitally and infuse it with words that speak to me.  But those platforms don't always illustrate my artistic uncertainties and decision-making midstream.  I've picked a new painting to talk about it, but first a little backstory. 

Thanks to Jodi Ohl's Zenpainting class that I treated myself to this fall, I've really enjoyed the exposure to working with a predominantly neutral palette.  It is alternately challenging and frustrating because you don't have color to set your tone or mood. These are two of my first   

attempts.  The one on the left was made up of four 6" square panels and is all graphite and neutral Golden High Flows.  The one on the right used the same palette but added Titan Buff.  I really enjoyed exploring Jodi's abstract style, but mine kept peeking through and luckily she is very accepting of my walking off the regular path.  I worked in color next and loved that, too (not included here), and then heading back into my interest in high contrast black and saw how it meshed with more neutrals and bronze. 

My own teaching deadlines hit along with the holidays so I didn't return to painting in mid-January. My biggest mistake was not taking photos of this process because it was wild and woolly just hours into it.  I had started with a cruciform composition without any representational intent in my mind, but midway through I saw the iris in front of me.  The rest took care of itself.  (In fact, I'll show the painting both ways so you know I am not pulling your leg.)

Cruciform skewed left.

Finished

Last week I continued my explorations and boldly committed to a large arount of black very early.  That go-getter posturing is both a positive and a negative.  On the positive side, it helps you commit in a direction, but on the negative side, that commitment can limit other choices you'd like to make. Here you see in the left picture, I've broken up the gessobord into two parts and I do have a vertical division as well.  That quickly goes by the wayside in picture two.  Here, also, I have committed to the bold, black statement.  Whatever I do now has to balance out that black so I chose to dominate the white background with the palest of neutral florals.  So you ask, where did those marbles or bubbles or pea pod groupings come from?  I don't have a clue.  Well, I drew them.  How did they relate?  They didn't, but I kept leaving them, hoping I would figure out a way to make it work.  Well, the third picture (ignore the cast from the dreary day) Gessobord.  It is the bomb.   No paint except the Golden Carbon Black High Flow.

shows my solution along with the background work I did up top.  I took as much of the circular objects out as I could with a baby wipe.  Luckily the background at this stage was all stabilo and graphite so leftover staining was minimal. 

 Below, I began reworking the center section that I had decimated.  The center became a populated "zebra" area to support the black and break up the areas that showed the remnants of the removal.  Larger flowers were added to link the original smaller flowers to the larger ones near the top.  Areas were darkened with thin layers of graphite and the beginnings of heavily watered down neutral paint.  The high water content allows for a painterly shading that, when dry, works perfectly for this painting.  I drew branch lines to support the original lines that divided out the blackened background areas, plus they broke up the zebra sections.  White was also added to make the centers pop and in places on the petals. 

 

Pitt pen was added to define the flowers and areas of black were cleaned up and used to further separate the flowers where needed. 

So midstream this painting was going to have one flower tinted with a quote (I'm saving for another piece so mum's the word on it).  I auditioned (with my sister's guidance) both text and tint and rejected it.  It's strong enough to stand on it's own in person.  Who knows what various computer imaging will do to it.  My point is..... you never know where art will end up.  Be loose enough and brave enough to change midstream if you need to.  You never know where it will end up if you do, but each time you are brave, you'll get more confidence to do it again.  

What's up next for me?????  Well, Artiscape for starters in April.  I have three classes on tap there.  I'm really excited for them and to return there.  It's a fab event.  I'll be at Stampaway in August as well with two classes.  Those haven't been published yet.  Who knows what else!!!! To be decided........  Follow me on IG and Facebook at Nancy Curry Art or if you like poodles, find me also on fbk here.  As always, my regular site has links to it all.  PLAY. ALL. THE. TIME.