Fall

Hana
16x12
encaustic and pine bark

 Well the beginning of the school year is always a whirlwind! I finished the piece above a few weeks ago and as you can tell Hawaii is still a continuous influence. I finally made it back into the studio again today. I have been anxious to get back into the studio because ,I am happy to say, the piece from my last post sold at the show! In fact it had a red dot on it before the doors even opened because the owner of the gallery purchased it. I was extremely shocked but also totally flattered.

One of the reasons the beginning of the school year was so busy is because of the fundraiser I was working on for the art club. We did a color run and it was fantastic! If you ever get the chance to participate in one I highly recommend it. This is the photo of the color throw we did at the end of the event. So much fun and we  raised enough money to fund everything we wanted to do plus give a percentage to the local food pantry.

Hello Again!

Obviously a lot has happened since I posted last! So I thought I'd inundate you with photos of my most recent works. I finally made a website too so stop by and take a look.
http://lauralarue.weebly.com/

Polu Kai
encaustic mixed media
18x6

I finally entered an all encaustic show for the first time at a gallery in Chicago. For me this is a big deal! To finally feel confident enough and commit to something that is outside of the suburban area I live in. The piece above is the one that I submitted so we'll see what happens.

Torn Veil
encaustic mixed media
16x12

Torn Veil detail

I really wanted to experiment with the torn book pages as a 3D element instead of just using them flat on the surface. I will definitely have to come back to this again some time because I really want to do more with them. The possibilities for using the paper three dimensionally is very intriguing to me.

Thaw
encaustic mixed media
12x12

 The one above and below were inspired by the piece Autumn's End which was in my last post. Inspired by the seasons and the view out of my studio window, this is a theme I will be coming back to a lot I feel!

Solstice
encaustic mixed media
6x6

I also just got back from a trip to Hawaii! So I will leave you with this photo of an incredible hidden red sand beach that we went to in Maui! This view is from the cliff wall we had to climb down in order to reach it. You can bet that I will be using this as fuel for new work to come!

Encaustic Workshop with Jenny Learner

Autumn's End
encaustic mixed media
6x6

Last week my school hosted a 3 day long encaustic workshop led by Jenny Learner! Each day a different group of students from each of the three high schools in the district got to participate. It was really a wonderful experience with so much creative energy flowing. It was very inspiring to see and really made me want to get back into the studio more. The image above is what I made at the workshop. I learned so many new things from Jenny.

There she is teaching students how to monoprint with wax. She really is so creative and uninhibited with her artwork. She is also very kind and was so patient with the students. It was a lot of work teaching about 85 people all about encaustic for 3 days straight! You can check out her website here. She teaches workshops all the time too so if you are interested you should consider signing up for one.

 Here's a picture of a group working hard on their projects in my classroom. It will definitely take some time to scrape up all the wax drippings. But in a way I love to leave stuff like that around the room because it always will remind me of the wonderful time spent at the workshop.

 Lots of different mark making tools.

And below are some examples of student work. I was so impressed with their projects after only one intensive day of encaustic instruction.

Well that's it for now! I know I haven't been posting much but I haven't forgotten about you! I hope to be back before the holidays.

New Work

Rooted
encaustic
11x14

So this piece was a while in the making. I began this piece the day after my last post back in August. I will spare you another lengthy apology for abandoning you yet again for so long! This time of year always seems to be busy as we scurry to fit in things that we know we won't be able to do in the winter months. Not to mention school and all the after school activities, and dances, and homework, and I could go on and on.

But there is nothing like a deadline to light the fire! With the last 4th Friday of the year coming up soon I really wanted to be able to submit at least one new piece that wasn't part of my featured artist exhibit from August. 

I have been trying to make my textures more subtle and veiled. To try and work with the colors and the wax rather than trying to fill every last square inch with tactile features. The transfer on the top right kind of represents a moment of weakness, or self indulgence. I have seen these types of patterns everywhere recently and I must guiltily admit that I love them! So I succumbed to their popularity and cliche and used them in my artwork too! This is also a larger piece for me as well which I really enjoy. I know I shouldn't think this way but I feel like it's more legitimate when it's bigger. I will still work on small pieces but I feel more satisfaction completing work on a larger scale than on a smaller piece. I'm really not sure why that is though.

I can't believe it's over

 Last night was amazing! It was quite a rush for me to see how many friends and family showed up to support me and see my artwork. I owe you all so much and I am truly grateful to have such a wonderful network of people in my life.

 I know these pictures are terrible but they are the only ones I took! They really do not do any justice to the  gallery or the display. I did end up selling the three pieces in the first photo to a coworker/friend. I was shocked that she bought three pieces!

 This is a better photo of the upstairs area where my exhibit was. After seeing this display I have decided that I am definitely going to try to make larger pieces. I had 17 encaustics on display, all very tiny looking on the large walls. But it did draw people in for a closer look.

The place was packed too. The final count was over 600 people!

It really was a wonderful and memorable evening. Thank you to everyone who helped me out with all the things I needed in order to get ready for the show. 

I love you all!

This is it!

I am very excited for tomorrow! I cannot believe that it's here already. The day I have been looking forward to/ fretting about all summer.I really can't wait to see the display. I had to work during the set up for the show so I won't be seeing it until the opening tomorrow night.  I will post pictures from the show as soon as I can for you to see. 

Happy Friday!

(a day early)

More new work

It'll Heal
encaustic mixed media
5x7

Rise
encaustic mixed media
6x6

I actually finished these a couple of weeks ago but I have been busy with back to school stuff. The students come back on Monday already. Yikes! 

As you can see in these two pieces I experimented a little more with the punchinella. That is what I used to make the dotty texture. And I made some burnt paper pieces that I really liked so I incorporated them as well. I am also attempting to be a little more subtle with the use of texture.

I spent most of the day today finishing up all the framing of my artwork for the show. I need to submit all of it next Saturday so I'm in the home stretch finalizing the little details. 

Sorry for the short post but I just wanted to keep you up to date. 

I'll be back soon!