February 2012
18 posts
Wise Words
Your work is to discover your world then with all your heart give yourself to it. - Buddha
I think the secret is to stay engaged, to stay plugged in. It isn’t easy — it’s much more comfortable to drift away and pretend a decision was never made. But every action, every minute is a decision. The desire to let go and mentally walk into the woods and never look back can be...
Why THAT?
Easy answer :). This subject has everything I’m looking for. I’m fascinated by the wires and pipes winding around holes and knobs. I have no idea what all these elements are but I’m intrigued - ALWAYS intrigued.
The rest of the answer, honestly speaking, is that there is much that DOESN’T work for me. I want my paintings to be uniquely mine - that’s all I...
Bud!
The studio was a busy place this afternoon. Bud isn’t feeling well so his mom, Minnie, dropped him off to spend the afternoon with me. Dana Dog and Caleb kept an eye on him while I worked. Jelly and Misty stayed home so they wouldn’t stress our Bud while he isn’t feeling well. Later a group of friends came to work on Friends of Retriever rummage sale donations that are...
Stuck
When the brush sticks to my hand, I know I’m in the zone. Painting begins when I forget about process and lose myself in color, transitions, push and pull. That’s when things happen that I can’t explain later. That’s the good stuff.
It’s messy. It’s slightly out of control. It’s completely unpredictable. I love it.
Coming around the bend
I used oil bars today to build some form in a few areas and this piece began to turn the corner. As someone I respect used to say, it’s beginning to sing. In the same breath, I’m also investing so many hours in this piece that I’m getting apprehensive. I’m enjoying my time with this one and I’ve learned a lot. I’m putting a lot of color down in an almost...
Chair Max
Carm has started stealing my chair every time I get up — and getting it back isn’t easy. After years of painting 8 hours a day - and sometimes more - I’m still amazed at my wimpy endurance with encaustic. I worked four hours this afternoon and was ready to scoot out the door for the evening.
I’m still “perching” on the edge of my chair which is a tiring...
2 tags
Why We Do What We Do.
As I worked today I pondered the question. I see wonderful work by artists that I know is completed in hours if not less. I love the spontaneity of their work and admire the simplicity. But….I want to be engaged with a piece longer than that. I want to read a novel, not a short story! I often think of my paintings as friends - I get to know the piece as I work as if it is a...
9 tags
Space!!!!
I’ve made room to work on larger pieces and still reach what I need in a short reach, long reach, or two steps :). Timing CAN be everything. To my right are three heated palettes for pigmented wax medium with the vent fan above. Directly in front of me is a griddle for clear medium. The electric skillet is for making medium. When I’m making medium I work from the front of this...
7 tags
Working toward the Foreground
I’m home but my head is still in this painting. I started the day at 10am with a bag of cheetos and a Diet Mountain Dew. Every day should start with a nutritious breakfast. I worked till 3pm when the dogs were getting restless so I took them home and zoomed back to continue. They’ve started wanting to go home mid-day which is fine — I need some fresh air and a few minutes...
6 tags
The best part of being an artist is....
drumroll…..the best part is not dreading Monday! As a kid I hated the Lassie Show on Sunday night because it meant I was one bedtime from a Monday morning. When I worked a traditional job, Sunday nights were the worst — a long, structured week was ahead. Not to be negative, but those were tough times.
As a painter, I work hard and feel very committed — but I LOVE what I do....
Groovin'
Part of getting in a productive groove is figuring out a system. And I tend to not figure it out….I stumble over it and finally crash into it. I really think that has been the hardest part of learning to work with wax. The tools and process are so completely different from anything I’ve done before. As I pushed my pans closer together to make room for ONE MORE today, I saw...
3 tags
Mind Your Beeswax
http://pinterest.com/mindyourbeeswax/
When I first looked at Pinterest I thought it was for addicted shoppers - I didn’t get it. It slowly dawned on me that I could use it to collect what I’m interested in…and now I am….addicted.
It’s helping me become more curious. Surfing the web was awkward because I didn’t have a purpose OR I couldn’t stay on...
Road Trip!
