Mind Your Own Beeswax and a Giveaway

Ocean/Desert diptych sample

In preparation for today's encaustic workshop, I put together a few samples recently. Above I was fiddling around with glazes and layers.
Below, I took an older piece that I had really liked until something happened to damage it--I can't even remember what it was, but I couldn't repair it. So I just had some fun playing with reworking the wax--I must have been hungry!

The Egg and I

Here are some pictures from today's "Mind Your Own Beeswax" workshop at Village Gallery of Arts.

This was my first time teaching there and I was very pleased with the space. We had lots of room to move around. The students were all experienced artists and took to encaustic like bees to wax.

Corina and Jeanne begin to experiment

Cindy experiments with using some mesh as a stencil. It worked great.

This is the beginning of one of Cindy's pieces. She added the used teabag at the right to tone down the photograph. You can see the effect made by the stencil in the upper left.

Here's a picture of the finished piece. I'm afraid the photo is a little blurry.

Cindy's piece above was one of the first bits of serendipity today. I was immediately reminded of artist Jasper John's famous encaustic flags of the 50's. Johns was one of the first modern painters to bring encaustic techniques back from obscurity. Cindy said she was just thinking of Memorial Day--that works too!

A deceptively simple piece by Jennifer. There is a lot of shadow and depth in the background and there seems to be a mysterious story here.

Jeanne, an experienced oil painter, brought some unfinished work to transform with encaustic. This has the shimmering quality of an Impressionist painting.

A rich Italian-looking piece by Corina. She added transparent oil paint as a finishing touch.

Corina made this humorous and cheerful piece for her yellow bathroom. The Mermaid Soap label is a laser copy transfer (done with nail polish remover) on Claybord which is done before the encaustic is added.

Nefertiti Lives

This is a demo I did with a laser copy transfer, and collage elements. I borrowed Cindy's stencil for the top of of my piece. I added a vintage postage stamp and incised lines at the edges.

Jennifer's "Beach Coffee"

Encaustic can be difficult to photograph, especially in artificial light when you're in a hurry! Everyone was excited about the piece above, and I wish I had gotten a better photo. Jennifer achieved the great flowing effects by experimenting with the heat gun.

This piece by Jennifer evokes ancient Greece or Rome

Another incident of serendipity came when Jennifer chose the image of the woman for the above. She didn't know the image was of an early Greek grave portrait--one of the first known uses of encaustic paint.

Help--I can't remember who did this piece that reminds me of images on an Italian wall. If you are reading this, dear artist, let me know!

Jeanne transformed this glorious landscape with encaustic. It makes me think of the South of France at twilight--ahhhh.

Cindy achieved this dramatic ocean-like scene by experimentation. Adding the white at the top really popped out the rest of the scene and made a strong contrast.

The Death of Anne Boleyn

This is one of my class experiments. More serendipity occured when this collage image, which is purported to be Anne Boleyn was joined by the red paint, suggesting drops of blood. It wasn't my intention to add so much red, or to get this effect, but it fits!

Jennifer's evocative piece. She didn't know the image was of French 19th century sculptor, Camille Claudel when she chose the French text to accompany it.

Piero's Confusion

I used this "hodge-podge" experiment of mine to show how adding the white around the edges could save a piece. It's still a bit all over the place, but much improved.

I think Corina is the creator of this lovely tribute to Paris. The piece has a laser transfer on the first layer and then paint and collage elements added on top.

Lady of Venice

I finally finished an old experiment by adding oil paint on the left, the collage figure, and a small fragment of a photo at the top.

Cindy's spirals add unusual effects to the complex piece above. (Again, apologies for the blurry photo.) This piece has a haunting quality that draws the viewer in.

Cindy used fabric and a stencil for the spiral effects, drawn from a magic goody bag she brought with her.

Jeanne's flower painting

The vibrant painting above was actually the first completed. Jeanne's ambition is to do an entire painting of flowers in encaustic. I'm sure she'll succeed!

Thanks to today's students for a wonderful day!



And now--announcing a Giveaway! Starting today, when you leave a comment on this blog your name will be entered into a giveaway contest. Two weeks from today, I'll put your names in a hat and draw out the name of the lucky winner. The winner will receive a copy of "True Vision" by L.K. Ludwig. (See link left.) If you already have a copy, I'll provide an alternative. What's not to like? So comment away and see what happens!