Just a peek

This is a small peek at what I have so far for this project. It's really not flowing very naturally though. I did use the alcohol inks in a way I liked finally. They are the round blobs and I used them on the board before I covered it with wax.

I am so ready for the weekend and it's only Wednesday. Maybe it's because we've had such nice weather and I haven't been able to go outside during the day to enjoy it. Exactly one year ago today we had a giant snow storm and had two days off of school. What a difference this winter has been compared to last winter!

New Work



Overflow
Encaustic
15x7



 Here is the piece I spoke about in my last post. I will still probably tweak it a little bit though. As you can see it is a triptych but it's not as organized as I would like it to be. I started this one in late November and I used my daughter as my muse for this piece. As a result I tried to put too much into it and it seems a little visually chaotic. But I guess that's what I get for using a 13 year old as my subject!

Anyways the breakthrough I had was with the dry transfer technique. I had never quite gotten the hang of it and was very displeased with the amount of detail, or lack of detail I was getting. But last night I figured it out. And I also found out that my micron pens will actually draw on the wax in small amounts. I used this technique with the bird and the cage and I will definitely be exploring it more. Drawing directly on the wax is something I have been wanting to do since I started working with it.

This last image shows the card advertising the 4th Fridays show for next month and my artwork submission from July is on it! It's the image on the lower right. And there's my ribbon! Thank you so much for all the great comments too. I am still flying high from that night!

I will have a sneak peek to post later on this week because as my friend Ariadne From Greece said...I am on a roll!

Wow...just wow!

Who knew?! This is what I saw when I arrived at the show last night. Not only did I receive an honorable mention but someone actually bought my artwork! I was positively giddy. I tried to hide it a little. I told myself not to make a big deal about it but I don't think I did a very good job.

It is so flattering to think that someone else appreciates this piece just as much as I do. At the same time I never, in a million years, expected to sell anything so I was totally unprepared to part with it. It's a weird mix of emotions. I am so happy but at the same time I feel like I've lost something important.

So today all I kept thinking was that I must make more! I must get into the studio and keep working. In my last post I said that I was stuck and I was hoping for an epiphany. Well, I did! Okay maybe epiphany is a strong word but I did have a breakthrough. And tomorrow when it's light out I will take some photos so I can show you what I have been working on.

Finally again

Remember these? Well I finally found the time to enter the 4th Friday's show again at the Starline Gallery and the two pieces I submitted were accepted. I packed them up into this colorful upcycled burlap bag I found and navigated the snowy roads to drop them off.

Bridgette made a post not long ago about how she changed one of her encaustics because the fern frond had faded from a pretty green to a dull yellowish hue. I didn't think about that when I submitted the photo for my work. I used a photo that was taken right after I finished it and realized afterwards that my leaf had suffered the same fate. You can see the original leaf color in the Laruelapalooza header if you scroll up. Well it was too late for me to change it, but I wonder if there is a way to prevent the fading. I really like using pressed leaves in my work.

Hopefully I will be done with a few new pieces soon. None of them are coming along the way I'd like them to. I seem to be stuck. I can see the idea in my head very clearly but the artwork just isn't conveying the vision in my head at all. I might get some time in the studio tomorrow to work a little and maybe I'll have an epiphany!

Happy Saturday!

In the mail

I actually won a giveaway!

I received this cute little felt pouch from Prairie Garden.

 Liane at Prairie Garden is a gardening guru and crafter extraordinaire. Check out her etsy site and her blog to see for yourself.

New Knitting

Another half way finished project. This is the beautiful wooly alpaca yarn I bought earlier this fall. I am knitting it into an infinity scarf with a simple rib stitch. The yarn is actually a mix of alcpaca and merino wool and it is very itchy. But I will still find a way to wear it!

Happy 2012

My first post of the new year!

I really didn't want to post something that wasn't finished but I am currently in the middle of a few projects and I just didn't want to wait any longer.

I am planning on using this image in a new encaustic painting I am working on. It started as a small sketch in my sketchbook but I really wanted to include details like eyelashes and fingernails. So I decided to enlarge it to an 18"x24" drawing. The hair is not finished yet as you can see, but I am hoping to get that done soon.

 Although we've had a strange snow-free, and  mild winter I have been doing a lot of knitting too. I'm  finally using the alpaca wool I got when we had our field trip to the farm.

Have a wonderful weekend!