Deconstructed

"First I'm gonna make it

Then I'm gonna break it

Till it falls apart"

-- Echo & the Bunnymen

This is another encaustic painting that is part of a series I'm working on. I won't reveal too much yet because I want to show the entire series together later. I will say that this is a face and it's been screen printed onto muslin. This muslin square is now set into about five layers of encaustic medium. It's not the first print off the screen. I had the squares piled up in no particular order so I'll have to sort those out later when I hang the finished pieces up. I just picked this square at random because I liked the detail and the color. I'll reveal who the face is and another print on the next post! 

I have had all of these prints laying in a basket for a while now. I really didn't want to sew them together even though that was my original intent when I made them. [Maybe because I'm not a great seamstress!]  ;-)  But in the back of my mind I  knew there may be something else I could do with them. It's on an 8 x 8 encausticbord panel that's 2 1/2 inches thick and it's the exact look I was hoping for. 

When I showed this to hubby I asked him to guess what it was. He thought at first it was a closeup of a piece of wood. Then I revealed the original face and showed him the progression of the squares after they had been run through the screen. Ha! He just shakes his head at my experiments. But he did like this one! Yay! That's good because there will be a bunch of them hanging on the wall when I'm finished. 

This is my entry for Paint Party Friday. It's been a year and we're still going strong! Check it out. The party is bigger and better than ever!

In Bloom

Gorgeous weather here today had me wishing that my flowers were in bloom. So I painted them! I was also able to experiment with more techniques using the encaustics. That made for a fun day all the way around. ;-) I hope it was just as nice where you were! Have a great week everyone!

Solitude

"Highest of heights, I climb this mountain

and feel one with the rock and grit

and solitude echoing back at me."

-- Bradley Chicho

I'm working with encaustics again! The last couple of days have been warm enough to actually open the windows and plug in the equipment and ventilation fan. Today was pushing it, though. It got too cold with the windows open after a few hours so I finally had to shut it down. But I'm excited to be working with the wax again. I've got a lot of pieces started and am anxious to get back to them as the weather warms up. 

This was the first time I had worked with the encausticbords made by Ampersand. I really like them. They are all primed and ready to go; and they are specifically made for encaustics. 

This is also my entry for Paint Party Friday (a day early).  Be sure to check out all the other entries. The party gets bigger every week!  :-)

The Sun

"Have you ever seen

anything

in your life

more wonderful

than the way the sun,

every evening,

relaxed and easy,

floats toward the horizon

and into the clouds or the hills,

or the rumpled sea,

and is gone --

and how it slides again

out of the blackness,

every morning,

on the other side of the world,

like a red flower

streaming upward on it heavenly oils,

say, on a morning in early summer,

at it perfect imperial distance -- "

from The Sun

by Mary Oliver

It was so sunny and unseasonably warm here today, I was inspired to paint this. Spring is definitely near! I'll take these beautiful days when I can get them. :-) Hope you all are having a great week!

I Dream

"And nobody gets out of it, having to

swim through the fires to stay in

this world."

-- from Dream Work by Mary Oliver

This is a watercolor journal page of mine that I experimented with. Thought it had a dream-like look to it after I finished. Working on some other things I hope to show soon. Have a great weekend everyone! 

Where the Light Enters: Journal Page

"The wound is the place were the Light enters you." -- Rumi

I'm back from my trip to Ohio. It was a blast seeing my friend again (and my sister stopped by)! Of course the time went too fast; it always does. But eventually you have to return to reality, I guess.  ;-) 

I did manage to stop by Blick's Art Supply while I was in town and picked up a few goodies I hope to try out soon. My Muse also seems to have taken a vacation but she hasn't returned yet. I expect she'll show up here eventually. In the meantime I've been working in my art journal and finished this page last night. 

This is my entry for Paint Party Friday. Be sure to check them out. Maybe I'll run into my Muse there!  ;-)

Have a great weekend everybody! 

Her Kind

Her Kind

by Anne Sexton

I have gone out, a possessed witch,

haunting the black air, braver at night;

dreaming evil, I have done my hitch

over the plain houses, light by light:

lonely thing, twelve-fingered, out of mind.

A woman like that is not a woman, quite.

I have been her kind.

I have found the warm caves in the woods, 

filled them with skillets, carvings, shelves,

closets, silks, innumerable goods;

fixed the suppers for the worms and the elves:

whining, rearranging the disaligned.

A woman like that is misunderstood.

