Newest Portraits

Thought I'd share my latest portraits with you.

I've grown in the last 5 years of doing them.  They are becoming more...realistic?  Not sure that's the right word.  Definitely not AS impressionistic as they initially were but still not realistic, nor do I want them to be realistic.  That's not my style.  They are just getting better.

Interested in commissioning a portrait of your very own?  Fantastic! You may visit my website for all the details and please don't hesitate to email me questions.

Inaugural Creative Play Date Class

Teaching has always been an interest and a fear, I just haven't had the confidence to do much of it.  I've dabbled here and there, but never really made an effort to truly hone that skill. The older I get, the more things change in my life, I am realizing that I DO have something to teach...something to share.  I have 15 years of painting experiences to pull from, I have rediscovery of my own creativity to pull from, I've worked in myriad mediums (clay, metal, mixed media, graphic design).  I am a people person, for the love of gods.  I can do this! 

Or can I?

My inner critic is a mischievous beast; always trying to sabotage my wonderful ideas. I fight with it every single day.  It's exhausting.  My new tactic with my inner critic (I should give it some cute little name, however don't want to give it THAT much more energy), is just to plow through the fears it creates and just do shit anyways.  To be fearless. I kind of don't have a choice. Otherwise I am not moving forward in life. Just stagnating. Lingering. It's scary biz. And it takes baby steps and bold moves all at the same time. This is not easy.

Jump to my first "Creative Play Date" class that I hosted last Friday evening at my home.  It was an idea that started with an inquiry about private lessons for a child.  My wheels started turning that day and before I knew it I had this seedling of an idea.  A concept that combined my favorites...entertaining, painting, music, wine, and people connecting. What was coming to evolve was the notion that I want to share a creative experience with people and be a facilitator of that experience. People who don't think they are creative, people who are creative, people who want to connect with others over something else besides a dinner table at a restaurant or a loud bar.  

Turns out that I want to help promote COMMUNITY THROUGH ART. A declaration I wrote in my college artist statement.  A philosophy that I believed in all these years.  An affirmation I am actually just now grasping.  Funny how that happens. Let's see what evolves...

ART. 

 It's what I do, it's what I know and aside from tossing it in the 

rubbish (which I have done) I need to use it for good. 

It's my superpower. 

One of my personal highlights from the evening was when I witnessed Laura (in the pink) groovin' to the music which was completely informing her brushwork on the canvas.  She was utterly immersed in that moment. Channeling her creativity. It was beautiful and at that point I felt my mission was accomplished.

Look at all the different brush strokes!

Once I introduced the stenciling station it was ON. It's a neat way to introduce shape and even imagery without adding pressure to "draw" on the painting.  For some, that can be very debilitating. It was interesting to see who went for the spray paint method and who liked the sponging method.  

Loving everyone's different approaches to painting.

Signing their masterpieces. 

Community. 

My demo piece from the evening.  I did not get to show them ALL my tricks so I want to streamline the class even more.  They were such great sports for letting me test the class on them and I'm so grateful for lessons I learned and the feedback I have received.  I look forward to planning the next one!

New Beginnings

Dearest Friends, 

I am officially putting my art-preneur hat on once again and have many tricks up my sleeve; but for now, as a thank you to my tribe for the support you have given and continue to give independent working artists, I am offering 30% off pet portrait & painting commissions. 

I've never offered something like this before so snag it while you can (through the end of March). Please message me at info@stephanienancestudio.com with inquiries and let's get started. Feel free to pass this along. 

My Morning Coffee

Happy Sunday! I'm enjoying a fresh cup of java out of my brand new glorious mug from artist, Molly Hatch.  I was visiting Atlanta last weekend and she happened to be down from her home in Massachusetts teaching a workshop at Mudfire (where I had taken a workshop in Summer 2010 with the ridiculously talented Diana Fayt). Molly and I met last year at Art of the Pot here in Austin.  Diana and Molly are friends and were guests of potter, Keith Kreeger during Art of the Pot.  I went to say hi to Diana and instantly became smitten with Molly and her work.  She is a joy and doing some awesome design work for Anthropologie. I wish she lived closer, but for now I'll have to look forward to a possible Skype date with her to talk shop.  Can't wait for that conversation/s.

