encaustic

happy accidents!

some days I start out with a great idea

I can see it in my head, sometimes I dream about painting

then when it comes to getting it onto the canvas it can go wrong

for some reason I was having a hard time

I just wasn't "feeling it"

after several breaks and almost giving up

I decided to give it one more chance

after layering and scraping

ironing and adding more color

more scraping and ironing

I finally liked what I was seeing

so I added a photo transfer

and after six hours of pure frustration

a beautiful painting

lesson learned

never give up

but more importantly

patience!!!!

encaustic class

getting back into a routine is a great feeling

i've always felt that creating art is my form of therapy

and since my surgery i've wanted to do something that

represented my spine

so last week i got the idea for using railroad tracks

luckily there is a hobby store close to my home

once i chose my color palette the rest just fell into place

i just started creating texture

layers of wax and then scraping, back and forth

until i achieved the desired effect

once in a while i used my iron

im happy with the results

 

 

 

a few details from the above painting

encaustic class

it's been a long 9 months since my last class

I've been dreaming about painting

 since leaving the hospital over 3 months ago

I have so many ideas in my head

it was a bit hard to focus at first

i had a vision of something that just didn't want to work

so instead of getting frustrated i put it aside

and started the piece above

working with several shades of blue

i just started covering the canvas

something soothing about blue

(like looking at clouds)

it made me forget about the first piece

and thinking about clouds why not add some white

and while i was at it i thought i would through in a silver lining



it was great to be back in heather's class

encaustic class

i love creating texture

practicing techniques and learning new ones

sometimes by accident

sometimes i have an idea and other time it just happens

and it always makes me happy when someone loves what i do

this time i made something just for me

above, the start of my canvas and details of the sky and ground

this symbol is from a book that was given to me from a shaman in new orleans

i am beginning to understand and it has inspired me to create this painting

not sure where i will hang, somewhere special for sure

encaustic class

this weekend i had the change to wear my teachers hat

at busy b's

(above my class project)

it was a wonderful group of women

and  fun to see everyone get excited about working with this medium

everyone had they own take and did lovely work

i think i've created a few wax addicts!!

(above some of the students work)

a special thanks to barb for hosting this class

liquid gold

in case you were wondering this is what 32 pounds of bees wax looks like

i'm teaching encaustic classes at busy b's this month

when i ran out i called my connection  only to find out that this hasn't been a

good year for bees and a small harvest

i drove to peterborough to get 10 pounds and ended up with a lot more!!

(because you will never know when you may run out!!)

photos from my demo and last class

everyone got their hands "wet"

and now they are ready to take it to the next level

i look forward to this sunday's class

encaustic class

sometimes when you just don't know where to start

it is best to go back to the basics

today's class was an experiment in layering photos and multiple photo transfers

the simplicity of the black and white made it easy concentrate on the photos

which eventually lead me to creating some texture

and keeping with the b/w theme

i created some fun combinations

back to school-encaustic class

where did the summer go??

i can't believe it was time to get back in the groove

but at the same time it seems like a long time since i've done any painting

it was nice to get out the brushes and wax out again !!!

today's class was all about texture

 inspired by all the pottery i found while visiting antique/flea markets this summer

i was forced to work with color combinations that i would never consider

and some colors i never use

lots of layers , scrapping and the mini blow torch gave this piece an interesting effect

encaustic class

it's been a while since i got out the shellac

today i just wanted to experiment to see what could happen

above, an old piece from last summer

it was just sitting in my studio looking really plain

so i thought it would be something i could play with

 i used a thin brush and just started adding shellac

along the water lines and the reeds hit it with the blow torch

it was too thin, so i added more shellac with a bigger brush and tried it again

for this board i started witha map and a few layers of wax

i wanted to create a landscape so i covered the bottom with shellac

after waiting a few minutes i hit it with the blow torch

since today was all about experimenting i decided to cover the bottom

again with shellac and only hit some spots with the torch

then i added just a bit more in a few spots to add some depth

once i was finished the top was looking a little bright so

i did a thin coat repeated the same process

now i will decide if i want to add a photo transfer

for this one i added several photos first and then the shellac

i think i will play with this one some more

encaustic class

it was hard to be inside today, it was 27c
but once i got out my boards i was inspired by a class mate

she was painting with blue and the map i used for my background

had some yellow in it so this became my palette for the day

above my finished piece, i used one of my favorite tree photos and

a section from a poem by e.e.cummings

below a detail shot of the texture, you can see part of the

map coming through the wax

encaustic class

for class i was inspired by a photo i had taken in new orleans

as i wondered through the garden district finding beautiful home after beautiful home

i finally found some wonderful grunge!

the garage/coach house was perfect! for creating texture in encaustic

above, the photo enhanced in ps and made b/w,

 layers of wax in siena, umber, ochre and orange

scrapping and ironing to add contrast and

 some white to simulate the plaster

then a little black oil paintto age it a bit more

below the orignial photo

encaustic class

the thought of being inside in such at beautiful day was a bit distracting

but once the wax was warm it got a little easier

i've been trying to change up my colour palette

this week i started with grey and pink

adding some of the blue and yellow from the map i used as my background
and the vw bug from a science book was a bonus


cheesecloth always adds some yummy texture

so does a little umber oil paint
all in all it was a great class

encaustic class

for today's class it was all about texture and glazes

first i covered the board with pages from a science book

once i chose a color palette of greens, yellow, grey and blue

i add light washes of color so that some of the paper would show through

circles, drips and a tracing wheel highlighted with burnt umber oil paint

cheese cloth and oil paint to create more texture

encaustic class

an amazing 6 hour class!!

my first attempt at a realistic "portrait"

(i usually add photo transfers)
above "skippy"

below my work in progress

encaustic class

the entire 6 hours of class where spent creating texture

lots and lots of texture!!!

(above one of 2 paintings made using

plastering tape and a circle stencil, plus a photo transfer)

above and below are close-ups of the texture,

they will make great layers in ps

encaustic class

with what i thought where allergies turned into a head cold

it was hard to focus in class today

so i worked on a simple texture project

i first covered the board with lots of different papers

then added glazes of color and rubbed in oil paint

some drywall tape , lots of criss cross strokes, die cuts and carving
to create lots of texture
i think i can use these for my texture challenge for next week

encaustic class

it's been five months since my last class

it felt really good to get back into the swing of things

i was inspired by patrica baldwin seggebruch

for today's class i covered the canvases with book pages

and used a lot of wax glazes

after a lot of scraping and incising

i added oil paint to highlite the texture

the next class is a month away

i may have to set up my studio again

encaustic class

it's been 5 weeks since my last encaustic class

(i took this last semester off )

once a month heather has a 6 hour sunday class

i gives you lots of time to get something finished

(or close to it) after choosing the rusted lock and key

heather suggest i work with beeswax

i used 4 boards, 2 upside down

and different thickness

here i add a piece of lace i found at the flea market

one of my photos some coffee and sesame seeds to add some texture

and some handmade paper to line the canvas

old paper for the background and oil paint to highlight the texture