new colors, new paintings

I'm rushing to get some work done in studio with some new colors I got from Sinopia (namely the yummy reds and yellows you see in this piece).  My schedule is suddenly filling up very quickly and I'm afraid I won't be able to get back to studio for a while, so there's this artistic urgency.  Here is something new I think I'm done with - as soon as I say  a thing like that I'll probably go back and attack it with a scraper, but what the heck.  I'll try to restrain myself and just finish the edges then wire it to hang.

Making more artworks

I have been trying to dedicate some time to studio, and am pleased to present the first of a series of encaustic paintings!  I'm calling the series "Instinct" because I let instinct guide me a lot.  I figure if the universe brought something to my path and it's not icky, so be it.  Let's roll.  

And that's what happened with encaustics.  I happened to see some work by Sally Condon in a downtown Albuquerque gallery and fell in love with it.  I had to learn that technique!  So I found a workshop in Santa Fe and learned from one of the best (and nicest) around - Ellen Koment.  I quickly set up my studio and got to work.  All of this despite the fact I have no time between my job and the gallery, have no space - I gave up my out-of-house studio and moved home, and have no money, but plenty of canvas and acrylics.  Instinct told me to do this, and I am loving it!

My new page, encaustics, has photos of the first works of the series.  More to come.

Here's another, larger piece I'm working on.  

Encaustics!

Lest you think I have absolutely no time to MAKE any art, I will tell about my newest adventure in painting: encaustics.  It involved making a medium with beeswax and resin, then adding pigment to create the 'paint'.  Then the colored wax is heated to liquid form, and you paint with it.  A small blowtorch is used to fuse the layers of wax and color together every few layers.  Yep, you got it, art with hot wax and a blowtorch.  What could be more fun?

I took a workshop from Ellen Koment (love her!) in Santa Fe in May, and have now started my own little wax workshop at home here in Albuquerque.  Ellen is an amazing artist and laid-back instructor.  Her workshop was so much fun, I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the medium.

So anyway, here is something I am working on at home.  I'm calling it 'Fiber' today.  Stay tuned for more.