Camping, Beetles and Other Oddities

I've been camping in a figurative way. I basically pitched my tent and have stayed a while on a lovely plateau. I've been camping in the land of faces and I've really been having a lot of fun painting and taking the time to study them. I've spent about a month here - working on skills and really noticing a positive difference. I will say that it really does make a difference to stay in one spot with one focus and really get to know one thing. Good things come from tunnel vision.

Yet, like any good camping experience there is a time to move on - a time to break camp.   I still haven't figured why oddball things to paint come to my brain.  I've been so focused on faces and then I couldn't get bugs off my mind - specifically beetles.   The thought wouldn't go away until they were complete.  I've learned to not question it any more - I just paint.  I used to get stressed about what I paint and whether it fits a style or even makes sense to be painting faces then painting bugs - and now I have a giant horse on my work table and a whole lotta bird ideas flitting through my brain.  Not sure when I'll be back in the land of faces, but I do hope to do 29 Faces this year - coming in February :) 

encaustic 8x8

encaustic 8x8

encaustic 8x8

Happy Friday everyone!! 

Phobias, Sketchbooks and Resolutions




Lady in Purple
encasutic on birch 6x8

Ok, I admit it... I have a phobia. Its one that I've decided to tackle in the new year. Its not a huge thing like a phobia of spiders or heights. But it is one that is a bit concerning as an artist. I'm going to address the elephant in the room. "Uh hum - Elephant? You are really cute, honestly.. but you do take up a lot of space and its time for you to move - at least to another room."

My phobia? - It's sketchbook-a-phobia... I hang my head in shame. Honestly, compliling artwork in a sketchbook brings me great stress. I think its the anal perfectionist side of me that just has a real hard time handling the idea that there are bad drawings, paintings and sketches in the book as well as the good ones and many that fall somewhere in between. I buy them - sketchbooks, I have them and I've even started some. But, as soon as the less than perfect thing happens in the book - well, its tainted and that's the end of it for me. Or really, the mere thought of creating a less than perfect drawing in a book makes me run far and fast in the opposite direction. I even have one that I have about 5 or 6 pages of good drawings - but I can't bring myself to add another for fear the good luck has run out and a dud will appear. So it sits in the started but never completed pile of sketchbooks - kind of like the land of the misfit toys.

Face
Oil in Sketchbook :)

So.. in 2013 I'm going to suck it up and get over this thing. I spend every Friday visiting blogs where artists are creating art journal pages, sketches while in restaurants, travel sketches, backyard sketches, all kinds of beautiful paintings, drawings and sketches - AND... all these are in books mind you! Inspiring to say the least. I hold these people up as the amazing sketchbook idols that they are. So, here it is in big letters - red too just to really make the point:

In 2013, I'm going to finish a sketchbook, one that I started already and I will show it here when its complete - warts and all. I'm saying this out loud because I'm good to my word - and I've said it - so now I have to do it. I even bought one that does not have tear out pages!

Happy Friday everyone. Thank you to my fellow PPFr's for your weekly inspiration. Hit the button and visit some of my sketchbook idols as well as many other amazing artists.




Travels, Progress and Happy New Year

I don't know how you feel about things, but 2012 whizzed by for me.  Its been a year full of wonders and progress.  Sometimes, we have no idea how far we have travelled, until we pause and take a look back.  I mean really look back to where it is that we started.  Look to the point where we took our first steps in the direction in which our hearts told us to go. 
This is my first wax portrait that I did.  And really, there weren't many before her regardless of medium.  I painted animals as a kid, not people, not portraits.  Yet, lately this past year there has been a compelling desire to learn to paint portraits.  No explanation, no reason - just got it in my head and had to go that way, that direction.  It was the same for me, when I just had to learn how to do encaustic painting.

encaustic and paper on birch

I honestly, have no idea where this road is taking me - nor do I really care.  All I know is this is the way I need to focus what I am doing right now.   I know I am on a ride, where I'm not exactly sure where the next stop lies, nor if its a long ways down this road, or perhaps I get on to something new tomorrow.  But, what I do know is that its right for the moment.  The road has taken a twist with the addition of oil paints.  But, I know, it will all come together some how, some way.

oil on paper

 

While, not every painting is perfect - the progress is forward even if in bits and pieces.  2012 has been this way for me.  Its been a piecing together of wonderful progress -  one painting, one face at a time.  And, I know it isn't just me - I've seen it in many other's work this year and its been fun to share your progress with you.  Thank you all for your support through 2012.  I am so looking forward to what 2013 has in store for all of us.  Wishing you all a very creative and Happy New Year!!

