encaustic

"by the sea"

encaustic diptic

8 x 10 wooden cradles

encaustic and shellac

just a little experimenting with color and texture 

and any excuse to get out the blow torch

 

encaustic

working on a new series for an upcoming show

 

getting back to what I really love

texture and rusted metal

encaustic

 time for a little experimenting

encaustic and pan pastels

the thing i love the most about painting with encaustic is

 after 15 years there is always something new to learn

last month i was visiting an artist in the distillery

joya paul , i really loved the look of her new work and

she was happy to share her process with me

pan pastels

usually i would use oil paints or oil pastels

to rub in and add color

i love the translucent effect it give to the wax

encaustic-- i love texture

one of the reasons I fell in love with encaustic

is the amazing texture you can create

creating texture with encaustic

the  one thing I love the most about working with encaustic medium

is creating wonderful textures

 above, details from my painting

below, the inspiration , photos taken in new Orleans

a coach house in the garden district

encaustic

 my latest paintings where inspired by my country drive to owen sound on the may longweekend

the skies went from grey to blue, the fields where array of greens and along side the roads

the remnants of last fall
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the foreground grasses where picked from the garden at the cottage
 and the rusted nails used for the fence i found at a yard sale along the way

encaustic

one of the many paintings i completed last month

during my week away

my color palette seemed to keep with blues

with a touch of green

some grey and white

with a bit of chocolate brown

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below, some details of the texture

a week of painting

i'm feeling truly bless and grateful to have a wonderful friend who owns this

fantastic cottage on georgian bay

 

it was a perfect week of painting, waking up to the sunrise, walks on the beach,

 naps, the constant sound of the waves , driving the back roads taking photos

no worries and a little r & r

 

the best view for inspiration and Sidney (bottom right) was great company

i finished 13 painting with 2 more in the works

 

a sneak peak at all the wonderful texture i created

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as soon as i go through over 500 hundred photos

i will post again

body in motion

I really love the simplicity of this sculpture

this basic dance pose was created with wire, foil, masking tape and gauze

covered in a layer of green powertex and highlighted by using stone art

the texture shows really shows off the form

the wood base was covered with cheesecloth and green powertex

and dry brushed with white powertex

the texture is amazing 

image transfer with powerprint

the one thing that really intrigued me about powertex was being able to incorporate photos

their product powerprint is so easy to use

 

 I mixed blue and ivory powertex to create the sky

working on the top two thirds I painted the canvas and then added stoneart to create some texture

paying more attention to the edges

I used bronze powertex for the "earth" and adding an extra thick layer in the centre

letting it sit for 5 minutes to create a "skin" I added stoneart  and gently rubbed it in

this made some really cool cracks

to add to the ground texture I painted some cardboard and powercotton

powerprint is so easy to use

simple apply a thin coat to the area and add your toner based photocopy face down

allow to completely dry ( use can use a dryer to speed the process)

once dried just add water and rub

powertex and stoneart mask

while shopping at a local art supply store I came across this plastic mask with stand

I loved the shape and could see so many possibilities so I bought two

above is my first project, bronze powertex and stone art

i first covered the plastic with masking tape so the powertex would adhere

then a coating of bronze powertex and then a bit of stone art

the first layer looked a bit flat so I added another layer , then another

finally after five layers i started seeing the texture i like

powertex and stoneart

now that I have had some time playing with powertex I finally got a chance to

take it to the next level, adding stoneart

supplies used, styrofoam , cardboard, plaster head , powertex and stoneart

after adding a layer of powertex it's as simple as adding the stoneart

gently rubbing to create texture

after several layers i was happy with the results

to highlite the stoneart I used Bister (a water based patina)

I just love the texture it creates

to finish it off I added a little white to really make the texture "pop"

encaustic class

 

sometimes it just happens!! that's what I love about encaustic

 

and I love the texture it creates

 

encaustic class

for this months class i was still in the recycle mode

going through my studio to find unfinished canvases

i found plenty that needed to be completed or scrapped down and reused

the above canvas had layers of texture

once i hit it with the iron i soon realized what was hidden beneath

a collage of old maps and book pages

this inspired me to dig through my stash of found objects, metal and embellishments 

 



details showing the exposed maps and book pages ( top and bottom left)

texture (bottom right) and

new elements of toothpicks, wire , copper sheeting and rusted washer

encaustic

i think the winter has had a huge effect on my creative mood

and wishing for spring

after dividing the board into thirds

i  painted the top third in layers of taupe, beige and then white

for the bottom it was a mix of oranges with a bit of yellow and red

and then chocolate brown and black

i used one of my tree  photos and applied a photo transfer

 

encaustic

in last weeks class i cleaned several old boards

creating one new one

with one of the newly cleaned  boards i created the above

covering the board with old book pages and a ticket stub

for the first layer i used a "glaze" of ocher

allowing the text to show throw the wax

then i started building the texture

using a grid stencil in the center

and alternating red and white wax

using the heat gun to smooth out a few spots and

to highlite the texture i rub in some burnt umber oil paint

and remove the excess from the top