New Work



Into
5x5
encaustic mixed media



Well, I've been mulling over whether or not this one was finished. I've had it in my kitchen giving it the "kitchen test" for a couple of weeks now and I'm finally ready to say that it's done.

It has been hard to get into the studio to work because I have been so busy but also because the weather has been summer like for the past two weeks. Everything here is in bloom a month early as you can see by my forsythia! Everyone has been enjoying the outdoors and caught off guard by how early in the season the warm weather came. We had record breaking high temperatures everyday for almost 10 days straight. What we did to deserve this mild winter and early summer I don't know, but it makes me nervous to think about what the summer months will look like!

I am officially on spring break this week. Aside from the usual spring cleaning stuff I am going to start researching the things we are going to do on our trip to Europe this summer. I am starting to get really excited about it! If anyone has any non touristy suggestions for London, Paris, Florence or Rome let me know!

Au revoir!

Signs of spring

You could have bowled me over with a feather today.

It was so incredibly warm outside. The first day we've have over 60 degrees this year, and I swear I heard a robin yesterday too. Because it was so warm I took my run outside today and when I returned I noticed that my crocuses were already blooming. What a great surprise! Last winter was so cold that nothing bloomed for another month.

And I did get in a nice stretch of studio time last weekend. I know I've been threatening to show some new encaustic work for awhile now but it is soooo close. Really.

100th Post!

Why is it the busier I am the less productive I feel?

So sorry for the unplanned absence but I have been very busy. And it has not been at creating art!

 I did find some time to create these stacking rings for my friend's birthday though. It was very satisfying to be able to complete a project so quickly and be happy with it. I made 7 rings from 16 gauge argentium silver wire. Then I gave them a nice hammered texture, and buffed them so they sparkled.

This isn't exactly what I had planned for my 100th post. I really wanted it to be something more special than this but I started to feel guilty for not having posted in so long. Plus I miss conversing with you all!

I might be able to squeeze in some studio time this weekend which would be really nice.

Enjoy!

In the mail

I purchased a gift for my brand new nephew from Sparrow Avenue. But this isn't all of it because I don't want to spoil the surprise.

Barbara was so kind to also include a little gift for me too. One of her hand dyed zipper pouches with a whale print. I am a huge fan of Barbara's sketches and her textiles are top notch. So beautiful!

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.