Contemporary Artists of Texas: teaching

Class Demonstration ~ Dallas Arboretum

My new video

Glad Day Peonies was my class demonstration this morning during my Dallas Arboretum workshop - what a beautiful place to make flowers bloom! Stargazer lilies, glads and peonies were painted today (when you can't decide what to paint, why not paint it all?). I do think the chocolate cupcakes with sprinkles on top added a little something extra to the whole event, but that could just be the choco-holic in me talking. In addition to the outstanding helpers and volunteers at the Arboretum who make every workshop and event there enjoyable, it's such a treat to paint in the most beautiful gardens in North Texas. Next stop, my home state of Missouri and I get to stay in the haunted house again!

The studio models take a bow and a dip!

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Blue Iris Lily Garden and Countdown to Dallas Arboretum Artscape - Flower Paintings by Nancy Medina

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1440232

Blue Iris Lily Garden by Nancy Medina

15X30

Oil on Deep Gallery Wrap Canvas

Check out My New Video Here!

My iris garden produced yellow, white, purple and pale blue flowers this morning. This sudden proliferation of profuse color has me just a bit worried that it will be a short bloom season. Rather than see this as the glass half empty garden, I'm going to believe this will be the best iris season ever in the gardens of Flower Mound Studio!

Blue Iris Lily Garden is based on those blooms, and one of over 100 new paintings I'll have on display at Dallas Arboretum Artscape April 26-27. I can't believe it's almost here, holy cow I have to make some tags and labels and decide what color apron to wear that day. So much to do, so many flowers to paint, so little time! Here's a bit more on Artscape, I sure hope to see you there!

You Are Invited!

Look for me in Booth 43

Dallas Arboretum Artscape

April 26-27, 2014

9 am to 5 pm daily

with a member preview 6-8 pm April 25

8525 Garland Road, Dallas, TX 75218

Click here for more information

Lilies and irises blooming on the easel today

I do like chunky frames....

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Halos and Hydrangeas - Flower Paintings by Nancy Medina

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1429054

Halos and Hydrangeas

by Nancy Medina

20X20

Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas

Click here for more workshop information

My Art Newsletter

I planted all but one pot of hydrangeas from my Louisiana workshop last week. The last bunch to hold up under the studio spotlight was featured in Halos and Hydrangeas today, and tomorrow the plant itself will go into my garden. It's the ultimate in recycling! Paint the flowers, plant the flowers. My next two workshops are full, so I've opened up a new workshop in North Texas, and another in Spring, near Houston, in the new gallery located in the heart of this charming town. My workshops are open for beginners to advanced painters, and I share how to make your paintings more dramatic, how to simplify your shapes and create exciting, clean color, and most of all, how to paint loosely, giving your work energy and flow. Put a little joy in your brush and let's make flowers bloom in brilliant color together!

The studio models take a bow!

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Pink Champagne Daisies and Suceeding as an Artist, Year One - Flower Paintings by Nancy Medina

Pink Champagne Daisies

by Nancy Medina

12X12

Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas

Check out My New Video Here!

What on earth does a full time artist do all day? It's not all sleeping late and watching reality TV. In fact, I cannot remember the last time I watched TV. It has been years since I sat on a couch for more than three minutes. This is not whining, I'm just too excited about what's going on in the studio to sit still for more than three minutes these days! In two weeks, it will be my One Year Anniversary of my Departure From Corporate America. I clocked out. I hopped off the treadmill. I jumped off the cliff into the abyss of hopes and dreams and launched my own business. In the first 6 months, I wondered every single day if I would be able to pay the bills. I lay awake at night adding numbers in my head. The water bill, the Toyota payment. The tax bills *gulp*.

One year later, did I make it? Did I at least come close to reaching the same six-figure salary I had in corporate America? The answer is: Read more....

Monday, March 10, 2014

Sunflower Sunset and Postcards From the Beach - Flower Paintings by Nancy Medina

Sunflower Sunset

by Nancy Medina

20X16

Oil on Archival Panel

Check out My New Video Here!

Sunflower Sunset was one of my six classroom demonstrations in Fort Lauderdale, Florida this weekend. Tomorrow morning we leave the classroom behind for a day of plein air painting. My hosts found a charming cottage with a bougainvillea garden, so we shall be out bright and early to paint. I specialize in a "kinder, gentler" plein air, and have a few ladies who will have tables and chairs for their outdoor painting experience, with an ocean breeze and a palm tree swaying nearby. The owner of the garden was so kind, he stopped by my class today with his chocolate lab to make sure we were coming over tomorrow to paint his garden. He was super excited, as he is also an artist! I love these little simpatico moments in life, don't you?

Stay tuned, I promise to share more of my Florida adventure with you on my art bloggy. In the meantime, here is a postcard for you of sunset at dinner on the beach. Sure wish you were here with us!

The demo collapsed with color....

Wishing you were here....

Monday, March 3, 2014

Love Abounds Hydrangea Flower Painting and Art Studio Necessities by Nancy Medina

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1405131

Love Abounds Blue and White Hydrangeas

12X30

Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas

Check out My New Video Here!

