Repurposed Elvis Bust Thrift Store Find - Rockabilly Meets Day of the Dead

Musical Icon Makeover Before And After

Which do you like better?  On the left, we have tired, original Elvis - and on the right?  Well, now he's back in fighting form, bright and wicked.  

Selfie with the King, before we went to work.

One last look At the original Elvis Bust in his dirty, dull, weird-eyed state. 

Ideas of transformation were swirling in my mind - would he be a Talavera Elvis?  Would I go rockabilly?  The possibilities almost paralyzed me with indecision.

He was pretty filthy, to be honest. 

I couldn't tell how dire the situation was until I started scrubbing! He was a bisque piece, unglazed, so I knew the paint would stick.  But, that rough finish also meant that everything else he had been exposed to over the years stuck as well!

He needed several coats of gesso.

Roughing in the honnky-tonk inspired shirt design

Trying to reshape his chubby face was a challenge. 

You cannot believe the definition the mold maker had put into Elvis' lips!  Odd, really, when you consider how oddly undefined the eyes had been.  I knew the teeth were going to be a showstopper one way or the other.  

still struggling to put my 2D concept and habits onto this 3D form

Taking shape, but his eyes are looking too large and give him a sort of owl-like vibe which is too innocent for my liking

Just a little more work to do.

It has been said that the secret is to know when to stop.  I wasn't 100% pleased with him yet, but it was getting to the point where I didn't really have anything else I could or wanted to add.  It was a matter of tweaking now, and then glazing with some tints mixed in.  

And finally... he came together for me!

"Elvis Has Left the Grave" by Sherri Bones Nelson, 2015

This fantastic , one of a kind original art piece is for sale now either through my website or my Etsy shop.  Buyers outside of the US or Canada will have to allow me to package him up and take him to the Post Office for a shipping quote, since the Canada Post shipping calculator is giving me a hard time today.  Links below:

ELVIS on sherrinelson.ca

ELVIS on ETSY

Let Me Be Clear - Harper's Canada is nothing but. My Original Painting after the style of Heironymous Bosch

LET ME BE CLEAR. 2015. Sherri 'Bones' Nelson

I have finished this piece today.  it is a work that has been taking shape in my head for a long while.

Let Me Be Clear doesn't feature a single skeleton (sorry!) however it is a surrealist piece where dark and light meet so I hope that it will not only delight regular viewers but also give my fellow Canadians something to think about as they make their way towards the October election.

detail view Let Me Be Clear, Sherri Bones Nelson, 2015

detail view Let Me Be Clear, Sherri Bones Nelson, 2015

detail view Let Me Be Clear, Sherri Bones Nelson, 2015

detail view Let Me Be Clear, Sherri Bones Nelson, 2015

the viewer is encouraged to sift through the many details to find hints at the issues and representations of how I perceive my country to have changed.  A small sample of the issues highlighted in this piece are:

• destruction of our environment & selloff or our resources,
• the devaluation of our currency and the credit/housing bubble
• the PMO's disregard for justice & the Constitution
• the PMO's callous treatment of Veterans and First Nations peoples.

If you have the time I'd love to hear thoughts in the comment section.  The truth is that Canada has suffered under this regime and I hope I have provided a work that can be used as a reference point someday in the future but also as a tool for discussion right here, right now.

Remember -- 

The blackest darkness is broken by a single ray of light.

Each one of us embodies that light.  It's up to us.

SHINE !

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Painting, Packaging, Ordering, Marketing, Designing, Printing, Sketching... !

It's August and finally getting to feel like summer.  The cool weather hasn't bothered me, though - I've enjoyed working in this weather.  And I have indeed been working!  It's wonderful to be busy and have the creative juices flowing.  I thought it was about time I stopped for breath and to make a post here showing what I've been doing lately.

