I just love the way these old watercolor pans look: rich, dense color. I created this little assemblage by gluing watercolor paper to a board, stamping it, then gluing on the little pans. Enjoy - thanks for stopping by!
30/30 Day 7
This was a fun little collage; I've always been inspired by the connection between music and photography. Using the negative as a collage element brings it into a new realm of art-making, and is a comment on how irrelevant film has become to photography for so many young artists - a fact I'm reminded of daily by my students. Pasting on the old, dry watercolor pan underscores the notion of using art materials as the subject. Enjoy and thanks for visiting!
30/30 Challenge Day 2
This little collage was inspired by the women in my little artist book class this summer. Breaking some rules I've always worked by: covering the entire surface of the piece, making things big, making things match, avoiding the number 13. 13 has been lucky for me so I'm celebrating it here. Enjoy and thank you for visiting.
The 30 / 30 Challenge
A friend asked what I learned and enjoyed about this challenge. I learned some new techniques in encaustic, and in painting and collage. I enjoyed having an excuse to go to the studio every day, with a specific purpose. The most valuable lesson learned was to let go and allow the materials and the process to take me in an unplanned direction. The process was similar to writing at that moment when the muse takes over and the writer becomes a conduit for a shared universal concept. And, as a photographer, it was good to loosen up a bit.
I'm ready to move on. I want to return to photography and begin to explore some of the issues that came up through the processes of the past thirty days, with greater deliberateness and a looser process. Thanks for visiting!
Day 28 of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge
This piece began as an experiment in alcohol inks. I started with a gesso'd ground - a clear white surface. I painted a design with the inks but had difficulty getting the effect I was after. I lived with the painting for a number of days and then decided to coat it with about 8 layers of wax medium (fused in between with the heat gun). Some of the design showed through and the colors reminded me of a map-weave I had on hand. I pushed the weave into the surface, then added a couple of other strips of map. Finally the piece was coated with medium containing a rose hue, which I matched with the pinkish twine.
This piece reminds me of a frosted cake; the texture is everything I hope for when I set out to delve deep into the wax. Thanks for visiting!
Day 25 of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge
This is a photograph that I printed on rice paper and floated onto molten wax to give it a transparent look. The image was embellished using my favorite wallpaper stamps and then filling them with oil stick. A final coat of medium was layered over the top of the piece to pull all of the elements together.
I love this simple tree photograph, and, though it was manipulated to maximize the eeriness of the scene, the image appropriately communicates the feel of that place in time. Thanks for visiting!
Day 22 of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge
This piece is a re-worked map assemblage. I re-used the ground, with the map adhered to the surface. Several layers of encaustic medium were built up to create a surface that would hold the heavy elements of the tile, bottle and rusty object - all found at Dead Horse Bay last spring. The elements were assembled and then more layers of clear wax were added to bind it all together.
I always enjoy working with rusty and found objects; I love the color and the patina. Thanks for visiting!
Day 21 of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge
This piece began with a mapweave. I photographed one of my favorite weaves - northpole/southpole - and then printed it on rice paper. The ground was prepared with 8-10 coats of encaustic medium, and the top layers were liquified with the heat gun. I floated the image onto the melted wax and smoothed it down. 2 more layers of wax coated the image and I incised the design, filling it with rust-colored alcohol ink. The rusty piece was pushed into the soft wax and then fused into place. Finally, several strands of multi-colored twine was fused into the rusty piece and allowed to drape over the elements.
I enjoyed making this unplanned aseemblage. I'm sure I'll go back to it and make some changes in the coming weeks as it has a certain pull. Thanks for visiting!
Day 20 of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge
This piece started with 9-10 layers of encaustic medium, fused between layers with the heat gun. I wanted to create this 3-dimensional thread grid, and I wanted the threads to appear to float above the medium. Each layer of threads was coated with 2 more layers of medium (fused in between :) ) to create a transparent appearance. This piece was actually made last week, as a back-up in case I missed a day in the studio. Today was a full-day teaching gig so I'm posting this piece now.
I like the simplicity, the colors, and the creamy-ness of the wax. I think it works nicely with the button piece from Day 9. Thanks for visiting!
Day 16 of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge
This was a fun little collage that started as something quite different. I wanted to create a snowscape and started with a white-on-white landscape on top of 2 layers of wax medium over an encaustic gesso ground. When I incised the trees to add thin branches to the snow-covered leaves I realized I was starting with to shallow a wax base, and the ink spread out. I went with it and created an abstract collage, adding bits and pieces from old works. I encased each element into its own wax layer to add depth and then dripped some of that beautiful alcohol ink onto the top layer. Finally I added a tiny rusted pipe fitting, dead center.
I like the abstract piece and the colors, and the rust works well with all of the materials. Now, revisiting the piece, I think I'll add some wire elements, threaded through the little pipe, so it may not be finished yet. Thanks for visiting!