Love Abounds Hydrangeas was my demonstration in Flower Mound, Texas, yesterday. Once I got this new painting home without smudging the interior of the Highlander, the next challenge was photographing it! Taking a picture of a long, long painting can be a bit tricky, but the hubby stepped in and gave me a helping hand.

The hot chocolate mocha studio supplies also helped get me through a wintry, cold day - the sleet and ice came down nonstop in North Texas. I had to replenish the pile o' whippy creme several times on my mocha, however. A gal has gotta do, what a gal has gotta do!

Painting fresh flowers at the new Market Street in Flower Mound!

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Ribbons in the Sky White Tulips - Flower Paintings of the Dallas Arboretum by Nancy Medina

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1398741

Ribbons in the Sky White Tulips

by Nancy Medina

14X14

Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas

Check out My New Video Here!

Ribbons in the Sky White Tulips is the newest daily painting in Flower Mound Studio, based on the tulips of the Dallas Arboretum. I love painting white flowers. There are so many colors in white, purples, greens, yellows, blues. In color theory class at university, our final exam was a still life of all white objects. The professor brought in about 100 items and placed them on a huge table in the center of the room. Read more...

Tulips on the easel in Flower Mound Studio

Monday, February 24, 2014

Tender Rain Hydrangeas and a Dallas Arboretum Flower Painting Workshop by Nancy Medina

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1397893

Tender Rain Hydrangeas

by Nancy Medina

20X20

Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas

Check out My New Video Here!

Tender Rain Hydrangeas is the newest painting in Flower Mound Studio, celebrating a new vase I received from a dear friend. You are invited to join me for my June 21 workshop at the Dallas Arboretum. I love teaching flower painting in the most beautiful gardens in Texas, and this will be a great time of year to get dozens of flower photos during the lunch break! Okay, dozens is a conservative estimate. I've been known to fill up an entire cell phone's worth of memory in 2 hours at the Arboretum before. My husband seems to find this quite astounding, though I'm sure all of you, my flower fanatic friends, are sympathetic to the cause....!

Dallas Arboretum Flower Painting Workshop

June 21, 2014

9 am to 3 pm

Registration Information

The studio models take a bow....

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Maroon Cascade Peonies and an Easy Way to Ship Home Wet Paintings by Nancy Medina

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1360031

Maroon Cascade Peonies

20X16

Oil on Archival Panel
Purchase Information

Class Demonstration

Check out My New Video Here!

Maroon Cascade Peonies was my class demonstration in North Texas, as I pack up supplies for my Florida workshop. I've learned how to juggle supplies between overlapping events and workshops, and always have at least three easels, two sets of traveling paints, and multiple palettes and turp cans all juggling about simultaneously.

I've learned an easy way to carry my wet paintings home - I call it the Gallery Wrap Pancake Stack. Read more...

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

New Sunflowers and the Story of a Twilight Simpatico by Nancy Medina

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1392503

Coffee, Tea, Biscotti and Sunflowers

by Nancy Medina

12X12

Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas

Coffee, Tea, Biscotti and Sunflowers is the newest daily work in Flower Mound Studio. Today is the 20th anniversary of my father's passing. This morning, I woke up feeling tired, and not well. It's funny how your body physically reacts to the memory of loss, along with the mind, on anniversaries like this. Read more...

The sunflowers at rest

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Me Encanta Floral Medley by Texas Artist Nancy Medina

Me Encanta Flower Medley

by Nancy Medina

14X14

Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas

Me Encanta is the newest daily painting in Flower Mound Studio, a busy week finishing up paperwork for workshops! I'm excited to announce two new workshops coming up in Rockwall, Texas, and also at the Dallas Arboretum. Put a little joy in your brush and let's make brilliant color bloom together this year! Visit my Flower Painting Workshop Page on my Web site for more details.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Gone Flying, Back Soon Poppies and You Know You're an Artist When by Nancy Medina

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1374825

Gone Flying, Back Soon Poppies

by Nancy Medina

16X12

Oil on Archival Panel

You know you're an artist when....you have a TON of things to do and you stop everything to paint because the light catches your eye on some colorful object...in the dining room you recently converted into Studio Number Two....after getting rid of your perfectly good dining room table. Anyone else ever had this problem? Hmmm?

Poppies perched on the easel

Distracted by the siren song of a pretty flower, yet again....

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Yellow Lace Roses and Letters From Port Fairy by Nancy Medina

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1369956

Yellow Lace Roses by Nancy Medina

14X14

Palette Knife/Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas

Yellow Lace Roses is the newest daily painting in Flower Mound Studio, a fun escape back to my wild side of big brush strokes and fat color. One of the nicest things about blogging and sharing your art on Pinterest and Facebook is the kind people you "meet" from afar. I received a wonderful note yesterday from Wilma, 75, from Port Fairy, a seaside tourist town southwest of Victoria, Australia. Can you imagine living in a place that sounds this magical? Wilma was kind enough to share photos of her amazing garden, and noted that it is full summer there now. While we shiver and stick close to the footheaters here in the studio, Wilma's hollyhocks are blooming in red ruby glory and her gardens are full of color. She told me her petunias have "gone to God" but her hydrangeas will probably be back when the weather cools again. She has the assistance of two four-footed helpers, her King Charles Spaniel, Daisy, and her black and white kitty, Maggie, both of whom, she assures, are properly spoiled. I hope I hear from her again...