I have been her kind.

I have ridden in your cart, driver,

waved my nude arms at villages going by,

learning the last bright routes, survivor

where your flames still bite my thigh

and my ribs crack where your wheels wind.

A woman like that is not ashamed to die.

I have been her kind.

This is one of my favorite poems by Anne Sexton. I think I may have even used it before in an art piece. There is a recording here of her reading it. I love to hear poets reading their work! *sigh* Anyway, I was inspired again by the poem (It hangs above my work table along with a million others).

I have never tried drawing with a calligraphy pen. This was my first attempt. Thanks to Misty Mawn's class I'm trying out new ways to draw. The hardest part was trying to figure out how to hold the darn thing and getting it to make some marks. I kept dropping it. Yes, I'm clumsy but that has nothing to do with it.  ;-)  I finally got the hang of it (somewhat). It's the final week of class and so far I think this is my favorite. This is mixed media week and anything goes. That also goes for this painting. Anything and everything went onto it: inks, stamping, paint, collage... whatever I could fling, throw and paint onto it. Fun! 

I'll be leaving this weekend to visit my friend in Ohio. One week in Columbus! Yay! Can't wait to get going. That means another trip to Blick Art Supply. I've been making a list and clearing room in my car trunk.  ;-) 

This is also my entry for Paint Party Friday (and I'm a day early!). Tomorrow be sure to stop by and check out all the other entries. Have a great weekend everybody! 

Free My Soul

It has been a long while since I've played in Photoshop. I was tempted by a new kit that caught my eye at DeviantScrap (A Clockwork Autumn by RD) so I've been playing all morning with it. This was a face I sketched last night. The rest is elements from either the above kit or another one called InnerVoice by Finecrafted Designs (both from DeviantScrap.com).

I was so rusty from not using Photoshop I had to Google how to do a few things. It's amazing the things you forget when you are away from it for so long.  :( Anyway, it was fun doing the digital thing again. I'm waiting on a few projects to dry between layers and this was a fun way to pass the time.  ;-)

Fabric of Life

The Fabric of Life

by Kay Ryan

It is very stretchy.

We know that, even if

many details remain

sketchy. It is complexly

woven. That much too

has pretty well been 

proven. We are loath

to continue our lessons,

which consist of slaps

as sharp and dispersed 

as bee stings from

a smashed nest,

when any strand snaps --

hurts working far past

the locus of rupture,

attacking threads 

far beyond anything

we would have said

connects.

This was an exercise I did for Misty Mawn's class. It was abstract week; something I really enjoyed. Every week we add poetry (either found, by a favorite poet or written by us) to our work if we wish. Again, something I LOVE. No expectations when I sat down this morning. That's always the most fun. This is the result. Happy weekend everybody!

Sleep

"... I think that just being alive is so much work

at something you don't always want to do.

The machinery is always going. Even when you sleep."

-- Andy Warhol

This painting came from a sketch I did one night. It wouldn't leave me alone; I even dreamed about it. So I had to paint it. Poor thing, I know how she feels. Strange how things take hold of you. Maybe it's from lack of sleep.  ;)

This is my entry for Paint Party Friday. I try to make it over there when I can. You should too! Have a great weekend everyone!

Alone

Really missing my Mom today. This song always reminds me of her.

Fly Away

I'm experimenting with new mediums. This painting is done with watercolors and gouache. The song is how I feel lately. I guess it came through on the painting...  ;-)

Gray Skies: Journal Page

I've been fighting migraines all week and haven't been able to work in my studio as much as I would like. I've had my art journal at my side, though, and a few of my inks and other supplies (still using up that fabric remnant!). This page emerged today. Not a happy one but they can't all be sunshine!

I'm also anxious to get back to Misty Mawn's workshop. *sigh*  Hopefully the migraines will leave me be for awhile. Enough already!  :(  I hope YOUR weekend is going much better!

Heartfelt: Journal Page

"There are places in the heart that do not yet exist;

suffering has to enter in for them to come to be."

-- Leon Bloy

I've been working in my art journal this week. I started out with doodling hearts and flowers. This emerged. I felt the urge to get out needle and thread! The striped piece in the background is a fabric remnant. Can't sew very well but for a journal spread it'll do. ;-) I see hearts emerging in my journal a lot lately. Not sure why but I'll go with it; very therapeutic. I saved this quote when I came across it a while back. Now I'm glad I did. I used it on another page. Have a great week everybody!