Bee's Wax Encaustic Painting

Oh, my gosh, I am completely smitten by Encaustic Wax!!! It stinks, it's sticky, messy, it burns you and abuses you.....but I am in love.

A gift for my fellow artist and friend. 6 x 8 inch tile

50 year old rusted tools from my Uncle's Barn. The patina moves me

I have researched and read every book I can on the subject, I made a mess, wasted expensive paints, tried making my own medium (not a good idea unless you watch LOT'S of UTUBE videos:D) and finally a hundred bucks, 12 brushes, 6 books and 8 accidents later....I finally made what I proudly call "Works of Art". Everyone who sees the work says that I have found "it". You know, that thing you do best. I will be experimenting and seeing what else I can come up with. I got my framing friend to make wide 2" frames for the tiles and it makes them come alive!!
The wax, slightly tinted with natural bee's wax gives a beautiful, haunting glow to anything you embed in it! It is all I can think about and all I want to do!! I am waiting on a large five pound package of encaustic medium to come in before I start something new since I suck at making it and wasted gobs of it on my learning curve. Even though it can be frustrating and painful, teaching yourself new techniques and learning an art you have no experience in can be so much fun. Try something new this Spring Season! Then share what you did! I would love to see your final works of art.

My show is coming up at Wesleyan College on May 10th!! For the last year and a half I have worked to create the best works of my life. What will I do with myself now? I have a couple more shows as well during the year I will need new art for and hope I can sell some of the ones I created. Although, they are like soul mates to me. The therapy that got me through the 3 toughest years of my life. I will be forever grateful for God's perfect timing of this show!!

"Full Circle" Encaustic Wax on Tile

I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand

"2Few" The harvest is great but the laborers are few!

"My thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways are not your ways"

Mixed Media Skins Technique

I was telling a fellow artist friend about one of my techniques and she flipped out wanting to know more! Hah! She always makes me laugh and she is my number one fan, for sure. So in your honor, Andrea, I will do a tutorial on what I call Mixed Media "Skins". I first started doing these so that I could make several in a day and set them aside for other projects. Some of the things I do with them is:

I am folding this skin over so that I can sew it into an Artistic clutch bag

Use lots of glue!!

• Cut and free motion sew on them to create book marks
• You can make a small clutch or totes by sewing the skins to canvas to give it more strength.
• Book covers
• Journal pages
• Cards
• Hand Paint on them, then sew to create wall hangings
• Floor cloths, yes! Floorcloths. You can place an additional piece of freezer paper on top and place a board on it so that it will dry as flat as possible. You will need to make the rug out of heavier fabrics and papers but it works great!

OK, here goes. You will need:

• Glue like Modge Podge. If I am to use this as a floorcloth or something that needs to be tougher then use a good quality gel medium. Even when I use mod podge I go over it with a good gel medium.
• Light fabrics, scrapbook pages, ripped and torn, (this is a GREAT way to use left over small pieces of other projects), book pages, patterns, fabrics....anything you can glue down. 
• Try and have your items about the same depth if you are just beginning to do this. I use all kinds of stuff because I know I will run my hands over it and see if it is the same depth. 
• A roll of freezer paper. I love this stuff!!!
• Old brush or foam applicator (foam applicators can fall apart so I prefer brushes)

Add Lots of glue medium!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the front of the Mixed Media Skin after it is peeled off

1. Rip off a sheet of freezer paper any length you would like. I usually do a couple of feet.
2. Apply glue to the shiny side of the paper and start laying out your pieces of papers, etc.
3. Just a note here....once the skin is dry and you peel it off the freezer paper then there are two sides! You can get pleasantly surprised when you peel it off and find out it looks better on the other side!! 
4. Use lots of glue, add fabrics, papers, book pages, even newspapers
5. It takes a while to fill up the sheet so you may need to start small just to get the gist.
6. Once your sheet is full, set it aside to dry. It will take possibly all night to fully dry.
7. Here is the FUN PART!!!!  Gently peel away the freezer paper to reveal your mixed media skin. If you have several it's even more fun.

This is how the backside turned out.

 A final note: If you want the other side to look different? Add more glue, paints and stamps to embellish. Just keep layering and layering.

Makin' Art

During the slow dark days of January I am trying to get some art out on the shelves. I would much rather be doing my own art but duty calls. I have been thinking lately about why, Oh why, I have a store in the first place. I love my clients, customers and friends that pop in but really? I would just like to have a studio to create and do no other retail. I am so tempted to sell it all out and find a warehouse to set up at. Hmmmm, sounds so good to me. BUT, until then, I am working on some fun painted glass and a torso that I want to depict a fun look at Motherhood.

