Friday - Live Life Fearlessly

Live life fearlessly. 

Its my new motto.  Have any of you read the book "Dying to Be Me: My Journey from Cancer, to Near Death, to True Healing" by Anita Moorjani?  Well, first off, I will say it is not for everyone.  You have to like those kinda spiritual journey books in order to like it.  If you like Dwayne Dyer's stuff, you'll like this one.  She's got some great insight that she brings forward.  Stuff we've all heard or read.. but I think it doesn't hurt to hear it again.  I found out about it through Danielle LaPorte - I'm a huge fan of Danielle LaPorte - she makes me laugh, she makes me cry and she really gets me pondering some things. 

Anyway... back to live life fearlessly.  This doesn't mean wrecklessly, or without abandon or any of that stuff.  I'm not going to go bungee jumping - because that really does scare the pants off me.  What it does mean is - dump the fears.. all those little nagging things that eat away at us and keep us from really being something - our true something.  The old stuff - the I'm not good enough, I don't fit in, I can't this or I can't that because really.... I'm afraid.  OK - dump it - really, its time.

How does all this fit into the painting above? - well, good question... 

It has to do with being an artist - how often do we feel we don't stack up - we compare, we criticize, we self destruct and we melt down into a big pile of goo.  How often do we not try something new because.. well, its too hard, I can't do it, it takes too much time to learn it, I'm not good at that - got the idea?  Yep, fears... all of them.  And... what can we do about all that? - you got it- live life fearlessly.

I'm still working with photo transfers and encaustic and I'm finding a way to make them my own, make them more than a photograph and make them more than what I expected I could do.

It's Paint Party Friday - dump the fears, experiment, have fun, and try something new.

Friday:: Sink or Swim

No Parking
encaustic, paper and photo transfer on Birch Panel 9x12

Have you ever been faced with that old addage - Sink or Swim?  or.. Fish or Cut Bait... however, you want to say it - it holds the same decision.   Its a choice to either take part and be a "doer" or just be on the sidelines be a "watcher". 
Photo transfer work in encaustic has been elusive for me.  Its not that its a hard process, in fact its quite easy.  I've decided to take a run at it for the next month.  I have been thinking for a long time on how to combine the two things that I love - photography and encaustic.  There are lots of examples of work out there of people who do just that.  You can check out this website or this one or here.
One of my favorites is Ben Hecht and his amazing waves. 

So, I'm on board.. I'm going to give it a go and try to work on combining photography and encaustic painting.  This is one of my first attempts.  I used this procedure to transfer the image to the wax.  Her swimsuit is a photo I had taken of a reflection in some building windows.  The door to the left and no parking sign... mine too.  I enhanced the door with some strips of book pages - why... well, the photo didn't transfer well and that's what came to mind.  Don't you just love when something appears to be going badly - then ahhhhh... Genius strikes and it all turns out OK.
I'm hooking up with Paint Party Friday today. 

Friday:: Journal

Do you have an art journal? Or a journal of any kind that keeps your thoughts? I did the Artist's Way by Julia Cameron about a year ago-ish. One of the things she has you commit to is Morning Pages. Well, I've been pretty good over time with those and have been pretty diligent in keeping up with them. However, lately I've slacked a bit. Yet, for some reason I have replaced writing my Morning Pages with doodling my Morning Pages. I don't finish these pages in one sitting.. they take a couple three days to build upon themselves.   I'm trying to get myself to draw more - draw again. 

I started coloring this one.  However, I think I like the black and white better.

Page TWO

The Newest page - starting to take shape

Linking up with Paint Party Friday today.  Two blog posts today - wowie.  Last month I combined my self portrait journey with a painted self portrait.  This month - yeah, no ... didn't get to that.  But if you are interested in April's self portrait journey - click here.

The Wednesday Experiment :: Ink transfer to encaustic wax

I'm coming to realize that I don't think outside of my parameters as much as I should.  I tend to poop along in my studio and work on what I know.  I've talked some about stretching and pushing creativity (here), to try some new things and see where they lead.  It seems to be kind of a mission for me here in the moment.  So, here's what I found::

Yesterday, I stumbled upon the youtube video by Randy Purcell on transferring ink onto wax.  Its a process that I know, however haven't visited for a while.  I've added the video at the bottom of the post if you are interested in watching it.

