Summer Festivals on the Horizon

My first art festival is less than a month away and this is the time when I stop making new works and focus on presentation (framing and wiring), pricing, and determine what will be going to each show. I have to admit, I have had a productive year with lots of choices; I must narrow down what to bring!

First show, Wells Street Art Festival, will be featuring mixed media encaustic paintings. I submitted cityscape image transfers but my newest work is more organic and loose. I have been using lots of shellac burns and transfer foils, incorporating a variety of techniques (many of my paintings originate as demonstrations from the classes I teach). 

"Buddha"

10" x 8" encaustic on panel

This piece allowed me to sculpt with wax, add metallic transfer foils, and draw using the tjanting tool.

The hardest part of preparing for the festival will be narrowing down which work to hang, and reminding myself to focus on a cohesive body of work.

Bridesmaids

"Bridesmaids"

12" x 12" encaustic mixed media on cradled birch panel

 A few weeks ago I went to Texas and watched my son get married to the love of his life. I also had the chance to meet some of the bridesmaids and groomsmen, close friends of my daughter-in-law and son. I found it difficult to not translate the weekend experience into art, and this is the first painting of what may become a new series. 

I have also been busy completing demonstration paintings from my weekly encaustic classes at the North Shore Art League and wanted to share a demo of an older work that was used as the base for something new.

At the time I created the piece below, I was focused on cave paintings and building multiple layers of wax. I decided to use this as the background and re-worked it by etching a drawing into the wax with a pointed tool, then added a shellac burn along with transfer foils. I had the most fun when I scraped away the top layers of shellac and wax, exposing the many layers that were below the surface. 

I have been using foil transfer papers and gold leaf often, but it's a challenge trying to photograph and capture the glisten of the metallics.

"Masked with Age"

12" x 12" mixed media encaustic on cradled birch panel