Jelly, Misty, Dana Rogy, and I loaded our van and headed north yesterday. I decided it was time to get some feedback on my encaustic paintings from the staff of a trusted gallery. I’ve been working in near isolation for over a year and have been feeling the need to get a reading. What a reading means….I’m not sure. No one is going to change my mind about what I’m...
5 tags
Brilliant, right?
Painting storage is a BIG DEAL for me because of the the dumb stuff I’ve done in the past. Actually, I’ve done five dumb things — they’re named Carm, George, Noah, Smooch, and Spoon. With cats in the studio, paintings are NEVER left in the horizontal position!
This bakers rack is working great for encaustics and caseins. They’re protected from dust and little...
The Terror Begins
I’m starting the new piece. A ground of wax medium has been applied to the board in several layers, fusing after each. Here I’m carving the area away for my first layer of pigmented wax. This piece is the largest I’ve done yet and I could fill large areas with wax, making it harder to keep the painting surface level, so I’m segmenting my composition so I can avoid that...
6 tags
BIG
I photographed this in Chase, AL. It’s some kind of old englne that was on the ground, alone in a field. I love it and it’s probably still there - I need to go check. I did a watercolor of a portion of it several years ago and now, I’m using it as a subject for an encaustic. It will be large by my standards - 16” x 24”. I have no idea how this will develop in...
Layout
This is really getting funny. I struggled with how to add a fourth palette for weeks - the trick is that I want all my paint pans to the right of me but I can’t bring a brush of hot wax TOO FAR. You’d be surprised how big a deal I made of it. Anyway, I solved my problem last week and I’m working happily…..
Till now. I’ve decided to work on a larger board...
12 tags
Under Repair
That may be the title of this piece, seriously. I’ve learned more about “fixing things” on this one that I ever wanted to know! My wax was too thin in one area and it didn’t become evident until my final four or five layers of “apply and scrape back”. I learned a new use for a bamboo tool yesterday and the value of preserving a little of my base wax colors...
January 2012
11 posts
Knowing when to say when
I ended my day here. I spent several hours on this piece and should have stopped thirty minutes before I did. I’m so reminded of my early days in watercolor — I’m tempted to work an hour beyond my fatigure point — thirty minutes into that hour I stop but it’s already too late. I’ve done something I wish I hadn’t. It’s all part of learning and I...
Hard at it
I’m continuing to work on this piece — only had a few hours today because I transported Rosie and Annabelle to their “ride north” this morning. You’ll notice in the top left corner, I”m cutting into the wax, preparing to put the shadows on the brick wall.
My rough plan is on tracing paper. It’s basically a cartoon with placement of the largest...
Got 'em Shot
I grouped a few pieces today to see how they look on the wall. It’s always interesting to see the transformation when they leave my work table. Part of it is the fact that I quit analyzing and become more detached. And a frame always does something magical — it pulls a piece together and convinces me that it IS finished. Some people still revisit a piece after it’s framed...
4 tags
Dogs for Lunch
I framed today and this piece is finally hanging on my studio wall. I worked after dog biz and then again after lunch. And yes, dogs were the subject at lunch. When are dogs NOT the subject? Well, when cats are, I guess.
I frame my work in batches, mainly because I don’t like to pause to do it. The more practical reason is that I purchase my frames wholesale and the shipping is free...
7 tags
Carm in the Middle
Framing today. Gluing backing boards on six encaustics and Carm had to be shifted as I added each new piece to the table. Tomorrow I’ll put them in the frames.
After the glue was dry enough to leave it, I went back to work on the new piece I’ve started.
At the end of the day I said good bye to Noah. I got a text from the shelter over a year ago while I was working at...
A Four Griddle Day
Finished this piece today and then decided I can’t go on without expansion! I have pans of encaustic paint piled around me and I’m getting TENSE! So I took a Target break and bought my third griddle. With my R&F Palette, I know have four heated surfaces. Maybe I’ll be satisfied for a while.
And while I was doing odd jobs before diving into a new piece, I made two...
8 tags
The Color of Berries
Berries start like this. Red, orange, maroon, and yellow is on the palette to the left. Encaustic is a messy business and I’m getting used to it. I never clean brushes and I’ve quit using my soy wax completely. I think that’s progress!