My brother had a motorcycle apparel shop in Florida that he closed and had these plastic torsos that had some crazy nipples going on. Whew, it took lots of paper to cover them but I notice here they still show! I have a full torso and another plastic one that I think I will do something more serious with. I will have to figure out how to display this one. OK, back to work, I have plastic cake totes, glass cake domes and some other funky stuff to get done.

Be Kind! It's a new year of Art

I haven't had the time to blog but HAVE been busy with my art. I looked, longingly at my easel and "just started" artwork during the holidays while I painted stick people on ceramics...

Watersong

Don't get me wrong...I LOVE making people happy by giving them my creations for my shop. Without that work, I couldn't afford a studio to work in! I would never put that down and say it is less BUT, I don't have the full creative process going on when I paint like that. It is far more emotional and thought provoking when I create my own art. What I have done so far is miraculous considering the time I had to get a full body of work together.

My thoughts really need medication but I choose Art to be that drug. During the holidays we have to deal with family, old friends and possibly lots more garbage for our brain waves than we can stand. It all makes me think waaaaaay too much.  But when it comes to producing Art.....that works for me!
I had a close friend say something so horribly unkind to me that it was like a cold slap in the face. We have been friends many years but were estranged for several years. I know that "becoming" who you really are and positive growth is a constant, never ending process. It is like recovery of sorts. You are always working towards keeping a healthy balance. I am too old to have rude, ill mannered people in my life. I mean....why? I have a sweet little studio and business, a husband that adores me, grandchildren and my bills paid. Why then do we "allow" someone to hurt us then work on that relationship? I love this person, she is my past filled with good memories and some really bad ones. I did the artwork above based on how easy it is to be unkind to people you are supposed to be the closest to. The ones who should receive the most respect are the ones we seem to tread the hardest on.  We are all guilty of it. I want to make sure that even that evil Wal-Mart lady has issues she is dealing with and the least I can do is be kind to her. We all have a story.

One sad artist

In the last three years I have lost my Mom, Dad, Mother in law and now one of Glenn's aunts today. I totally understand that life ends, we are not here forever...I know that. But it still hurts my heart to see my father in law cry. I can't "fix" it so I paint. I painted this when my sweet little mother in law died last year. It has layers of papers and thread, painted with acrylic and smudges of charcoal. When I look at it, she seems so sad and far away. It has been a sad day today and hopefully tomorrow I will feel better. I produced 5 paintings this past week which is a miracle! I usually take weeks on just one. Guess sadness motivates my creativity. Strange but true. 

"Grief is the saddest of companions, the beast of the heart."

 

Mixed Media "Visions"

This is my latest creation called "Visions". I have layers of papers and tissue to create the texture then drew the tree and moon. I found a little girl from a mixed media piece that I attacked and trashed. (You KNOW you have broke wild on a work of art that you were sick of!). I had this girl in a "nest" of papers with canvas eggs. I put her on the moon then put Golden golden iridescent all over the canvas. It made the whole picture look foggy and mysterious. 

 I then did what I always do and set it where I could look at it for a few days. As I was working on another piece, a certain scripture came to me but I didn't know the exact words, so I googled it and found Acts chapter 2, verse 17 where it says: Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions and your old men will dream dreams. It was hauntingly beautiful and the perfect finish for the painting I call "Visions"

Layers of texture

I have tried to set aside a day a week to really work on my art, which may not sound like enough but I have to fill orders for my store the rest of the time! This week I worked on finishing three different works.  I begin a piece of art by layering on papers and gel medium then creating texture with fabric, stencils or kitchen tools.

This mixed media assemblage took a very long time, I mean, weeks. I put papers, texture with gels then fabrics. I set it aside and stared at it for a week but...... I hated it.  I added an old doilie, I still hated it. I took it in the workshop and sprayed the whole thing grey. Why grey? I thought any neutral color would connect the crazy look I started with. I sat it aside to think on it some more. I was freaked out that I had wasted all this handmade paper but the spray paint had made the paper look almost luminous! THAT was when I got the idea of adding silver, pearls and other "soft" fabrics, it started to come together at last. I named it "Behold". It is romantic, deep and somewhat feminine.  All that to say....Never give up! Some of the most botched, scary, crazy beginnings come out to be treasured pieces. Set your frustrating projects aside and just watch them. I promise it will come to you what to do. The artwork below is called "Elohim". I used shredded newspaper, tiny slivers of my grand children's pictures and words in the cross that covers the canvas. There is the Lord's Prayer in Italian in the middle. This one I did with such a purpose and direction. It was finished in one day...go figure how THAT happened!

I usually have a mood or emotion that I start with but very seldom name any until it has the finishing touches.  I only have 30 more pieces of art to go in order to have enough to do my opening show in the Spring. I am trying hard not to flip out and wish I could create artwork easily but it seems to go through a process that I can't control. OH! and did I mention I love really big canvases, thus making art time consuming as well? I could use some tips on how to get substrates started and set them aside for my AHA moments to come.