Excuse the watermarks, etc - I've recently been pirated!  My piece entitled "The Cotillion" was being used without my permission so I've gotten a little more concerned about making my online stuff more difficult to copy.  It all worked out in the end, so no worries.  I hope that in spite of my name being all over the following images you'll still get an idea of the pieces that have been finding their way out of my imagination and out into the 3D world.  :)

More to come...

All Things Unrelated: Paintings, Desserts & Highly Questionable Coffee Table Books

This is not an overly disciplined working day, I must say.  I have been going back and forth between listening to motivational speeches on the Youtube to looking up Thai desserts to painting.  The lack of focus on any one thing has produced lackluster results thus far. See photo of coconut vanilla mousse, below:

I know that this is nothing to write about, yet I can't seem to stop myself from doing it anyway.  What you are looking at, above, is Vanilla-Coconut Mousse.  If I left it at that perhaps you'd believe me to be creative and competent.  Hmmm.. should I?  Should I leave it at that then?  :)  Argh, I can't do it.  I have to confess that it's merely a packet of Dr Oetker mix blended with half a can of coconut milk and spooned indelicately into a fruit dish.  Even the photo of it is sub-par.  I mean look at the way the curly-q top seems to come out of the edge of the dish there.. *sigh*  but you know, the colours aren't bad.  And the background makes it look like I might live somewhere lush and exotic, so you know, it could be worse.

On to the work of art I'm creating with only a third of my brain engaged:

Look at the way the vase leans awkwardly!  Check out those checks!  And the funny little orchid blooms which I wanted to look subtly like skulls peeking out of hoods actually look very OBVIOUSLY like skulls and unfortunately the hoods are reminiscent of a dark period in US history  Well.. one or two of them are anyway.  

Which reminds me..

This book happens to be sitting on the side table up in the roof observatory of the building I live in. It's about the Olympic torch run in Canada, maybe for the Montreal Olympics or something.. but... come ON!  That is not the picture I would have selected for use had I been the editor, and it is not an item I would have selected for display had I been the decorator of the room, either.

So yeah, nothing brilliant up with me today.  Maybe tomorrow. I think it probably takes a day or two for those motivational messages to kick in.  Yeah, that's got to be right.

Custom Portraits - You, only thinner. Much, much thinner!

Have you ever thought about having a painting done just for you?  Or something for that friend who has everything?  I have very rarely accepted commissions over the past few years - I used to find that there was a great deal of pressure to read the mind of the client.  I would ask them to try and describe exactly what they wanted and get frustrated when they'd give me artistic license.  "The gall!" I would think to myself, "They want ME to come up with the WHOLE concept???!!!" Well, duh.. yes.  But I didn't get it.  I got analysis paralysis every time and as a result my automatic answer to the question,
"Do you do commissions?" 
was always a firm and final "No."

Then, out of nowhere, something happened.  A persuasive and determined Day of the Dead fan convinced me that what he was looking for was what I was already doing.  Our conversation can be summed up thusly:

Me:       "It's going to be cartoony, you know that, right?"Client:   "Yes! That's what I want."Me:       "It is going to have weird backgrounds, perhaps a lot of patterns, and the figures will be .. well.. skeletal and pale and they won't have eyelids."  Client:   "Perfect!"

Hmmm.  Okay then! <lightbulb goes off>  OH!  Okay then!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't know why I hadn't grasped that before - I'm sure people had tried to get the message through in the past but I suppose I was too caught up in fear to really hear them.  That one client, though, managed to break down the barrier for me and I realized that my unique vision and style were precisely why they were asking me to do the work in the first place!

It was an astounding moment for me as an artist and on a personal level, too.

I had thought people were looking for this:

But they weren't.  They were looking for this:

Once I accepted that potential clients were not asking me to make a photo-realistic image the act of creating a unique Dia de los Muertos portrait for them seemed a lot more doable - and much more fun!