 



Confidence, Cures for Being an Amature, and Paint it Like You Mean It

Flight
encaustic on birch 6x6

I was cruising around youtube the other day and I came across this guy.  I liked what he had to say - so I am sharing it here.

I know that I get a wee tentative when I paint.  I'm always questioning myself if this is right, or that is the right shape or color - or whatever.   I'm hesitant about brush strokes.  I don't use enough paint.  In doing that I have a lot of rework, because I don't believe in my decisions, and many of my paintings look kinda wishy-washy.  These are not the ones you see here.  They are the ones that get scraped back and end up in my recycled wax box. :)  I'm not this way in my real life, so why am I this way when I paint?  Not sure, but I know its time turn the corner and to walk the walk. 

In painting - lets just put it this way and cut to the chase - paint it like you mean it - really.  Be decisive, be confident.   In the end, its art. Its your interpretation.  Its how you see it.  Paint on!  Happy Friday everyone!

Giving Thanks, Encaustic Portrait, The Reader

The Reader
encaustic on birch 18x24
 

 

Its Thanksgiving in the US.  Yesterday, actually.  It is the day that families gather, a large meal is shared and for one day we all give thanks for the wonderful things that have gone throughout the year.  Today, thank you to those of you who provide great inspiration in your artwork every Friday.  Thank you also, for your kind comments that help fuel the fire in us all and keep us going creatively.  Its been a good year.

 

I thought it would be fun to show you the process of creating the painting above.  She is the painting that I talked about in this post - she is the "another version" of the portrait there.  Needless to say she is dramatically different then her beginnings. 

 

She started like a Picasso on a panel made with Flora Bowley's style.  She then got mad, lost weight, then gained weight, she even looked like she ate something sour...  I got kinda frustrated at her at one point and decided to melt her hair.  That was the tipping point when my husband decided she was "way to scary" and that he didn't like her.  It was about Halloween.  So she sat for a few weeks, until it came to me what to do to set her right, soften her and make her way less scary.  Over the past two days she went from sour grapes in the bottom right corner to The Reader, above. 
She needs a few corrections here and there, but for the most part, she is done.  I'll work a little more on her fingers and finalize her hair and I see now, I need to fix the corner of her mouth..  but, I am promising myself I will not fall into the spin cycle.  
Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Friday.

Friday:: Aspire to Inspire

Smile
encaustic on birch 10x10

Have you ever pondered the thought : What lifts me up? 
What is it that you do that really makes you feel good inside and causes that little wave of emotion to surge and the tiniest of smiles to cross your face.
What lifts me up?  I've been thinking about this lately.   This is what I came up with:  Inspire - inspire is top of the list. Really. The thought I did something or said something that inspired someone else – wowie. Uplifting. You GO Girl kinda stuff.

So how do we do this – add inspire to our daily list of things we do? What if the TO DO list looked something like this:

Grocery shopping, inspire, bank, inspire, Dr. appt.,inspire, laundry, inspire, make dinner, inspire

I mean really, look at the definition. How can we not find a way to add this to our day.

in·spired, in·spir·ing, in·spires
v.tr.

1. To affect, guide, or arouse by divine influence.

2. To fill with enlivening or exalting emotion:
3.
a. To stimulate to action; motivate:.
b. To affect or touch:
4. To draw forth; elicit or arouse:
5. To be the cause or source of; bring about.
6. To draw in (air) by inhaling.

7. Archaic

a. To breathe on.
b. To breathe life into.
v.intr.
1. To stimulate energies, ideals, or reverence:
2. To inhale.

