Q & A with Wendy Marquis Part 11

What advice to you have for aspiring artists?

Get ready to work really hard but don’t forget that you have to learn to be a good business person as well.

Photo credit: "Rooster painting on wood tray"

Click here to learn about this piece of farm art kitchen decor

A conversation with Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson: Part 8

How does it take you to get the average creation?

My process is multistep. After finding imagery that I am inspired by, I take photos and manipulate them in Photoshop on my computer until I achieve a composition I am happy with. I might take one cow out of a group or combine her/him with another cow from a different photo, add a barn and drastically raise (or lower) the horizon line behind them. Once I get this worked out on my computer, I print a color image and this is my reference. I then sketch onto primed wood panel. After sketching I do a quick acrylic underpainting in order to work out my values and my colors. When the underpainting is dry, I then start collaging my hand-painted and hand-made papers over the top of the acrylic painting. Keep in mind that the hand-painting of the papers also takes time and I create all my own papers in advance of the collaging process. When the collage is complete, I coat it with two layers of acrylic UV protective varnish and then I do my own framing.

The time it takes in the collage process depends on how it's going, some days things are really working for me and it's coming together quickly, other days nothing is working and I end up going over the same area a few times before I am happy with it. Some subject matter is more complex than others. Some subjects I am good at and have worked out the challenges with practice, so I can really do roosters very efficiently, but dogs are more of a challenge since I have only ever done two. Peacocks take a long time because of all the eyes and detail in the tail feathers.

I guess I'd have to say, it varies!

Photo credit: "Song of Sunrise"

Click here to learn more about this rooster art mixed media painting

A conversation with Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson: Part 5

Where do you get your inspiration?

I often get my inspiration from my papers. I find a paper that I think looks fuzzy, and I might use it for a sheep. I find a paper that is lumpy and bumpy and turquoise, and I might use it for the crown of a peacock's head. I find a paper that looks like lace, and I might use it for the fringe on a ballet skirt. I hand-paint a paper that is vibrant, textured, golden yellow, and I might use it on a small finch sitting on a branch.

Other times I am inspired by my frame maker. Owen Tomlin makes frames from reclaimed barn wood in Kentucky. I like to paint images that will work with is amazing hand crafted frames, so I might do an entire series on barnyard animals or botannicals because I know they will look great hanging together as a group, all framed in Owen's frames.

Picture credit: Detail of the tail feathers of "Le Coq du Village"

Click here to learn more about this rooster art collage

Cow Art and More artist on magazine cover

Congratulations to Cow Art and More artist Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson for having her artwork, "Le Coq du Village", chosen for the February 15, 2010, cover of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. The magazine is the official bimonthly publication for the 78,000 veterinary members of the American Veterinary Medical Association and contains current events, case studies, and research articles. Elizabeth's art was chosen to grace the cover because of its unique qualities and artistic representation of roosters. Unfortunately, the editor will not give permission to have the cover shown in any way to others outside of its members, but know that it looks great and makes Cow Art and More proud to be able to represent Elizabeth and her art.