The studio models take a bow!

Monday, January 20, 2014

Petal Cascade Daisies and Delphiniums by Nancy Medina

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1367982

Petal Cascade Daisies and Delphiniums

by Nancy Medina

28X22

Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas

Petal Cascade Daisies is the newest daily painting in Flower Mound Studio, a bit of a celebration of my new painting space! I have a new patterned chair I got for half price at World Market and pots and pots of fresh flowers all set up in the space that used to be the dining room, but is now my early morning painting studio. This is technically studio number 2 in my home, and it's nice to have a bit of a change, especially since this room is all windows and lets in the gorgeous morning light to use as a backdrop for my still life setups. You'll be seeing some photos of that space very soon on my art blog, just as soon as I am finished making it a bit more presentable.

Daisy Cascade and the studio models take a bow!

Friday, January 10, 2014

Blue Times Two Delphiniums and a Valentines Workshop by Nancy Medina

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1359110

Blue Times Two Delphiniums

by Nancy Medina

16X12

Oil on Archival Panel

Class Demonstration

Check out My New Video Here!

Click here for registration information

Blue Times Two Delphiniums was one of my 2 class demonstrations today in North Texas. Tomorrow we paint peonies! It's a bit like winning the lotto to find fresh delphs and peonies in the market in early January. Well, okay, a bit like winning one of those $100 scratch off tickets at least! My next workshop is February 14-16, in Irving, Texas, and you are cordially invited! Put a little joy in your brush and let's make brilliant flowers bloom. My Irving, Texas workshops are ideal for the traveling student with a shuttle that picks you up at the airport and drives you to class each day. I provide solvent for students who fly in and also ship your wet paintings home for you after, not to mention coffee and donuts every day!

February 14-16, 2014

Painting Brilliant Florals

9 am to 4 pm Daily

Monday, January 6, 2014

Dress 5 in the 29 Dresses Series ~ Sunshine Poppy Party Dress Painting by Nancy Medina

Sunshine Poppy Party Dress

by Nancy Medina

36X24

Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas

Check out My New Video Here!

Sunshine Poppy Party Dress is the fifth dress in my 29 Dresses Series, and also the fifth painting in the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge by Leslie Saeta. This party frock is a bit whimsical, and the wide black belt is designed to minimize the waist. I'm continuing my hunt for excellent fashion books for inspiration and admiration, and today received a note from a friend and excellent artist suggesting a Dior book that I can hardly wait to add to my collection! I love classic, beautiful, simple and elegant design. I think it's absolutely timeless.

Detail from the Sunshine Poppy frock....

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Sun Siren Sunflowers by Floral Artist Nancy Medina

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1342177

Sun Siren Sunflower

by Nancy Medina

12X12

Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas

Check out My New Video Here!

Sun Siren Sunflower was one of my class demonstrations in my North Texas workshop this week. One of the best parts of teaching flower painting is meeting interesting people from all over the world, and hearing their interesting stories. This week I had ladies in class who had lived in Paris France, Vietnam, China, and Kazakhstan. Despite all these diverse backgrounds, everyone seemed to click and by the end of three days, were sad to say goodbye to one another. I think artists in general have a way of looking at life that goes past the surface, beyond borders, and into the heart.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Wake Up Call Sunflowers and Delphiniums and a North Texas Workshop by Nancy Medina

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1341611

Wake Up Call Sunflowers

by Nancy Medina

20X16

Oil on Archival Panel

Check out My New Video Here!

Wake Up Call Sunflowers was my class demonstration this morning in North Texas. We've had a fun class, I get the sense everyone is excited about Christmas coming up, and vacations coming up, and seeing family. The ladies in my group have bonded so quickly and so completely. It amazes me to watch a group of new artists come together and instantly discover they have so much in common. I suppose we are all on the same wavelength, after all! It's a beautiful thing!

The flower models take a bow!

Thursday, December 12, 2013

White Rose Rebellion and a North Texas Workshop by Floral Artist Nancy Medina

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1340024

White Rose Rebellion

by Nancy Medina

20X16

Oil on Archival Panel

Check out My New Video Here!

White rose Rebellion is the newest floral still life in Flower Mound Studio, and the paints, brushes, palette, easel and buckets and buckets of fresh flowers are packed and ready for my final workshop for 2013 which kicks off tomorrow. I enjoyed painting this bouquet so much, laying the hot pink buds near the aqua blue vase created a nice color pop. This is the great new vase I purchased a few weeks ago when my husband and I went furniture shopping. It appears that furniture stores get the first choice on all the best vases! So next time you're in the craft store vase shopping and nothing strikes your fancy, try one of the furniture store chains. You might be really surprised!

Detail From:

White Rose Rebellion

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Barefoot Garden Geraniums by Floral Artist Nancy Medina

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1337812

Detail: Barefoot Garden Geraniums

by Nancy Medina

16X20

Oil on Linen Panel

Check out My New Video Here!