Encaustic Paint

I know that I've waxed poetic about encaustic wax before (he he, get it?), but I had never tried encaustic paint before, in spite of having the intention, and the actual little paint blocks, for quite some time.  Last weekend I decided to dive in and try it, and it was a lot of fun.  I've been thinking about it for so long that I was kind of overwhelmed by all the possible things I could do ( actually, I spend too much of my "studio" time in that state), but finally managed to settle down to something.  Making the Dragonfly was really fun - I know you can't tell from head on, but it's about 1/4" high.  You press a cookie cutter into the wax layers til there's a tight seal, then pour melted wax in, it only takes a few minutes to dry, and then you pull the cookie cutter off.  I've done that before, but much more satifying with colored wax!  And brushing colored wax over the circle stencil was really fun too.

 I think that all the mixed media goodness we love - layering papers, image transfers, and incorporating 3D objects is just that much more fun with wax.  If you've been tempted, don't wait as long as I did - you don't have to have much equipment, I hardly have any.   And I'd be happy to help if you have any questions...

Fini!

I am such an idiot. I finally finished my first Moleskine journal (it took me a LONG time, but in my own defense I did work on others at the same time), and for the final page I wrote "finished" in French, and managed to spell it wrong.  As I was putting the title on this post it suddenly ocurred to me that I might have, and I looked it up and sure enough... I don't know why I chose French, when I've actually studied Italian! Oh well - this doesn't even come close to the time when, after my first visit to the kitchen store Sur Le Table with several women, I pronounced Table just like it's pronounced in English.  I had no idea that the word is spelled the same in the two languages, but pronounced "Tob" in French.  I've never lived that one down...

Below are some of the final pages in the journal.  The scans turned out terrible because the journal is so fat now and right at the end.  And it's possible I may have rushed the pages just a bit, in my desire for the journal to be completed.... they aren't my best...

Finally....

I've had this piece of burlap with white cracked plaster on it made for months...many months...not sure why I didn't do anything with it - what we're motivated to create and when is probably something of a mystery to most of us.  For some reason I decided to finally do something with it last weekend, then the rest of the weekend was a blur, as always happens when I dive into something...

I love working with cracked plaster - you can get such great texture, the color seeps into the cracks, and the more you rub color on and off the more beautiful the patina of the plaster becomes. And this old glass slide - I scored a beautiful box of these, they're from England from the 1920's, and apparently belonged to someone who traveled all over the world. I wish they'd had a way of writing the names of the places in them...

I did lots of digging through my metal stash, and ripped another page out of my 1917 Pharmacy ledger - it's a good thing it's really fat!  This project was probably an attempt to distract myself from the fact that one of our cars, which we thought was in the shop getting some work done that was under warranty, will now require $4,500 to fix, which it's not worth, so we now have to buy something new (to us anyway).  Is there much worse than having to spend a bunch of money on car problems??

Drippy, waxy fun

This is my most recent project, and it was so fun. I just totally indulged what I felt like doing, and didn't let myself think about if anyone else would like it, or worry about the end result. Sometimes I get so invested in the end result I don't end up enjoying the process (I know I'm not alone in this...)  I just used things I love - wonderful old pages with great handwriting, drippy paint, lots of wax, actual old paintbrushes and old hardware/metal pieces.  The center part actually does spin - I handed it to my boyfriend and asked him to make it happen, which he always does...

I love wax, how it allows what's under it to still show through, buts adds softness and mystery. I love how you can rub ink or paint over it, then wipe it off and how that brings out all the wonderful texture and imperfections. Or, as I did here, words or even carved designs can be brought out.  Voila!  Instant character....

Art Journal Catch-up

I thought I'd share some of my more presentable art journal pages, I don't know why I don't post them as I do them...  I guess I'm lazy and like to scan them all at once, usually when I want to use a copy of a part of one in something else...

This is a birthday card I made for a friend. One advantage of almost no one I know being aware that I have a blog, is that it makes it possible for me to post cards and gifts I make...

And finally I have to share this link : http://now.msn.com/now/0328-dog-saves-life.aspx#scptmd.  I don't know if it's because I have a Basset Hound too, but it actually made me cry with laughter, and for my English friends, you'll be proud to know this was on your turf!

Point Reyes

We spent a couple of days at the coast last weekend, and I thought I'd share some pictures, since it's a gorgeous part of the coast. This is at Point Reyes, which is above San Francisco a little ways.  We got so lucky with the weather - the last time we tried to go by the time we got there the fog was so bad we couldn't  see the ocean at all.

These are the stairs we had to go down (and more importantly, back up) to get to the lighthouse. There were over 300 steps, it seemed a whole lot longer coming back up!  It was worth it though, there's just something about lighthouses...

This is a car we saw at a tiny little town we stopped at on the way, I just loved it. And also, because I know everyone is just dying to see pictures of my dogs (indulge me, I don't have kids), here they are at the beach later that day.  They had a blast...

Somerset Excitement

I made this late last summer, and since one of my goals has been to get published in Somerset Studio magazine, I decided it was time I actually sent something in, and they were having a call for submissions of artwork that included a quote.  So I never heard anything, then a couple of weeks ago I get my Somerset Studio magazine in the mail, and I'm looking through it and lo and behold there's my piece!  Printed so small you couldn't read the quote, and listed as the wrong size, but hey, at least it was in there!  This was a fun piece to make, a little tricky, since it's 3D and covered in wax, but not too bad, and I think the 4 separate pieces are fun.  I finally got it back in the mail last week...