New encaustic work

Billets S'il Vous Plait
encaustic mixed media
6x6

Whirlwind
encaustic mixed media
8x10

Just a quick post to update you on some of my recent work. I have one more that is just about done ...and another one that is just started. I am quickly running out of summer free time to work on my artwork. School  starts very early this year with a back to work date for me of August 9th.

The piece above titled Billets Si'l Vous Plait (tickets please) has an entire background of tickets from our trip to Europe. Tickets for the buses in Florence, a piece of a ticket to the Louvre, a napkin with a drawing of the Ponte Vecchio, a train ticket from Paris to Milan...and I honestly don't remember what the others were for. Maybe taxi receipts? I also used punchinella for the first time in order to get the raised dots. It's actually sequin waste I used as a stencil for the wax.

The second work titled Whirlwind is the one you saw in the previous post. It has a map of Paris fused into the background on the left side and a receipt from Florence. This work was made just after my return and I really just wanted it to represent travel and the excitement surrounding our trip. I thought that the drawing fit perfectly for this theme to show yearning, the "leap" it took to follow through with the plans, and the surreal euphoria I felt at times during the trip.

Well, I'm off to pack for a weekend away with the kiddos!

Summer things

 I feel like summer is just flying by! 

It has been very hot and incredibly dry too. It has only rained twice for about 10 minutes in the past 6 weeks as you can tell by my straw-like grass. Because of vacations and the weather we just set up our patio furniture last weekend. Two sweaty days of staining and oiling...but it looks beautiful and now we can stare at it from our air conditioned house.

 I can tell you that my russian sage loves this weather and they are constantly covered in hundreds of honey bees from the hives in the farmers yard behind our house.  Can you find the bee in the photo? You can literally hear the bushes humming.

 I also just had to show you the cute daisies my mom bought me for my birthday. I'm so afraid to plant them in this weather though, so I think they will stay safely potted until the rain returns.

 Here's a snapshot of my creative mess making! I've been getting in a lot of studio time but I'm feeling the time crunch before my show in August. 

You can see my latest piece here inspired by my trip to Europe. I finally used the drawing of my daughter May too.

 I wanted to show you the interesting pinecones I picked up in Italy. I think they are from the umbrella cypress trees that grow everywhere in Italy. So unusual aren't they? At least they are to me!

And this is the pile of ephemera I saved from our trip. Maps of London and Paris, tickets to the Louvre, and Uffizi, metro tickets, and lots and lots of receipts. Unfortunately the carbon in the receipts make them turn black as soon as the heat gun is on them. I tried just painting the wax right over them but then the ink totally vanishes, so I might have to find a different use for them instead of using them in my encaustics.

Enjoy your day!

Whirlwind

View of the Thames, the London Eye, and Big Ben from our hotel room.

Big Ben

Under the Arc De Triumph in Paris

The Eiffel Tower of course!

Replica of Michelangelo's David in it's original spot in the  Palazzo Vecchio, Florence

A perfect evening in Florence with a view of the Ponte Vecchio reflected in the Arno River

The Colosseum in Rome

A gorgeous view of Rome from inside the Colosseum

Whew! What a whirlwind adventure! Two weeks in Europe visiting all of the places we have wanted to go since we were both kids. My husband is an artist too so we spent most of our trip seeing the most famous artwork and architecture in London, Paris, Florence and Rome. I'm still in awe that I actually was able to visit these places in person. Artwork that I've studied for years and have only seen in books and pictures are burned in my own memory now. The Mona Lisa, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the Pantheon, the statue of David, the Birth of Venus by Botticelli, the Trajan Column, the Trevi Fountain....the list could go on for many pages!

Everything was so beautiful that practically every photo turned out like a post card. There were a few places that cameras were not allowed like in the Sistine Chapel and in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence so I am going over it in my mind repeatedly so I don't forget a single moment. Actually I am desperately trying not to forget   anything at all.

Best of all this trip has refueled my creativity. I have so much material to use and ideas that are waiting to be visualized. This was truly the trip of a lifetime and you will definitely be seeing it's influence in my new artwork.