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!