 I decided to give it a try.  Randy's concept of this procedure is more than I have seen.  He uses magazine pages for his ink source.  As a wax artist, I know that magazine pages and wax don't really mesh due to the slick nature of the paper.  Wax doesn't really bond with it unless you sand it, which will then distort the image.  But.... I have never thought of using the pages for the ink and creating mosaic paintings with strips of paper.

The process is pretty simple. 

1. First, cut your shapes from magazine pages and place the paper on your wax background.  Be sure the side that has the colors you want is the side next to the wax (face down). 
2. Second, burnish the paper to the wax. I used the back side of a spoon. 
3. Carefully sand the top ink off the paper, being sure to not go through.  This removes the slickness from the page and leaves the raw paper exposed.  In the photo above you can see the two to the left are sanded and the one on the right is just through steps one and two.
4. Take a carving tool and carefully clean up the dust around the edges of the paper.  It is showing as gray in the photo above.
5. Once you have cleaned up around the edges of your paper, use a heat gun to warm the paper and the wax to help transfer the ink.  I did try using a flame and it worked too, but you have to be careful not to heat it so much that the wax comes through the paper and sets it into the painting.

The final step is to wet the paper with water and rub the paper off leaving the ink which has transferred to the wax.  There is a point at which you can rub too hard and start damaging the ink transfer.  I went ahead and used my flame torch to set the painting after I removed the paper, but you can see in the first photo that it caused the ink to crack and move a bit even though I was careful.  So, a heat gun may work a little better. 
Its important to remember that the ink is just sitting on top of the wax which means that it is a little delicate.  It comes off with linseed oil and it scratches easily.  You can put a thin layer of medium on top to protect it. However, that will dull the colors a bit.  There is a wax sealer(here) that can be used.  I have never used this product but it looks interesting.

Above is Randy's video.  This is a great example of the importance of sharing what we do.  Some artists are worried that if they give up their procedures that they will be copied.  I really believe that since art comes from within each of us with its own unique voice, there is no reason to be worried about being copied because it just really can't happen.  However, by sharing techniques, we all benefit and can take it in a direction that suits our needs.  Thank you Randy for sharing!  

For the Love of Creating

As a kid, I used to draw a lot.  My Dad was an Artist, a painter.  I would keep him company in his studio while he painted and I would draw.  Drawing left me for some reason.  It went away and I grew older and it totally left when I went to college.  Sure, I draw a little for my paintings but I don't sketch, I don't just sit and draw.  I was talking to my Mom about this a few weeks ago - that I don't draw anymore.  She was surprised because of the countless drawings I had done growing up.  The great ones hung on the fridge - the others were in stacks until there was enough to bind in a notebook.  I had books of drawings.  I had drawings on my bedroom walls.   My Dad would buy a ream of paper just for drawing.  It sat in his studio next to a jar full of pens, a box of charcoal and sharpened pencils.  As a kid, I wasn't allowed to have coloring books - I was to draw my own.  So that's what I did.
  
My Mom came up with the great idea - "why don't you challenge yourself to draw everyday for a month and then reward yourself with a prize - but only if you have a drawing for each day".  Isn't Motherly wisdom wonderful?  Well, great idea, but I fell flat after three days and put the sketch book back on the shelf to sit again. No prize.

Last night I was tinting some pages in my travel journal.  I like to keep a travel journal and I like to write on water colored pages.  They are simple - just tinted with color a few random shapes.. nothing, really.   I painted this tree.. why?  No clue.  It was just put in loosely with water color and really didn't look like much.  Then I grabbed my favorite ink pen and the magic started.

My Dad and I used to draw in this kind of style.  We would put in loose watercolor shapes and then spend time outlining with a pen the shapes and creating textures with line - creating the drawing and the detail as how we felt in the moment.  It was like he was sitting there with me - like old times, just the two of us, drawing.  I haven't done a drawing like this in years (a really very long time).  When the drawing was complete, I just sat there and stared at it.  It was like - wow, I remember - but what really got me was - wow, how did I forget?  Its like something shifted, something happened. It was magic.  It was the joy of creating.