I'm offering custom portraits through Etsy right now, if you are starting your Christmas shopping and are stuck for a unique idea, or if there's a wedding coming up and you know the couple will get a kick out of seeing themselves as skeletons in love. :)

Click here to go to the listing and read about the process and pricing:
CUSTOM DAY OF THE DEAD PORTRAITS BY BONES NELSON

I did it! Sugar Skull Onesies!

I worked my tail off and got them done!  Here they are:

Ta-daaaaaaaaaaa!  Available on Etsy (click here) or contact me on Facebook (click here) 

September 2013.. Rockabilly Babies and Day of the Dead Catrinas

This was a tough month, but thankfully it is coming to a close.

I've been working harder than ever, trying to branch into designs for clothing.  I see a lot of the same stuff out there for little ones - it's difficult in today's day and age in a mid sized city to get away from the three or four designs that "the Big Box Stores" have decided they want to present to us.  Do you all notice that, too?  Here are some of what I've come up with:

Rockabilly Baby Undergarments / Creepers / Bodysuits

Available on Etsy OR by contacting me at my web site:  www.sherrinelson.ca/contact

The homogeneity of choice is making me crazy.  Sweaters without sleeves or cardigans without belts.  Low cut jeans.  Chevron Stripes.  Plain white onesies for babies.  Daddy's little girl.  bah.  same same same same.  I realize that fashions and trends have always been with us, but not too long ago there were little shops where one who didn't like the momentary trend could go to find relief (and say, a bathing suit out of season or a cuddly sweater in July.)  The only places like that any more are second hand shops and even their selection is becoming a reflection of the Big Box direction.  (a little rhyme for you there wink wink)

Anyway hopefully these Rockabilly Baby and Rocker Kid tattoo and Hot Rod inspired selection will at the very least remind everyone that the world used to be a more interesting place.  :)  

As always I'm painting, too.  This week I wanted COLOUR and GIRLY and PRETTY so I pulled out a sketch I had worked on a couple of weeks back and sat the main Catrina in a surreal background of floating hearts and roses.  It's a Day of the Dead piece and is on an 8" x 8" x 2" wood "canvas."

You can buy the original on my website.

Ciao for now

Painting in progress - Day One

I have a thing for flowers.  If you go to my web site www.sherrinelson.ca you'll see that I paint them quite often.  I thought it'd be fin and informative for me to post progress photos that show how I go about getting the basic outlines onto the canvas, and show the different stages that a painting goes through.

I'm working on a 16x20 canvas and using oil paints.  The subject of this piece is a deadly nightshade in the Datura family - I believe it's known as Angel's Trumpet.  This wasn't my original plan, I was going to paint the frosty white bloom of the Jimson weed.  I had seen them before and I know they open as the sun sets, that certain twilight light makes for some lovely colours on the petals.  In my search for images I came across the swooning elegance of Angel's Trumpet and my selection was made.

below are the pics of my process and progress.  Enjoy:

I print out the image "tiled" onto several pieces of paper.
I tape them together and rub dark conte crayon over the back side.

You can see the light markings on the canvas where the conte
has rubbed off where I've traced over the design

And here I have begun to block the paint in

Work in Progress - Painted Wood Box Feb 2013

Flashback to Childhood

When I was a very little kid I wanted to be a wallpaper designer.  I hadn't remembered this until I got the strong urge to design and paint a 3D object in a classic style and began the project pictured below.  When I got part way through outlining the flower motif on this sweet little wood trinket box it hit me like it was yesterday.  All of a sudden I was transported from my current work space back to my grandfather's cottage where I remember leafing through a sample book of wallpaper.

I couldn't have been more than 5 years old but for whatever reason I can picture the scene like it was yesterday.  It was a neat memory.  I'm starting the second box today and will post pictures soon.  In the meantime, here's a bit of a progress montage of the first one, which I plan to line with fancy fabric and also to add hand formed 'feet' to.

Has this ever happened to you?  Share your memories in the comments section if you like!