Inspire comes in so many shapes and forms. Inspire can be intentional and unintentional. I actually believe that often times we have no idea that something we did was inspiring. So today add inspire to your “do” list – say something kind, do something kind, smile, laugh, compliment, hug, kiss, inhale – and be your amazing self. You may not know who you inspire, but really that's OK. If we all include at least one kind act or kind words in our day, we will inspire others. Today, go out into the world and aspire to inspire.

Happy Paint Party Friday to you all. Many thanks to this group for their kindness and beautiful inspirational work. Hit the button below and go and visit some of these amazing artists who share their work on Fridays.  (sorry for the small print - ran into an HTML snag that I couldn't seem to fix)

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. 

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!  

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. 

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!!

Come a Long Way... Baby

It's been just a little over a year ago that I started Encaustic (Wax) painting.  Its been an interesting road and I have learned so much about the medium.  But, my biggest takeaway for the year is how much I have learned about myself.

I like to pick a word that is my mantra for the year.  Last year, my word was

KNOWLEDGE.

I was wanting to learn.

I have actually surprised myself with the knowledge I gained in regard to painting:

1. I've learned I love painting with wax - its magical for me
2. I am not an abstract painter - not my deal at all
3. I actually want to paint a painting of something with the wax
4. I love love painting portraits and figures
5. I love to work BIG
6. I love putting words in my paintings - words are inspiring and thought provoking
7. I love the more POP ART style because it makes it fun

Above is my most recent painting.  She's BIG 24x24. 

Below is where I started its 3x3

I started out with my inner critic running the show.  Howling at me every day.  Telling me that it was really ridiculous that I was trying this at all.  I couldn't paint bigger than 3 inches square.  I was totally petrified of the whole process.  But, there was this little flicker inside that kept me at it.  Kept me trying, kept me learning.  I took some workshops and its a wonder that I could get through them at all.  Afraid to be free and work there, I would just dabble and come home with knowledge in my brain but nothing tangible to show for it.

What I learned is that I can not for my life paint an abstract painting or put together a collage.  The thought of being free and painting swirls and swishes and all that - NOPE, not my deal.  Not at all. 

But, I CAN paint a portrait.  I'm not sure exactly how that came to me.  I saw some portrait work in wax and for whatever reason, I wanted to try it.  No rhyme or reason - but it works - its my deal.  I still have a long way to go and lots to learn.  However, I feel I am on the right track now

Finally

So, if your inner critic rules your creativeness - she can be quieted.  She can take a back seat to what it is you are meant to do.  Don't be discouraged.  Kept going whatever direction feels right.  Gain KNOWLEDGE, move forward, practice and think BIG.

Just sayin

Chocolate

Ever met a Chocolate you didn't like?
Me either.

There is something about chocolates that

make for

s•w•e•e•t
This painting is for my friend Janice.
She's a Christmas baby give or take a couple of days.
We Christmas babies can easily get overlooked
and all smooshed in

with the holidays.
Not forgotten
really.
Our loved ones remember but ya know - its not the same as having the big fanfare, special day
during the
mid-year.
So, this is for Janice's day -
in celebration of her love of leopard shoes,
fashion and especially
chocolate dogs.
Happy Birthday, my friend.

Bokeh People in Wax

I personally love bokeh.

Bokeh is the out of focus areas in photography that lie outside of the depth of field.

Many photographers love to shoot bokeh in their work. You will often see bokeh as the little round circles of light that glisten in the background.  But, I have come to love the other stuff that is out of focus in the background - especially people.



Snow Day
Inspired by Urban Muser's
Snowy Fence
encaustic on birch 8x8

 I'm taking a little break from the portraits.  I needed something that is not so tight.  I love the portraits and will continue, but I need something else too. Something for the in-between time when the wax is cooling.

Since I am so in love with bokeh people in photography, I decided to try bokeh people in wax (encaustic). 



Skate
Inspired by Picture This/Patty's
The Skaters
encaustic on birch 4x6

Thank you to my Flickr friends for their inspiration.  