My painting day was interrupted but I managed to start attaching some berries. I want to get a few in before I begin clustering more...
It's Crazy
I was totally absorbed in leaves today - it was a dreary, wet day outside. Jelly and Misty were snoozing in the front room and Dana, my new foster dog, discovered the office chair to be a perfect napping spot. Music from Pandora filled the studio and I worked….one leaf and at time.
At the end of the day I propped this encaustic against the wall to think about where I’ll start...
9 tags
Dana and.....Dana
I spent several hours today on a new encaustic. I prepared the board yesterday with the first layers of wax medium, finishing with blues. Today I started cutting into the wax and creating my leaves, beginning with the ones that are farthest from me.
Using a dental tool, I cut the leaf shapes away, fill with pigmented wax, then scrape the excess away with a straightedge blade. I work...
I took this as far as my preliminary drawing could take me then started drawing directly on the wax today, making changes in the composition. I’m going to put it aside for a day or so and think about it…..or not. I might jump back in tomorrow. I like the piece better in person - the photo is less interesting to me.
And I hung my most treasured Christmas gifts today. I...
I just need to stay a while....
Sasha only needed a babysitter tonight….she really didn’t want to be a bother. She thought she could play with the other dogs and maybe share their toys. T
Think again, Sasha!! Cornell was polite but he wasn’t AT ALL sure about her her intentions! And Jelly thought we had way too many little people in the house. Misty followed her around, making sure she didn’t...
Maybe halfway
Cornell and I worked this afternoon. He spent his first day at the studio and wasn’t a lot of help — but his pure delight with EVERYTHING kept me smiling all day. This piece is coming along. I have a vague plan on tracing paper but I’m mainly enjoying the freedom to let the foliage develop — lights and darks with decisions based on what happened in previous layers....
December 2011
19 posts
8 tags
Now I have proof....
I’ve been feeling somewhat befuddled — slightly askew. It started when I quit making lists and grew worse when I stopped wearing a watch. I’m not complaining - it works for me most of the time. All the same, I’ve been suspecting that I’ve gone off the deep end. At the end of the day today I looked at my work space — and got VISUAL confirmation. A major...
After Stella....
An underpainting in wax - that’s what this is. I’m building layers of wax medium over broad brushed color to “push it back” and then I’ll start developing my limbs and foliage. This could work — I have to believe! I like where it is right now although I’m a little concerned that it’s too strong at this point. Okay…back to believing.
...
4 tags
Pain Pill Please...
I photographed this in New York a few months ago…near the Library somewhere. I loved it and unfortunately, it applied today. My plan to walk the dogs and get an early start at the studio were lambasted by a migraine. At 3am I realized my day wasn’t going to follow my plan — and after years of dealing with migraines, I’ve learned it does NO good to be angry. More...
5 tags
Why aren't you HERE?
George’s evil eye is very effective. George is pretty intense about everything, actually. He thinks I should come back to work and he’s right. Tomorrow is the day.
I also need to cut some wood shelves for this rack. It’s going to serve as a holding rack for encaustics in process. Finding a way to store them so that surfaces won’t get damaged is a problem —...
7 tags
Happy Holidays!
Whether your goal is to enjoy or survive — I hope you making it through! I think it’s a complicated season for most people - for lots of reasons, tons of reasons actually. For me, the change in routine is enough to throw me off. Although the month of December isn’t as crazy as it used to be for me, I’m still ready for my studio schedule by January 2. And usually,...
Going Natural
This is where I’m going next….I think. After the holiday weekend, I plan to begin a piece using this fig tree as my reference. This tree is a few blocks from my house and is gorgeous when laden with fruit. The branches were propped up by 2x4’s this summer. Really nice.
And….I’m slowly being overcome by green wax! I have a full griddle of it - and some...
Is there a good reason?
A good reason to NOT paint, that is? I feel a little guilty tonight but very little….
Today there were two good reasons. Meet Sam. This photo says it all :). After two years in a pen, he’s lovin’ some freedom and can barely contain himself. No kidding, this dog is NOT contained. We’re working on it.
And then there was Daisy. I brought her to Huntsville to live...
