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

 

winged statue

after experimenting with the clear powertex and crochet doily

i decided i was ready for the next level

sculpture

i gathered up my supplies needed

some armature wire, cheese cloth, cotton t-shirt strips, masking tape. lace trim

and an old Barbie doll's body ( which i covered with masking tape because

powertex will not stick to plastic)

i used the clear powertex because the only other color on hand is black

i started mummy wrapping at the top of body with 1 inch strips of t-shirt including the wings

on the back to help secure them and at the bottom i wrapped around the skirt

i wrapped the wings and skirt with cheesecloth

i found a decorative piece of trim and cut around the design to make a dress

the heart shape worked well as both the top and the scalloped edge on the bottom

now that i am totally addicted and have more supplies

i will be creating a lot more

so stay tuned



kumihimo and wire necklace

today I taught a class with my friend carmi

to a group of CHA members at john bead

first carmi showed us how to make the basic kumihimo braid

(4-6 inches of braid works great 

 and even the beginners got theirs made in less than an hour)

for the pendant I used 12 gauge aluminum wire  to make the heart

and 18 gauge to decorate

aluminum wire is easy to bend and is great to practice with before

moving on to more expensive wire

for more inspirations click here

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

 

 

another leather bracelet

since the last bracelet was so quick and easy

i decided to make another

this time I doubled the leather and chain

i used matching aluminum wire to make some jump rings and staples

it took a little math and some painters tape to mark the spots

where i wanted the holes to be punched

adding the staples to join the two straps together

(starting in the centre , working out and in every other hole)

then using the jump rings to connect the fancy heart chain

after that i simply glued the leather in the clasp

and finished

leather bracelets

 

i've been buzy helping my friend carmi creating

jewelry with flat leather

metal complex has made it so easy to create these bracelets

above,  a hole punch , jump rings and some fancy chain

before you know it i'm working on several more

 

 

also available are a variety of  clasps

just simply glue leather in place

simple bowl

i just purchased some clear powertex and

wanted to do a quick experiment to see how it would turn out 
i have a huge collection of crochet doilies and trims
so it was easy to pick one and make this simple bowl
i can't wait to work some more
i have so many ideas for the trim and
 turning it into some jewelry





encaustic recycle

for today's class i brought several previously painted boards

 to scrap down and reuse

but why waste the wax

above the combination of three different works

combined to make one new one

 

first i heated the artwork

then scored it into one inch strips

scraping them off the board and then rearranging them

then i heated a second one and scraped into 3 inch strips

creating a new board in white and

photo transferring a sheet of script

and created more one inch strips

after playing around i liked the mosaic effect and

 added a red panel to balance it