Portraits::Getting the Colors Right in Encaustic Wax

 Portraits have become my new thing.  Can't even really explain it.  Among all the way important things that go into portrait painting the one that trips me up the most is the color.

In encaustic painting there are similarities and differences in tinting color.  The first big difference of course it we're talking HOT WAX here.

I'm teaching myself - so I am finding palette color answers in books and from the examples of work I can find on the Internet.

So, I study and create color palettes in wax on my hot griddle.

This is tough - mixing on the griddle is OK but there is a problem with the quantity of paint.  Mixing in tins or some sort of vessel is hard too - I get the quantity - but the color tweaking is really tough.

So, I got this bright idea.  What if I mixed all the colors in oil paint and then used them to tint the wax. 

Using oil paint is one method of tinting wax with pigment.

If you choose this method it is of the utmost importance to let the paint sit on a paper towel at least overnight.  This allows oils in the paint to be absorbed by the paper.  If you don't do this, you run the risk of getting too much oil in the wax which compromises its ability to harden and dry.

After the overnight oil weeping - the paint is ready to add to the hot wax.  Now, there is another rule:  no more than 30% pigment in the wax.  I really honestly have no idea how to measure that.  I totally guessed. 

I decided to err to the less paint side - just in case.

I used a muffin tin - Teflon coated so the wax comes out easily.  Incidentally I used these tins when I make my medium - so they were already full of medium.

On the top of each unheated wax round, I used a palette knife and transferred the paint to the top of the wax.  One color, one wax round.  As the wax melted, the paint slowly heated up and then sunk to the bottom of the tin for easy mixing.

Gave everything a stir so the paint would melt into and incorporate into the wax.

 I popped them out after they were hard. 

I figure from here I can tint on the hot palette to lighten or darken the shades as I need. 

I'm a newbie to this, so I'm not really sure if I mixed the colors I need.  Or, if for goodness sake I've overestimated the paint/wax ratio of 30%.  But, its a start and will see how it goes.

Any encaustic painters out there, please kindly comment.  I would love to hear your thoughts.

IKEA for Mounting Encaustic Paintings or Photos

I've had an amazing April.  So busy it seems.  The highlight was a four day encaustic painting workshop here in Seattle put on by R and F paints.  Daniella Woolf was our instructor.  I learned so much that my head was bursting by the time I left on Sunday evening.  12 people from as far as Canada, the midwest and Nova Scotia.  Great group, great class - so much to try now.

Above is a group of 3x3 paintings on 3/4" birch plywood.  They are done with India ink and mono print.  I wanted to display them somehow other than stacking them on a shelf.

When I was at IKEA cruising the aisles looking for whatever...  I came across their magnetic stainless steel wall mount knife rack.  $8.99 - I got two.  I mounted one vertically on the wall.  it does not come with screws, so you do need to get some in order to complete this project.  

 Next I put a cluster of 4 thumbtacks on the back of the painting.  The thumbtacks work fine, but next time I will try supergluing a large flat round washer from the hardware store.  The paintings hang nicely - a little off center and some wanted to hang a little catty wompus  - has something to do with the magnets in the knife rack.  I like the way they stack kind of like building blocks but they can be stacked straight too.  

This method can also be done in reverse with a metal bar on the wall and magnets on the backs of the paintings.  

I haven't tried it with photos yet, but I think I will use flat round washers to hold the photos in place on the rack.

Focus 52 - Green

The theme is GREEN over at Focus 52 this week. I decided to step out of my box and go for green with my creative outlet other than photograpy - encaustic wax painting. I started early in the week, thinking it would take me a while to get this done. However, it went really quickly. The inspiration behind this one was actually a golf green. I was watching golf the other day and they showed an ariel photo of a golf green that was kinda shaped like this. Well, as you all know how the creative process works... Really, it morphed to this shape and then a little more inspiration from a local Japanese artist and the acorn squash that is sitting in my fruit bowl... and there you have it - GREEN

I was really happy how the process worked on this one. Its really the first time I can say that I actually did go through the steps I wish I did on every painting. First the sketches, then the larger color plan - yes, consulting the color wheel and planning out the colors. I worked through them with crayon (crayola of course :)