Weathered
Finished. This piece has more wax build up :). There is more haze over the color and I’m not sure why — I don’t have more layers. In fact, in areas the wax medium is very thin. The haze is a nice effect in places so I’m still thinking about how I feel about it.
An Early Start
My day started at 6am with this little guy. Rocky and I picked up Amber and the three of us headed to Tennessee to meet their ride. Rocky and Amber have forever homes waiting for them several states north of us….and they’ll arrive very late tonight. I enjoyed giving them a lift out of Alabama on a cold, rainy day. Have a great life, kids.
The rest of the day I worked on this...
5 tags
From Benny to Sundown
I have a new man in my life.
Who can resist a smile like this? He’s been stuck at Huntsville Animal Services since October because of a golf ball size growth on his chest, causing adopters to pass him by. He’s my new foster buddy and he’ll be working with me at the studio for a while. Meet my newest assistant, Benny.
I contiued today on my second railroad piece....
It was a nice day because.....
I worked on this piece yesterday and continued today — the wax is getting thin in places so it’s challenging. By the end of my day today, all of the exposed board was covered. The really nice news of the day is……
Our little Punky found a home!! This lovely couple drove up from Birmingham and took her home as a Christmas surprise for their girls. Only problem was...
Guard Ducks
I don’t put a lot of energy into it — some of the same stuff has been in my studio for years. On the other hand, new things come in every month and yet somehow, it never fills up. My studio is simply my place. I feel like whatever I think or make or do is okay here. I guess that is what a studio should do for an artist.
And if anyone has a problem with that, my Guard Ducks...
2 tags
Leaving
Leaving the studio tonight, she caught my eye. She has watched over my watercolor table for years and now I’m working in a different room. I don’t know whether to move her or get another old soul to watch over me while I work with wax. For some reason, moving her doesn’t seem like a good idea.
I’ll think about it.
Speaking of old, I drive by the Tip Top every...
In the line of .....
I’m sure the Otter Box wasn’t designed for this I’m scraping wax off my phone at the end of each work day. I could move my phone but I have SO many cords and this one only reaches THIS far. And I’m changing Pandora regularly, answering texts, looking at emails. A little wax won’t hurt.
It was a peaceful day. I cleared a spot for Carmela and she made...
6 tags
Tools
From the beginning, my fascination has been with the beeswax. The smell, feel, and very nature of it is a wonder to me and I knew it would be a huge challenge. Working in this medium actually had me stumped for longer than I expected - I did a LOT of staring at the board, walking away, popping the top on a Diet Mountain Dew (a trusted delay tactic) and then staring some more.
What I’ve...
5 tags
Clear Mind, Open Mind
Distractions. I create them if they don’t surface on their own. A wide open studio day can stretch out in front of me and I’ll still sabotage my work day. Today at noon, I was still popping out of my chair for one thing after another. I felt unsettled and I’ve been recognizing for a while that I’m not allowing my mind to flow with my work. I’m dealing with...
It was beautiful outside today but Noah and I were in the same kind of mood. He was in his safe spot on the cabinet and I was in mine behind the encaustic table. I didn’t get there till after 11am because I transported a pup this morning, but I finally made it.
I worked on the undercarriage of my railroad car today, starting to create STUFF. I’m starting with the elements that...
Changing tracks
Today was a good studio day. I finished the fire escape piece and completed the drawing pictured here. My board is prepared with wax medium and I’m ready to start. I have two griddles packed with containers of beautiful colors, some full and others just have a smidgen of pigmented wax — they’re all from the last two pieces I’ve completed. As I look at them on the...
It must be so relaxing...
It’s something artists hear a lot. ”You’re painting? Wow, that must be so relaxing.” or “How nice to get to sit around and paint all day.” I never know how to respond. For years I dreamed of the day when I could paint every day, all day and I’m still completely grateful. But relaxing? Not exactly.
I can only speak from my own experience, but...
November 2011
6 posts
The Holiday Sandwich
We’re in the middle! The pre-Thanksgiving buildup knocked me off the tracks a bit ad then we were out of town over the holiday. I was back in the studio yesterday by sheer determination but our bag still isn’t unpacked or laundry done. Every year I’m determined to work through December and I do….sort of!
Right now I’m working with this 4.6 lb wonder tucked...