Fire and Ice

Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I've tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To know that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

-- Robert Frost

Maybe it's the HOT weather that influenced this piece. We reached 100 degrees yesterday and it felt like it again today. I was playing with my CitraSolv papers and some alcohol inks and came up with this. Just a little experimenting. My sister is visiting this week so not much art getting done. But we are having a great time. I hope it's not near as hot or humid where you are. Personally, I'm looking forward to Fall (my favorite time of year). Meanwhile, I'm wishing summer would hurry and move on... 

The Walk

The Cold Hill Side

As months and years accumulate,

I miss you more and more.

Forgetting where I put the key,

I sometimes find a door

and other times feel stunned and lost,

though living in my own

body and life, presumably,

bewildered and alone

as the knight, kidnapped and released

to a dim world, who said

And I awoke and found me here

on the cold hill side.

--    Rachel Hadas

I loved that poem when I read it. I keep a box of poems that I come across and from time to time I go through it for inspiration. This one begged for a painting. And I found a new medium to play with: plaster! All sorts of fun to be had there. A new book called Plaster Studio caught my eye:  

Who knew you could do so much with plaster? My painting is done on a base of cotton. Then blocks of plaster gauze are cut and adhered to the cotton. After that dries you paint! Easy peasy and so fun. There are more plaster products I want to experiment with. This was my first try since it seemed the easiest place to start.

This is also my entry for Paint Party Friday. I haven't painted any new work for awhile. It felt good being back in the studio making a mess!  :)   Stop by the party and check out what everyone else has been up to. You won't be disappointed.

Discovery

This is a piece I did a few years ago when I was experimenting with adding CitraSolv to National Geographic magazine pages. I have a nice stash now and frequently add them to my paintings and collages. Here I've also added some gold leaf along with some copper and bronze pigments. Then I covered the entire canvas in resin. That's the glare you see on the edge of the canvas. After I finished, I thought the round piece looked like it could be a stone. The entire thing reminded me of an excavation site so I named it Discovery.

This week in the Summer of Color we are working with yellow (or shades of it). I hope to have some new pieces to show in the coming weeks. Things are finally slowing down on the landscaping and I'll be able to get back to my painting. ;)

Paint Party Friday

This is a painting I did early last year in one of Misty Mawn's classes. It was my first attempt at using Shiva Oil Paintstiks. I really liked them! Not at first, but after getting used to how they worked (and with Misty's guidance). Now I use them in my encaustic painting for different effects but they are fun to play with. This is done on watercolor paper. As you can see I did smear a little in the background but I never really painted the background, so technically it isn't finished. Maybe that's why it's still untitled?  ;)

Check out all the other entries for Paint Party Friday. There is always a lot of inspiration to be found there. Thank goodness it's raining here today. I get a day off from shoveling gravel! Yay! Hubby picked up another load yesterday so tomorrow I know what I'll be doing...