Anybody See the Connection Here?

It's strange when you realize what you subconsciously pick as 'your colors'. Hmmmm....

Working on Commission?

Well, sort of. I'm in the process of creating a textile art piece to be used in a wedding ceremony and then it will become a piece of wall art. I've been struggling with different designs and have finally decided on 'book' type design that is somewhat like a scroll. It will be about 50"long and 8" wide and will have separate pages which will show pictures and wishes from friends of the couple on one side and then artwork in these colors on the other side. So now that I have decided on a format, I'm working on color studies to decide what colors I'd like to use, what marks I'm going to make etc. I'm experimenting with silk and cotton and using silk paints and fluid acrylics. If the acrylics are thinned to a watercolor consistency, they don't affect the hand of the fabric too badly, but I'm leaning towards the silk paints just due to their yummy color and lack of stiffness. The request was to use a bright primary palette even though that is not my usual way of working, so I'm having a bit of a time trying to integrate it into the piece, but I plan to do some stamping of other colors and metallics on top to mute things a bit and to pull the piece together with a theme.




So, I've been cutting stamps today as well and had forgotten that they are a lot of work! Maybe that's why I ended up doing etchings vs. linocuts. I started out using a shortcut technique I read about in Quilting Arts magazine using plumber's gasket instead of lino material. Big mistake. It is so hard to cut and the marks are ragged even with very sharp new tools. (See the brick red stamp on the left.) My next stamp I used unmounted easy cut lino...much better. (Grey material at right.) Plus there is really no cost savings using the gasket, it is the same price for a 6"x6" piece of that as it was for an 8"x10" piece of unmounted lino. So a no brainer as far as I'm concerned. But now my hands are tired out and need a rest. So I'll do some more painting.



Below is a sample of the more muted palette I first suggested but was rejected...oh well.

Embracing Encaustic....

Last month I finally was able to attend a workshop in Portland with renowned encaustic artist, Linda Womack. The six hour class covered all the basics of encaustic painting from making medium and preparing the support to the actual painting, fusing, incising the wax, filling lines, adding collage pieces and lots more. I was only able to complete two pieces as I was really into just trying different things and seeing how they worked, not trying to create a masterpiece. Here's my first trial...



Here's an angle shot so you can see the texture gouged out with tools...



I am so enthralled with the look and feel of the wax that I think this is something that I could really get into, so a few days ago I ordered my first five pounds of beeswax. I have some paints and damar and a heat gun etc. so I've been shopping the last few days for a pancake griddle online and managed to find a giant one at Kohl's in Medford that I plan to pick up tomorrow. So it looks like soon I could be off into the wonderful world of encaustic painting. I'll post the results when I get started.



But first I need to seriously work on the studio reorganization and remodel so I have some space for this new passion. I'm also thinking that encaustic monoprints would dovetail nicely with the class I took in February, so will be thinking about that as well. Ah learning is great....