Navy Pier

Navy Pier

30" x 30" 

encaustic collage on cradled panel

I continue to be inspired to paint places I have been since moving back to Chicago. These new paintings are turning into a series, and the key elements are landmark locations and architecture in Chicago, working large, using wax as the primary medium. I have printed a group of my favorite photos, this is the 2nd of 5 photos to be collaged, and the first of what will be a transition into new techniques and materials.

Rather than transferring the black and white photo (what I have always done in the past), I collaged it into wax medium directly on a cradled birch panel. After fusing layers of wax underneath and on top of the photo, I decided to add dry pigments (recently purchased at the encaustic conference), using copper, graphite, and silver. Safety is a priority, I put on rubber gloves and rubbed the powdered pigments directly into the encaustic medium fused onto the photo. I also added oil sticks (white, blue) rubbed into the sky, and then dipped a strip of mulberry paper into wax, collaged it to add sculptural qualities to the prominent building on the left, Lake Point Tower. I also collaged paper on the far right along the wooden wall structure in the foreground.

I have been running so many ideas through my mind ever since the conference, I have new supplies and tools, and want to continue to experiment and discover new ways of sharing my creative energy with the world.

Crazy Month

I used to check my blog daily, was really good about keeping up with others, but a month has passed and I am just now finding time to blog. I think other social media sites (Facebook, twitter, instagram, linked in, pinterest, vine, to name a few) have made the blogspot network less of a focus for many of us, or maybe it's just me not finding the time to write a more in depth summary of my art life and news. Regardless, a lot has happened in the past month and I would like to share.

The first week in June I attended the Encaustic Conference in Provincetown, MA. It had been 4 years since I had been to the conference and I was ready to absorb and learn new things (the best teachers continue to also be some of the best students, in my opinion), and this conference is a mecca for all things encaustic. There was a vendor room with everything your encaustic mind could fathom, all day events, demonstrations and talks, intense 3 days of artistic sharing, educating, inspiration, and networking. A highlight for me was watching demonstrations using a HOTBOX™ as a palette instead of an electric griddle; I am now inspired to work with encaustic on paper rather than on board. I interviewed Pat Spainhour for the FusedChicago blog, she demonstrated scroll works, painting on the hotbox, and talked about incorporating Asian sumi-e influences in her work; you can read my interview here. After watching Paula Roland demonstrate various monoprint techniques using her trademark HOTBOX, I decided to purchase one for my continued exploration and self-education of encaustic painting.

The last day of the conference I participated in the hotel fair and as a result, a new gallery (28 & Bank Studio) opening in Harwich Port, MA (Cape Cod) end of the week will have an assortment of my small encaustic mixed media works for sale. 

The month of July will be the perfect opportunity to play with new ideas. Having just completed my 2nd outdoor art festival weekend, I will now have time to develop some works on paper before my 3rd art festival weekend August 2-3 at the Lakeshore Arts Festival in Evanston, IL. I also added lots of small works to my Etsy shop, and with the monoprint process consuming all of my creative energy I look forward to sharing a new direction in the coming weeks.

Booth Shot from Art in the Village this past weekend -