Finishing what I started

"Spring Path", encaustic image transfer, 20 x 16 work in progress

What an intense, busy week... graduation is Saturday and I am taking time to figure out what will come next for me. In the meantime, I am focused on finishing the paintings to complete my "Pathways and Transitions" series. I had taken the photographs, even started 2 encaustic image transfers about a month ago, and today finally found the time to sit down and get back to work. The larger panel (20 x 16) is still hard for me to handle. When I transfer my photo image into the wax medium it takes a long time to burnish it into wax and I usually end up ripping it in spots. This step is tedious and time consuming but painting details with the pigmented wax seemed to be an even bigger challenge today. I had to stop working (mother's day dinner soon) but hope to continue tomorrow.

I used a black and white xerox transfer and have started adding color with the wax. There is still confusion in the path and my hope is once I add all the different shades of green combined with the earth tones of the path, I can establish more of a horizon line and create a stronger composition. (It was difficult to photograph this because direct light causes reflections). The final piece for the series will be the watercolor interpretation of the same photo. Hopefully, I can finish up by the end of the month.