Sharing a Studio, Being Good Enough and Minka

Minka
Encaustic on birch 10x10

Its Friday again... the week flew by and I'm not really sure where it went.  I reset my studio to accommodate two people creating and I invited a friend to come for the afternoon.  She's been asking about encaustic and wanting to take a run at it.  So we set up a time and we had a super day of it.  The really beautiful thing about today is that my friend isn't an artist and yet she felt really comfortable just playing around with the wax and color and texture.  She turned out some really brilliant stuff.  Maybe its because she came into the studio with no expectations, no preconceived notion of what she had to do or create and no pressure to perform.   Its a state of mind or a confidence I guess, in that she felt she is good enough. 
Good enough is a great state to hang our hats in.  Its a nice place to offload the baggage of trying too hard, or falling short of expectations or well.. not being good enough.  It is a state of mind and it is a confidence and a belief in ourselves.  Within the belief lies the ability to take a whole load of stresses off the plate.  So add a little mantra going forward- I am good enough.  See if it helps to melt those stresses away. 
Happy Friday all.

A Word for the Year, Resolutions and Zoom

Zoom
encaustic 6x8

Its a new start to a new year.  Every year I renew my list of resolutions and every year I start off with a flurry.  I organize, I exercise, I drink less and I eat better.  I try to keep the house tidy, I try to manage my time, and I try to make Mondays meatless.  And, every year I pick a word to be my North star for the year.  Last year was a really good word and its been hard for me to come up with a new one.  I almost took the route of just using the same word again.  But, that seemed totally lame and frankly a bit lazy.  So, I decided to make up my own rules for the word game.  Yes, I have a new word for 2014 - but I've decided I will still lean on last year's word when needed.  My word for 2014 is:

FORWARD

 

I actually thought long and hard I had a toss up between forward and flow - but in the end - forward is the winner.  Seems I feel I need to keep momentum going into this year.  Some big things are on the agenda in the spring - and forward is the name of the game.   For 2014, forward just isn't a direction. My definition also includes no excuses and no upper limit problems.  It also includes being bold in my actions, artwork and well.. life.  With that said - forward I go. 

Wishing you all a very happy Friday and a wonderful weekend. 

 

If you are a word picker - I'd love to hear your word for 2014

M.x

 



Totem Poles, Animals and Skinny Spaces

Woodland Totem

Wolf
Woodland Totem detail

Woodland Totem
encaustic 6 x 24

 I needed a long skinny painting.  I have just the space.  But, what does one paint in a long skinny format?  Actually, this painting has been tossing around in my mind for some time.  I'm a bit interested in the idea of animal totems and the wisdom they hold.  So many of our cultures hold beliefs of the animals and their stories and meanings. 
Living in the pacific northwest, we have a very rich Native American culture here.  There are many totem poles around our area.  The belief is abundant about the concept of animal spirit meanings.  Stories have been passed through generations that decipher the meanings of these animals.  Each animal has its unique message that it carries.
It was a pretty joyful experience for me to put together this painting with my furry and feathered friends in totem pole style.  Have a happy Friday, everyone!

Owl
Woodland Totem detail

Bear
Woodland Totem detail



Deer
Woodland Totem detail

Sylvester the Cat, Boston Terriers, and Encaustic Painting

People often ask me how I came to do encaustic painting.  Its kind of an unusual story - it includes a dog, a doll and an architect.  A couple of years ago, my Mom and I went on an open studio tour on nearby Whidbey Island.  We took the ferry across to the island and spent the day driving around following signs to artist's open studios. 
We had stopped for a nice lunch and had left the restaurant and started wandering along the sidewalk window shopping. 
This dog caught my eye.  Mind you I am a huge dog lover and rarely do I miss a furry face as I pass by.  But this particular dog really caught my attention.  I think it was because of the Sylvester doll he carried.  Not only were they both black and white, but the fact the dog was carrying the cat doll was one of those "notice this" kind of moments I get sometimes.  Well, needless to say, I could not just walk by.  I had to stop, pet the dog and talk to the owner. 

When we were ready to part, the owner handed me a postcard.  It was an advertisement for an open studio that was very close by but off the track.  She directed us and said that her friend wasn't getting many to his studio because of its location and would we mind taking a look.  The painting on the front of the card was an acrylic figurative of some kind.  Mom and I being adventurers decided to go have a look.  We climbed up a long staircase to the office of a local architect.  He had all of his acrylic paintings on display.  There were several figurative paintings of jazz club and restaurant scenes with colorful figures enjoying their environments.  But, there was also a couple others that seemed very different and interesting in the way they reflected the light.   They were simple atmospheric paintings of vistas - a horizon line and that's about it.  They were magical.  The textures were awesome, layering, color - really beautiful.  They were so totally different than the acrylic works propped and hanging around the room.  I asked him about them.  He could tell that I was very intrigued by his wax beauties.  He invited us to follow him into another part of his office where he had a studio.  There he had an encaustic palette set up and he was demoing - I fell in love - immediately - no questions asked... I just knew I had to try it and so I did.  That's the story of how I found encaustics and the rest has just fallen into place since that day. 

Peeps II
encaustic 6 x 12

Happy Friday!