Drive By Blogging

It isn't that I don't want to post more often but really, I can't peel myself out of the studio for anything.

I just want to paint now. And so that's what I've been doing. My inbox is full. I'm reluctantly saying "no" to people I'd like to say "yes" to. I have my mud to play in.

All of these are cold wax. Experiments. That's what I love most of all. Making my own cold wax recipes. Trying it out with various additives. Trying it out on different substrates.

Oil paint is amazing. I got some viridian green on my apron which I wasn't aware of. Within 20 minutes it had migrated to my hands, hoodie, slacks, chair, edge of table and up my arm. Wheee!

What it is is endlessly amusing.

I like mixing different things in.

Marble dust in this one above. Really stiffens up the paint.

Today I'm going to put it on top of joint compound and plaster. Oh yes I am!

Studio organization has gotten all out of hand so I ordered another rolling supply cart like the one on the left. I have all my acrylics on the first one and the second one will be for oil based supplies. It's getting crowded in here. And I've graduated to painting the big acrylic canvases on the floor. 

Meanwhile this summer we've gotten a new roof and gutters on the house. Lots of workmen and pounding swarming the perimeter. Getting ready for winter.

Getting ready to travel across country to teach a very special group in North Carolina (see sidebar). 

Now let's run through the garden real fast.

Watermelon!

Time to can tomatoes!

Looking forward to cinnamon dried apples in the fall.

Joyful. Joyful. Summertime, when the living is easy and so very sweet. Thanks for checking in. xo

Announcement

My friends in our local encaustics group have asked me to teach them cold wax. I started working in cold wax only last year before and after taking a class with Rebecca Crowell. It's an amazing formulation to work with; right from the start I painted images that I was proud of. This was my first one below (the white one).

The soft paint is wonderful to mark into and beautiful texture is easy to achieve as well.

Here are a few more.

and this ...

and ...

lastly ...

If this looks interesting to you I hope you'll consider joining us. I'll be adding more examples in the coming months as I prepare for the class. xo

Finding True North

Mixed Media painting and non-representational are co-existing inside me this summer. So I'm refusing to choose. Just letting some days be paper play and some days be about painting on canvas.

Here is a little image for my mixed media friends. My daughter and I were visiting yesterday and she challenged me to put on the vintage dress that my mother got married in. I think that was 1941. So I put on the dress. We struggled to get the zipper closed and then Shellie took pictures of me.

Here's the image if you want to lift it off and play with it. I love repeat images for the journal. Borders and so on. Stripes and polka dots get extra points.

The outfit came from Sears and the cut is really sweet as well as the matching jacket. I thought you'd enjoy the vintage flavor. I'm planning fun stuff that my friends and I can play with in Wilmington next month. And speaking of that, wow, summer's on the move!

I spent a couple of days with the IEA group (encaustic) at the beach in Newport, Oregon. Shaun Doll came down from Seattle to give us a taste of rust paint, Ferricyanide home made colorant, and a recipe for "Monk's Ink" (the real thing) made from steel wool, vinegar and coffee. Sort of a mad scientist gathering.

Here Shaun and Karen examine some tjanting tools that Karen got in Indonesia. 

Our group is having a show at the Newport Cultural Center this month and we had an opening party on Friday evening. Here I am with my painting in wax. The bundles were gathered right outside my studio door from a ornamental grass. I simply cut handfulls of them with scissors, knotted the bundles and placed them in the niche.

This was one of the wax pieces I worked on at the retreat. It was a hot day at the beach and all I could think of was getting out of my clothes and into the water.

Following are a few recent paintings on canvas. I'm resting for awhile after finishing the 26th painting. We have house guests coming and more time at the beach scheduled. I'm enjoying the freedom of exploring in several divergent areas with my work. I want to learn how to build my own substrates as well.

Espiritu Azul 37x47"

Soft Parade 38x48"

Pauling's Theorem 36x46"

Cherry Coke 37x47"

Yearning 37x48"

Let me know what you think of the new paintings; I need critical feedback. Whatever you have to say, I can take it.

Thanks for stopping by. Wish I could serve you some lemonade. xo