Hot Wax!

Had a busy weekend in a hot studio (90 degrees in Portland!) - but that didn't stop me. On Saturday I painted the 12x24" panel above. It was heaven. I floated away for hours immersed in the experience of manipulating the wax and the pigments. I'm so hooked.

Here's a closer look. The colors of the desert keep returning to me. They are printed somewhere on my DNA. You can take the girl out of the desert but ...

Then yesterday I returned for a bout with a larger panel. This one is 20x24". You can see I taped the sides of the panel to protect it from the wax but when I removed the tape I had to repaint so I think I'll just let the wax drip for now. I don't mind cleaning it up after.

At this point I still had about 4 hours to go and at least a pound of wax to scrape back off. I'm experimenting and pushing the medium to see what happens. I like to take it to the edge of disaster and then save it. I'm a hero!!

At least I hope it's saved. Now I'm worried about the temperatures at the Lake Oswego show. In the past it's been up to 107 degrees on that weekend. Definitely need to paint some acrylic back-ups just in case. No, I will not take these if the temperatures are over 100 degrees. They won't melt at that temperature but I'd feel uncomfortable about it. Does anyone reading this have experience with heat and wax at art shows?

Here's a close up of the wax. Lots of stuff to see when you get closer. On hot days in Arizona we used to eat these popsicles called bullets. These were the colors and how they looked. So cool in the sweltering sun.

I step outside to check on the roses. They are so late this year. Notice the little ladybug doing her job of snacking on aphids. My organic bug patrol in action.

If I haven't lost my mixed media friends by now I'll throw in some journal pages.

I've only sent one proposal to Teesha this year. Next year I will play at Artfest. I love to take classes and there are many teachers there who I've not experienced yet.

More ramblings and drawings and pushing paint. Yes, you can wax small images in the journal. A couple of years ago I sewed in a drawing and then waxed over that in my journal. It's still fine. But if it had deteriorated it would be fine too. I love to watch things acquire the patina and changes of time.

By afternoon 4 varieties of roses had popped open so I ran for the camera. I took many pictures in the garden but you'll have to settle for a few.

'Cause I can't wait to get back into the stuido. Did I mention that the floor keeps getting dotted with wax? My pristine studio; I used to be so careful. I think that's funny now.

Good-bye lovely peonies; this weather will finish you off for sure. Back to my wax or acrylic or whatever I choose for today. Drench me in color. My life is a fairy tale.