NEW Limited Edition socks with Smartwool

I am thrilled to announce I am the smARTwool Gallery Artist over at Smartwool this year and they just launched the socks I designed.  They turned out amazing and I could not be happier.

I have three different designs: Cosmic Poppy, Dancing Dots and Spring Fling.

Thanks to Mercedes Marchand for spotting my work and making this happen!  Smartwool has been delightful to work with. The experience is also what has inspired a transition into surface pattern design.  The act of deconstructing design elements from my paintings and making new designs out of those components was super exciting. Not knowing exactly how to make the leap from painting to surface design, I just happened to stumble upon this course that Rachael Taylor & Beth Nichols were offering.

Rachael has provided an insane amount of information that I'm still trying to catch up on, but I have to tell you...it's been worth every single cent.  Who knows what the future holds...but I'm excited.  Oh, and there will also be a FALL 2012 collection of socks over at Smartwool to designed by yours truly.

Alumni Show

In October, I participated in an alumni invitational exhibition at Texas State University.  After over a decade out of school, it was a nice chance to review how I've grown as an artist. Also, was delightful reminiscing with old school chums.  It was so interesting seeing the paths we've all taken along the way.  Unlike past alumni exhibits at the school, this one was curated differently.  Instead of inviting alum from various years of graduation, this show was focused on a certain "generation" of grads from the Art & Design department.  We were asked to submit a piece that revisited an art assignment from when we were in college.  There was no requirement on medium or the way the piece needed to end up.  It was simply a spring board.  At first I chose to work in clay, in which I had concentrated in.  After some experimentation, I decided NOT to do it simply because I was not as comfortable with the medium as I once had been.  I was sad, but embraced the change in heart and persevered.  I ended up with a collection of mixed media drawings that I thought were delicate, refined and good enough for display.  I was nervous about exhibiting...all of my old mates and profs seeing my work.   Everything went well and my old ceramics prof even invited me to come share my story (with images) with her advanced students.  That was fun. It also symbolized my coming full circle in many respects to my art career.  The whole experience was just wonderful.

Merry Freakin' Holidays

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Podcasting

Inspired by one of my favorite artists, Susie Ghahremani {aka boygirlparty}, I've started a podcast for your listening pleasure. Some of the music I currently cannot get enough of. Usually stuff I listen to while working. I'll make new ones periodically for ya'll too. It's fun to make them! So click here if you have iTunes and here if not. And make sure to subscribe for automatic updates!

Enjoy!!

Some Assembly Required

It is not often we pamper ourselves with total immersion in a favorite (art) medium...FOR FUN. Well, Saturday I did just that. Six hours of uninterrupted creation, in various forms...and it was divine. {{First of all, I HAVE to give a huge shout out to Eye of the Dog Art Center, whose vision is being realized and they are SHARING it with everyone. So you should go and get you some...it's pretty cool. And they serve wine...HELLO!}} Beverly's "Found, Funky & Fun Assemblage Workshop" was just the coolest. We foraged thru Bev's amazing collections of lost and found treasures & also brought items for swapping with other workshop participants, then went to town. Premeditated ideas were tossed on their ass as it became an exercise of letting go and giving intuition a turn at the wheel. Trying to lose control on purpose is hard...especially in only 6 hours. By mid-day, I started to get into the groove and as soon as the flow started pouring, class was over. That is fine though, as it was great to hang out with some awesome women and get out of my comfort zone of 2D work. Here are some pics from class:






Here are some shots of my talented friend's piece that I absolutely love.

Renewal

Hi,
I'm Stephanie. Remember me? Probably not, I haven't been on here since LAST YEAR???!!! WTH? oops. Consistency isn't a strong-suit of mine. By golly I try, though. Anyways...going to try and write more on here. It's nice to share my creative musings, etc.

So, here is something I'm currently working on. The home office. It's awfully boring and disorganized. The remedy is coming. Today I will set off to assemble the IKEA shelving purchased last week (this will probably take all day long...you know IKEA assembly is no small task). Here is my "before" picture. I know you totally expected me to work in this impeccably cute & aesthetically pleasing wonderland...but nope. I hope to turn that around and make some order out of the current chaos that is my office.