An Exploration

Exploring a Detail from a previous painting.  

I sold a large painting last year that I unfortunately didn't document.  It was an encaustic painting that continued my use of paper cast ammonites.  I do have some shots of the exhibit which includes the piece but I wish I had pictures of it for my portfolio.  I hope I'm never so happy for a sale again that I don't take the time to photograph my work!  

Anyway, this painting is from a small portion of that painting.   I wanted to explore the surface I had created a little further.  This surface is a cradle board I had purchased from jerrysartarama.com.  I built up the surface with balsa and bass woods I had from a previous project.  

The surface was primed with encaustic gesso and I began to layer wax and pigment onto the surface.  I enjoyed the process of carving back into the piece to add oil pigments.  I think I'll create at least on more painting in this vein before I move on.  While I felt like I had added a ton of color to this piece now that I can see it as a photograph it still basically reads as raw sienna.  That's another reason to remember to document my work.  That 'one degree of separation' helps me look objectively at my creations and hopefully improve.  

Coming in the next few months I'll be doing some vlogging and youtube videos for people who are interested in watched my process.  I hope they'll inspire my followers to create and explore.  

March Madness - making a miniature garden

April 11, 2016

I've been interested in making miniature art pieces lately.  A friend gave me a tea cup and I decided to make a small group of daffodils inside.

I did lots of reading and tried several tutorials.  One good source for making miniature plants is found at about.com.

The daffodils made of paper and wire are set in needle felted wool.  There is a small piece of Styrofoam inside so the flowers are secure.  I didn't want to damage the tea cup so I made the insert to be removable.  I like this idea and in my next tea cup I hope I can take advantage of having some 'hidden art' beneath the 'ground'.

Today I'm making my first miniature roses for my next tea cup.

There are two still 2 weeks left to see my pieces in an exhibit in downtown Fredericksburg called Not By The Book.  Please visit Water Street Studio.   Unfortunately, the studio is closing but it is well worth the visit.


More next time!

Working on my website and learning to package round soap

This past week I've been working on building my new website.  At the recommendation of a friend I choose to use www.weebly.com.  I have had a website for my artwork using  OtherPeoplesPixels.  I have to say if you're an artist looking for a way to present your portfolio online, I highly recommend them.  I've had a great experience with them but the focus of my site is shifting from the presentation of my artwork to the sale of soap and I found weebly easier to manage.

I'm still so surprised that my soapmaking which began by accident a little over a year ago has taken off so quickly.  In March, I'm planning to do my first event.  I'll be at the Health Expo here in town.  With that event on the horizon I've been busy making soap, packaging soap and getting promotional materials together.

My batch of Chamomile Lavender is ready to be packaged and I used my new round silicon mold.  I usually wrap my soap with handmade paper and seal it with wax, but I wasn't sure how to package my round soap...at least not in a way that was economical.   I was very glad to find this video on YouTube.

I have leftover coffee filters! Time to design some labels!

If you get a chance visit my new site

Christmas Eve!

This photograph is from a new series I will be working on..well, I was going to try set a time frame but I will be continuing this until I think I've finished with the idea.  The ammonites are cast handmade paper.  I've made some smaller pieces, about 6 x 6 with the cast ammonites and encaustic.  I learned from the small pieces that I wanted a more recessed surface to work on.  I built the frame for this piece which is approximately 12 x 18 and 1 inch deep. During my graduate work I built some large landscapes out of cardboard.  Those pieces led me to build these layers from cardboard and wood filler. Next I applied several layers of encaustic gesso.  The painting is done in encaustic and was the easiest part.  I am pretty happy with the outcome and have some jumping off point for my next piece.  After the New Year when I can get back into my studio and build a larger frame, I plan to continue building strata but cut into it so the cast paper pieces themselves are more recessed.

Tonight I will be playing my flute at the jazz service at church and spending time with my family.  Usually after church we hop in the car with travel mugs of hot chocolate to look at Christmas lights.  Wishing all a very Merry Christmas from Artful Dimensions Gallery

New adventures - I'm making soap!

     Last year the gallery where I am a member had a call for snowflakes.  I couldn't think of a single thing to do so I decided until I saw a mold for snowflakes at the craft store.  I had been reading cold process soap recipes and decided to try making the snowflakes out of soap.  They were a big hit and sold out quickly. 
     Since then I've learned a lot more about the soapmaking process.  I'm especially drawn to being able to use the herbs and plants I'm already growing.  Making my first batch of rosemary soap with my own rosemary was quite a thrill.  That other people seem to be enjoying using it as make I do is a great bonus. 
     A few months ago, The Scenter of Town began carrying my soap.  I'll be busy this winter planning new recipes and building the wooden molds I need to keep my inventory up.  I'll writing some more posts soon about my new adventure....which incidentally has helped fuel my artwork.  I'm working on some new encaustic pieces that I feel pretty good about.  
    

Artful Dimensions Gallery

     In October, I was really fortunate to be accepted into a local gallery.  Artful Dimensions is a gallery dedicated to exhibiting 3-dimensional art and fine craft.  www.artfuldimensionsgallery.com   I even have a studio there now.....Studio 6.  My studio doesn't have a ceiling so it's not a great place for me to churn up a lot of saw dust, but it's been wonderful to connect with other area artists and get both support and feedback about my work. 

The link in the next paragraph will take you a blog written by Elizabeth Woodford about textile art at the gallery.  Some of work is featured in the post. 

Artful Dimensions Gallery: Textile Arts at Artful Dimensions: For the next several posts I plan to highlight the various media that you will discover at Artful Dimensions.  We have a marvelously unique ...