Tuesday Exchange #5 :: Something New

Four weeks exploring the sea was wonderful for me.  I loved having a focus and a theme.  Four weeks is a good amount of time to dig in a little deeper.  I enjoyed that aspect of the IM Project, a lot.
My partner in this project, Ingrid, is going to take a break for a while.  Her break is indefinite at this point, but she will be back.  But, I decided I will carry on.  The reason to go the road alone is that its good for me to keep exploring, to look at things a little differently, to take time with a theme and topic and really get into it. 
The other day, I went on a photo walk.  It was a very typical spring day - rain, hail, rain, sunbreaks and full out blue sky and sunshine.  Sometimes, we just have to go - go anyway... rain or shine.   Here are some of my favorites of the day.

 I love Magnolias. 

 These are the famous Yashino Cherry Trees on the Quad at the University of Washington campus.  They were the reason for my photo jaunt.  I go every year to see them. 

 Things are waking up in the wetlands.  Its time for new.  Yet, the old is still standing guard over the new shoots and seedlings that are just starting.

 It really did rain on me.  Hard at times.  Yet that didn't deter my photo jaunt. 

With all that said..... I will be on to a new topic of inspiration for another four weeks. However, I'm going to take a break from the studio for a couple of weeks first. It will give me some time to think about what it is I really want to explore for the next inspiration. I have some really exciting ideas rolling around in my head. I'll just have to wait and see which one comes to the surface.  Happy Tuesday everyone. 

Inspiration Today::Are you pushing your Creativity?

under the sea

This is the last of the series of sea paintings.  Its been wonderful exploring the sea and its underwater beauty.  Next week, I will start on a new inspiration and see what that brings to my art.

Octopus
encaustic and paper on birch panel 5x5

I've been thinking a lot about creativity, lately.  Seems like its in the front part of my mind these days.  The big questions I have been pondering is do I push my creativity enough?  Does my art have a voice?

I came across this video by OKGO - it made me realize that there are no boundaries, no limits to what we can do as artists.  You think you are pretty creative?  Check out this video - Creative Genius is even an understatement here::

Have you ever played the observation game?  What do you see?  You will usually always state the obvious things.  Then you ask again - What do you see?  We can usually come up with a few more things.. but by the third time - What do you see? Many of us get stumped.  Yet, if we allow ourselves to really see - to see the multidimensional layers of what's around us - then maybe we do start to see.  So, what if we adopt this in our art?  photography?  music?  OKGO obviously could get past all the boundaries that we set for ourselves.  I mean, REALLY, who comes up with stuff like this and then how in the world do you pull something like this video off?!!  REALLY! 
Its time to push a little or push a lot.  Its time to re-think and re-frame.  Its time to get a little more creative in what we do.  So, here's a proposal:: What if every time we do our art, we set aside a little time at the end to really try some new stuff, to push ourselves to dig in a little deeper.  You may be happy with what you do now, but maybe you will find something beyond what you do now that is even more exciting.  Start today really looking at the inspiring things around you and see what it can bring for you.  How can you push your photography? your painting? your music? your whatever it is that you do?  I'm going to try it and I'm kinda excited about it.  Think about it and you'll feel that little bubble of excitment grow from inside. 

I'm linking up with Paint Party Friday today.  I'm sorry to say that I will be out of the studio for the next couple of PPF weeks.  I will miss all of you. 

Inspiration Today: The Art of Karin Jurick

Women's Lib
by Karin Jurick

The sea is still on my mind and I want to introduce one of the artists that I admire.  Her name is Karin Jurick.  I don't remember exactly when I came across the art of Karin Jurick.  However, I was really interested in her not only because of her style... but she paints a painting a day!  In oils!! 
OK, to me that is admirable, because for me to paint a painting a day is really not going to happen.  I actually have set a personal goal to paint a painting a week so that I can participate in Paint Party Friday this year.  But.. a painting a day? Yeah... no.

Karin Jurick paints many subjects and I hope that you go to her website and have a browse around.  I love them all but I do really love her beach scenes, animals and museum goers.  She has a couple of You Tube videos that I hope you have time to browse. 
The first one is her beach paintings.  See them here ::
Life Should be a Beach by Karin Jurick

The second one is her talking about the palette she uses.  I have been exploring the palette of the sea.  You can see what I put together here.  Its nothing like the palette Karin uses.  It is always interesting to see what other artists have on their palettes.  See her video here::
My Painting Palette by Karin Jurick
I love how she starts out by saying "I sure love a lot of color". 

