Where does the time go?

Nobody told me how much work outside of making art it takes to be "legit."  I have been up to my ears in alligators planning for shows, classes and so forth.  I love it all, but I need an extra day of the week.  Don't you?

Tonight I will be finishing a couple of paintings, framing and wiring, and doing a price list.  Our little shared-space gallery is participating in the Anacortes First Friday Art Walk this Friday, and the three of us are hanging new work.  We are excited about this show because this month, it is a two-day event, and we will not only be entertaining those who drop by Friday, we will also be demo-ing on Saturday for a few hours.  The start of summer in Anacortes is a time of anticipation and excitement that good times are here!

And in July, I will be on The Skagit Artists Together Studio Tour, which is exciting as well.  I will be hosting in my brand new studio, which is in the lower level of my home.  It's walk-out, so no stairs!

And then, I will be starting a new series for the La Conner Arts Alive! Show at Maple Hall the first weekend in November.  Yikes!  All that, and I will continue to teach through the summer.
 
For the past couple of years, I have run my summer series of weekly classes for both acrylics and watercolors at the Burlington and Anacortes Senior Centers that I call "Art Camp for Adults," in which anything goes with any medium.  Always fun, and the students enjoy the "play time."

But, that's not all.  I have been loving working in my new studio, particularly with my encaustics ... that I don't have to put away after I use them.  They can stay up and be ready to use in an instant.  Now it is no longer a big effort to set up and clean up.  So, here is the result of my most recent effort with beeswax.

Encaustic Crows with pigmented beeswax, oil pastels and oil bars ~ 12" x 12" on 1/4 inch five ply

Under Every Painting There is an Abstract Painting

 

 

Acrylics Texturized Mixed Media ~ 12 x 12 ~ Still Life

 

 

Acrylics ~Texturized Mixed Media ~ Abstract ~ 12 x 12

 

Here's how that paradigm worked for me.  I did the abstract in a workshop and was not really thrilled by it, even though I folloowed the instructions pretty much as the instructor gave them.  For me, it lacks heart or "honesty."  I like absracts and I like trying to abstract [verb] my work sometimes, but this missed the mark a bunch. 

So, over the course of July and August, I have been doing classes I have called Art Camp for Seniors, in which we "played" with paint, gels, mediums collage papers, texturizing "tools," and, of course, buble wrap!  I told the students at each class, to think of these pieces as underpaintings until we arrived at a place where we were happy enough with the results, that they were no longer underpaintings, but "finished" pieces.  This gave everyone permission to let go of their expectations to leave each class with a finished piece, and to loosen up.  It worked very well for most everyone. 

As we neared the end of the series, I chose to do a set-up in my classes of fruit, wine bottles and glasses that they could do, only if they used some of their previously texturized surfaces.  I used the one above, and the results are at the top of this post.  I am pretty pleased with my fruit and bottle on a texturized surface, with the addition of a wine label, also texturized and "patina-ed" with Quin Gold and Quinacridone Burnt Orange.   Along with my students, I am beginning to really believe that a painting is indeed an underpainting until I say it's done!

Another Encaustic

Flirty Lady ~ Encaustic ~ 12 x 12





This is yet another experiment with my encaustics.  After priming the board with a couple of layers of medium, I burnished the start of a pen drawing onto the board, and finished my little lady with layers of encausitc wax paint and fusion with a heat gun.  Not as easy [at least for me] as it looks!  I need a lot more practice, but it's a start and I am enjoying the process.  Again and still, it's all about "What ifs." 

It's been too long ...

I know, it's summer, and so many of us are taking a break.  I have been taking a break from blogging, but have been keeping busy with my art ... evolving, I hope, or shifting a few gears.  Do you find that happening to you in your work occasionally?  There should be a support group for that!

Although I still teach and love teaching so much, I have gotten in a little rut with my own work, but have been "detouring" around "what I do," or what I used to do, which has been pretty traditional watercolors and acrylics.  Occasionally, I teach a one-day workshop in Watercolor Batiks, which I so enjoy, and have found myself gravitating toward other wax works.  Have been messing about in encaustics and loving it, but have been shy about sharing what I have been doing. 

I started by watching a few How-toYou Tube clips and setting up my studio annex in my kitchen, and loving it!  But I haven't shown my new work publicly, so here it goes!

Poppies 2, Encaustic Painting, 12 x  12 on Board

Poppies ~ Encaustic Painting 12 x 12 on board