I stuck with the plan - so to speak. I transferred my drawing and incised in the lines on the medium base coat (trying a new technique here) then blocked in the colors just how I wanted them. Fused many times to blend the color layers. Then, came the fun part which was to incise in the outlines and designs. I put in the outlines first. I mapped out the design fun stuff by using tracing paper over my painting. It gave me a chance to see what I was thinking and placement before I committed to incising. Cut the lines in, fill with wax, scrape back and there she be. I was interested on this one that I thought it looked equally fine upside down as well. In fact, in the end, I had a hard time picking which end was up. And.... this is GREEN.

•unravelling

I have been working. I've been spending lots of time in the studio. There have been so many attempts, missteps, start-agains... it should be discouraging. But its not. Its all part of the process. I love what the wax is teaching me - to be patient, to be gentle, to accept what comes. To accept the inperfections, the deviation from the plan is new for me. I'm starting to like it - the unexpected.

The Start of Something Bigger

I found inspiration today. So, why does it take so long to realize that what you've been looking for has been here all along?
I took a photography class this past month. Find Your Eye with Kat Sloma. Not only did I learn about my camera - the biggie was that I began to find my eye, my style.
I went on a photo walk this morning to capture the sun on the newly fallen snow. So... what did I photo? The same stuff I always photo.. trees, plants, just nature in general. I have scads of photos of the same stuff.
This is where Kat's class comes in... when I look at all these photos I have taken over the past year they pretty much have the same common thread. Line, color and texture - specifically based in nature. OK, I recognize this... time to embrace it and stop searching for something else. Seems like I keep trying to paint something that isn't me. And, yes... I'm not happy with it in the end.
Today I came across Bridgette Guerzon Mills. I actually discovered her about a week or so ago. Today, I really studied her work. I visited her blog, I browsed her photo stream and I soaked it in. Bridgette... Thank You! Thank you for the inspiration that you gave me to try some new stuff today. To actually see in myself what I have been missing - or overlooking all this time. I'm super excited to try again and let this evolve. Today was fun.
My take away from Bridgette's work is she is really good at sectioning off her panels into small bite sized pieces. This is something that I had been thinking about based on some pillow cases I bought in Thailand. But, today, Bridgette brought this together for me. She creates little pictures within a picture. If you really look at each little section, they stand on their own in color and compostion. They also come together to form one big happy painting. Brilliant! I've been struggling with the compostion of a bigger piece. Breaking it down is HUGE for me. This allows me to color block in black, white and midtones. Today I overlapped these little sections. Next I'll try picture within a picture and see how that feels. First, I think I'll map out in a sketch book the color blocks and how the shapes lay out. Then I'll put together the theme idea and I'll work on some drawing stuff and some photography to incorporate.
Wow, beginning to think like an artist :)

Happy Valentines Day

Valentines Day

6x6

Encaustic and mixed media on panel

I tried some new things. Some things I haven't done before. I started with printed craft paper as my background which I adhered to the panel with wax. A few layers of medium then I added the heart. I cut a stencil from cardstock and painted in the red wax. I then added some layers to the heart with white tissue paper that I watercolored a red background and design. The square for the face is carved out, then a pink paper square added in the hole. The face is a rubber stamp that I found at a stamping supply store. Lots of layers here, medium and some red wax to bring up the color. The arrow is graphite transfer paper drawn in. The words are done on the laser printer and transfered. Once again I had some trouble with getting a perfect transfer. I made some corrections to the letters and outlined the arrow by scratching in with a needle tool and rubbing with oil stick to highlight the lines.

Happy Valentines Day all.

Sunset in Wax

I spent a few hours dabbling in the studio last night. This is what came of it.

I scraped in the round design with a grooved pottery tool. The groves are filled with red, orange, black and white wax kinda randomly. I scraped back to reveal the multi colored bands in the circle. The black flowers are silhoutte images from a photo I took during the summer. They are laser printed and transfered onto the wax.

Still working small... this one is only 3x3.

I was happy with it.