Then, if you are really loving all this... watch her paint one of her paintings here::
Painting a Scene of a New York City Street by Karin Jurick
What jumps out when watching her paint is that she thinks in shapes of color.   That is pretty obvious as you see the painting develope.  She is not thinking about the subject she is painting... only the shapes and how they combine and work together in color and value.

I have a lot to learn from someone like Karin Jurick.  That is why I shared her work today.  Its always good to keep the artists you admire nearby.

Sea Creatures

Holy Mackeral
encaustic and paper on birch panel 5x5

 I was playing around with the creatures of the sea today.  I'm using some of the colors that came about in my Colors of the Sea palette from Tuesday (here).  And... why am I thinking of the Sea?  Its the theme that we have chosen for the IM (Ingrid-Marji) project. 
I got the idea from seeing black and white photos printed on old book pages.  I just happened to have some old book pages and sheet music so I gave it a try.  I used a photo of a sand dollar and in Photo Shop I extracted the background and isolated the sand dollar.  Then, I ran the book pages and sheet music through the printer in the auto feed tray, printing the sand dollar photo.  They turned out OK... just OK.  It was actually harder than I thought to get a good printing where the photo wasn't too dark or too light - both resulting in lost detail.  However, they seemed like good backgrounds for encaustic paintings.  I used this method to mount the paper on the panels. When the wax hits the paper, the paper becomes more translucent depending on, of course, the paper used.  So my prints lost some of their umph on both of these papers and, anything on the reverse side slightly showed through.  But, as we all know, all is good in art... there really are no mistakes. 

Maestro
encaustic and paper on birch panel 5x5

I've decided from these two small paintings.. that it would be really kinda fun to try some sea creatures in a larger format.   It made it fun to use my Punchy Sea Color Palette - a little shell green, sea grass yellow, crab and scallop shell.
I'm hooking up with Paint Party Friday today.  I want to say thank you to all of the PPF people who dropped by last week.  I have to say I was impressed by the wonderful enthusiasm everyone shared and the outstanding artwork created by this group.  I felt very welcome for my first ever PPF and I am so looking forward making my way around to see what everyone else is doing.   Thank you again everyone and Happy PPF!!

A Lucky Find and a How To

 Since I have been thinking about the Sea, I have been thinking about maps and charts.  Yesterday, I had a lucky find.  I popped into a antique store, one that I had been in before but had not had any luck.  However, this time - lucky!  I came across those charts I had been thinking of.  They were right there in a basket waiting for me.  They are dated from the 60's and must have belonged to quite an adventurer.  They mostly were maps of far away places - Hawaii, the Philippines and southwestern coast lines.  Basically - big printed on thick pieces of paper - YAY!  Now what to do with them? 

 Yes, mount them on panels for encaustic paintings.  I'll share my process for mounting paper on panels.  I think its useful for all kinds of applications - collage, encaustic, photographs and watercolor - you name it.  My neighbor is a water colorist and she uses this technique to mount her paintings directly to wood panels.  They look great!  Here's your supply list::

1. YES! Paste.  I was told its the only one to use
2. SHARP razor blades.
3. Brayer
4. Old credit card or some kind of shim to apply the paste
5. Boards or cradled panels to mount the paper too.  Smooth.
6. Your fabulous paper of choice.

 First make sure your surface is smooth and clean.  Then apply a THIN (very important) THIN layer of paste.  I end up scraping most of it off.  Keep the edges clean of any paste overflow.

 Second, have your paper cut to size with a little overhang.  I try to have one edge as my reference and square the paper on the panel using that edge as my guide.  You can see that in the picture above the left edge is pretty flush but the others have an overhang of paper by 1/4 inch or so.  Roll, Roll again and Roll even harder - make sure all corners and edges are rolled and flat.  Be watchful of getting paste on the brayer and spreading it to your paper - don't want to do that - so be watchful.

