Images for paintings in 2010
Posted on December 18th, 2009
I was going through my whole year of photos taken in 2009 and the idea to post a album of my favorites came to mind. I will be starting a new series of works in January and these photos will help decide the direction I will go. I am still very interested in graffiti and the idea of it appearing randomly on walls within spaces in our every day landscape. I plan to explore this idea with acrylic, canvas, metal and my newest tool encaustic. I am looking forward to posting these new works to my blog but for now this is a beginning….see you in 2010.
Leave a Reply
Encaustics Day Two
Posted on December 9th, 2009
Yesterday I was back in the studio for the second day to continue on the path of exploring using encaustics. I am planning to add this material to my work as another collage element. I started by warming up my tools for applying and sealing the wax. You must take the time to do this before beginning to work. It takes about 10 minutes to warm up my electric skillet to 200 degrees. The skillet contains unbleached wax in a block purchased from a online store. Next you need to heat up your electric griddle to 200 degrees. You use the griddle to mix paints into the encaustic for color which is your palette. You must use encaustic paints which I purchased in basic colors also sold in blocks. I also keep my base of the collage either a wooden board or sturdy base on the griddle to keep warm while you apply wax and seal the collage to the composition. I will in the next week post a small video showing how I work for a better explanation of applying to the collage. I added a figure of a headless man and table from my archive of photos on my computer. These were attached with a dab of wax then sealed over with a brush of wax from my clear wax base in the skillet. So far working the way I always do placing a subject moving it around on the surface then attaching it once I find it works with the background collage. I have no path before hand planned out for the composition. I did find that some pieces of collage which have a coating on it from a magazine or book do not work well. The wax does not hold onto the base with these pieces. I only had a hour’s worth of work here as my day was pretty busy. I continue to enjoy the process and can not wait to see where this process takes me next on this piece. Questions? What do you think? I would love to hear from you so leave a few words out there….
Leave a Reply
Encaustics & Collage
Posted on December 5th, 2009
The snow has begun in Buffalo which means I am freezing and need my warm cozy studio to hole up in. I went to a workshop on encaustics this past summer and loved it. My schedule has not allowed me to do any work with it up until now. This picture featured is a beginning done yesterday. I plan on adding more to this image but think it is working fairly well for one day as a base for the work. My goal is to be able to take the encaustic pieces I create and incorporate it into many other collage elements, attaching them with acrylic gel medium in the end. This piece started with some vegetable made paper. Idipped it in the wax then added other pieces of paper and type to it right on my hot plate. I have to take it slow so as not to burn myself and plan on working on this process till I can do it in my sleep. The most important thing I have found so far is having your griddle at 200 degrees at all times. This keeps the wax flexible enough to work with and apply. The hot gun is also a tool to get used to. Yesterday I set the collage on fire at a few points being too close fusing things together. I will show also starting Monday on my blog my process on this piece and work on a few more images getting use to the tools and wax. Any tips out there from artists working with wax I would greatly appreciate too.
4 Responses to “Encaustics & Collage”
Leave a Reply
a hard month of production in my studio
Posted on December 3rd, 2009
I have in the month of November produced 12 small 5″ x 7 ” postcard size m/m works for gift shows in the area. My studio tells the tale in this photo taken yesterday. I start today with a clean up and a month of experimentation with wax. I went with a artist friend this summer to a workshop at the Women’s Studio Workshop on printmaking and encaustic. The printmaking part was interesting with new techniques to use on your press. I unfortunately have no press! So as much fun it was to work on a press again I am not about to buy one. The encaustic part of the week was something I fell in love with in only a few days. I learned about new tools and techniques in using wax which is a new medium for me. I love to experiment and am all about the process as you can see from my work. I after getting back this summer immediately went to the web and bought all the essentials to start working in the wax process. I now have a table and station set up to begin the process. My goal with three shows happening for me in 2010 is to combine encaustics as another collage element in my work. I know water and wax do not mix but am convinced I can get the wax as another element in my work to become a transparent addition to the composition. I will be writing about the process in coming blogs for all you mixed media painters out there. Wish me luck !
You go girl! This is fascinating!!!! patti
and the letters on the CAPTCHA phrase don’t work….if this goes through it is because I listened to it and it was completely different from what I saw!!!
Yes thank you Peter! You are right about the acrylic gels and mediums which I do use now. However this past summer I took an encaustics workshop and learned a lot about using wax and collage. The effects you get with gel are great but with encaustics you get a slightly different result. There is a beauty to the object or collage encased in the wax that has a different quality. I am especially interested in the use with japanese rice papers. I am going to write a blog about this tomorrow and maybe you will get a feel for what my goal is with this medium. I hope you keep reading my blog and progress in adding this method with my m/m work.
Fixed CAPTCHA! Thanks Patti!
You’re good. Your new work is gorgeous! Can’t wait til we get together in Feb. some time.