 Now the cutting.  Use the style of razor blade in the picture - only.  Use two hands, grasping the blade at the top edge of the right side and the top edge of the left side. ( I had to take a photo, so there is only one hand in the photo...)  Position the blade at about a 45 degree angle and ride it against the edge of the panel.  This takes some practice and your blade MUST BE SHARP.  Pull towards you, firmly and in one swoop.  You really only get one chance to get a good cut - going back to "clean up" the edges leaves uneven jaggy gouges that never really look good.  One swoop, one time, sharp blade.  I find that it is VERY helpful to block the panel against my body or something that gives a firm hold to the panel.  For these smaller ones I block one panel against my body and then block the one I am cutting against that one.  A firm foundation is important so your panel doesn't move as you pull the blade.

 I cut in a little tab at the top edge.  That way I'm not trying to get a pull from the corner that may pull the paper up from the board.  I then go back the opposite direction and remove the tab by pushing the blade versus pulling the blade.  Always keeping the 45 degree angle. 

 Go around all the edges.  Each edge I use a fresh area on the blade to ensure that it is sharp as I cut.  The first cut, I use the top of the edge, the second cut, I use the upper middle, then lower middle then lower edge.  That way - always a sharp spot on the blade.  Blades are cheap - toss this one when you are done and use a fresh one for the next project. 

Done!  and now ready to be coated with wax and let the creativity begin!  I'll show you next week what I have done with these panels.
Good luck and remember - SHARP BLADE, only ONE pull, one chance for a clean edge.

Tuesday Exchange #2

The Sea is the four week theme of the IM (Ingrid-Marji) Project and this week I've been exploring the colors of the sea  . 

The Punchy Sea Color Palette

I seem to be interested in color these days... how it works together, where it falls on the color wheel, etc.  After last week, I sat down and created a color palette from my photos from my day at the beach. You can see my inspiration photos here.  I came up with a beautiful color palette of neutrals, blues and grays. 

Neutral Colors of the Sea

But I was feeling that I needed a little punch to add to this palette that I created.  So, I spent some time looking through many beach photos to come up with a more punchy color palette.  Now, I stayed true to the pacific northwest and didn't stray from our local beaches in order to find the more vibrant colors.  I realized, that for the most part, I could pretty much create a color wheel from my selection of photos. 
There used to be a show on HGTV that you got to choose from a color wheel that was created from beautiful colorful objects that were in little boxes around the wheel.  Do you like the color of crab shell?  Its complimentary color is plankton.  Or perhaps you prefer an analogous color selection of crab, starfish and sand dollar.  Me... well, I just LOVE all the colors in the Yellow Orange photo :)

Red - starfish

Red Orange - Sand dollar

Orange - Clam Shell

Yellow Orange - Crab Shell

Yellow - Sea Grass

Yellow Green - plankton

Green - Shell

Blue Green - Rope

Blue - Rope

Blue Violet - Scallop Shell

Violet - Crab Claw

Red Violet - Crab

Now that I have my colors and inspiration figured out, I will have to see what I can do in the studio with all of this color inspiration.   Stop by Ingrid's blog and check out her SEA inspired goodness this week.  Our SEA theme is in the second week and most importantly, having a partner to keep my head in the game is really working for me.

Come Sit with Me

An Invitation

Come sit and tell me your story

Tell me your dreams.

What makes you happy?

What makes your heart sing?

Come sit beside me in this chair.

Tell me your happiness.

Tell me your sorrows.

Come and sit.

This is an invitation to

speak from your heart.

Come and sit in this chair.





Invitation
Encaustic and Paper on Birch Panel 12x18



I usually put words in my paintings.  For some reason I feel compelled to do that.  Words can hold such meaning and double meanings and innuendos.  They can evoke power, love, and thoughtfulness.  They can make you stop and think a bit.  They are an art form in and of themselves. However, sometimes they don't look right to have them on the front of the painting.
I paint on cradled panels, so the painting itself stands out from the wall by 1.5 inches.   It came to me, that really the words don't need to sit on the surface of the painting.. What if they were around the edge?  In this painting above, the words circle around the edge of the painting.  They are written in pencil and and then covered with clear wax.
 



The Pink Chair
Encaustic and Paper on Birch Panel 8x8



In the Pink Chair, the words are a dictionary page.  They start with mess and message end with messenger.   Doesn't sitting in a chair and resting quietly allow you to put the mess aside and take in the messages that clear your head.  It works for me.
Today, I am linking up with Paint Party Friday for the first time.