Getting Inspired!

Getting lots of inspiration from the current book I'm reading, "Daring Adventures in Paint" by Mati Rose McDonough. I have picked this book up and put it back down several times in the book store, and soooo glad I finally bought the book last week! Her colors and whimsical designs speak to me...

Mati Rose offers up in this book not only step by step instructions for creating artworks with beautiful, bold pictures, but she also shares her process for finding inspiration with lots of juicy pictures, narrative of her thoughts and great prompt questions that got me thinking... There is so much sage artist's wisdom in this book, that I keep having to stop myself from reading to head to Twitter and share snippets with my followers. You can read these excerpts @DietzArt; and follow her @MatiRose.

If you want to take a look inside Mati Rose's book, click HERE. To buy the book, just go to the Amazon link at the top of my blog page and click on the Amazon Bookstore. They have very helpful reader reviews there as well.

Happy Arting!  :) Tristina

Gotta Make It!

There are just some days I HAVE to make ART! I know you feel the same way too... Here's a quick, simple and FUN way to get some creative on:

Today's art journal page

Snag a mixed media journal book like the above on AquaBee heavyweight drawing paper or Strathmore Visual Journal mixed-media paper, then grab the nearest Mixed-Media or Art magazine/book and start thumbing through for inspiration. Today's journal page is a combination of images from the recent July/August Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine and Pam Carriker's book, 'Art at the Speed of Life'.

Cloth Paper Scissors magazine and micron pens

Use a waterproof pen like the Sakura Micron or Pitt markers and quickly sketch some images...remember, don't THINK too much, just relax, breathe and draw what you see.

Pelikan cake watercolors.

Fill a cup with water and use a small #6 round watercolor brush to wet and pick up pigment from dry color sets like Pelikan above or Koi. Both give great color and instantly satisfying results. Slosh on the color at will, even waiting for some to dry before going back in with more color. Keep the brush filled with water and use a paper towel if needed to sop some of the water out of the brush.

When done coloring, allow your page to dry (will only take a few minutes) step back and SMILE! Then, go about your day with that need to CREATE satisfied!

Happy Arting,  Tristina :D

Mounting With UGlu Tape

One of the questions that sometimes comes up about working with encaustic wax paintings on paper is how to mat the paintings when the artwork is soaked in wax? I usually simply use white painters tape to hold the back of the wax soaked paper works when the piece extends beyond the edges of the mat opening, but what to do with a piece that is smaller than the mat opening? I have been experimenting with buying different glues to find what works best for this task and just came across double-sided acid free UGlu Tape! Here is a tutorial on how to mount your encaustic wax on paper works with UGlu Tape to fit inside a mat opening...

Supplies needed:

Encaustic Wax Monotype or Painting on Paper

1 Roll Double-Sided UGlu Tape

1 Mat Mounting Board with Precut Hole (mine is 9in x 12in with a 6in x 8in hole)

1 Sheet Watercolor Paper the size of the Mat Board (mine is 9in x 12in)

1 Alcohol Marker (I used a Utrecht marker in a color to compliment the artwork)

1 3inch Piece of  Silicon Paper (the UGlu is on silicon paper)

1 Razor

Cutting Mat or Pad of Newsprint Paper

Piece of Waxed Paper

Step 1.  Using the chisel point tip of the alcohol pen, run it at an angle along the beveled part of the mat opening. I like to also run it slightly over the edge of the bevel to get an organic looking uneven line.

Step 2.  The UGlu glue strip is attached to a piece of silicon paper. To get a piece of plain silicon paper to use for this tutorial, unroll about 3 inches of the tape and fold it forward on itself so that the glue strip portion sticks to itself. Place the tape on a pad of Newsprint paper or cutting mat and cut through the doubled over tape section, making sure to cut where there is silicon paper both on the bottom and top, with a razor blade. Pull apart the silicon paper part of the strip and attach the doubled over glue to a piece of Newsprint so that it will come off and leave you with a 3 inch strip of plain silicon paper.

NOTE: You can not cut directly through the glue side of the strip as the glue will stick to the razor and bunch up. Also, I have tried to use Freezer paper and Waxed paper as a release paper for the glue and they do not work. Only silicon paper works as a release paper for this glue.

Step 3.  Measure a 6 inch strip of UGlu glue tape. Place the plain piece of silicon paper on the glue tape at the end closest to the tape roll. Using the razor on a pad of Newsprint paper or cutting mat, cut through a portion of the tape that has silicon paper on both the top and bottom about 1/8inch from the double silicon paper end. Remove the top piece of plain silicon paper to re-use for your next cut.

NOTE: You will have a little piece of silicon paper left on the top of the glue strip nearest the tape roll when you finish cutting. Leave this there to help you pull out your next length of glue tape before making your next cut. Be sure to remove this small strip of excess silicon before using this piece of glue tape. 

Step 4.  Cut another 6 inch strip of UGlu glue tape and two (2) 4 inch strips as in step 3 above.

Step 5.  Position one of the 6 inch glue strips, glue side down, in the center of a 9 inch side of the BACK of the mat board. Do NOT remove the silicon protective strip on top! Do the same for the other 9 inch side on the BACK of the mat board.

Step 6.  Position one of the 4 inch glue strips, glue side down, in the center of a 12 inch side of the BACK of the mat board. Do NOT remove the silicon protective strip on top. Do the same for the other 12 inch side on the BACK of the mat board.

Step 7.  Remove the silicon paper from the top of one of the 9 inch side glue strips, exposing the glue. Position the 9 inch x 12 inch watercolor paper with one of the 9 inch sides over the exposed glue and lay it gently on top of the glue strip. Press on the back of the watercolor paper from the center of the glue strip out to the sides to remove any air bubbles and attach the watercolor paper to the back of the mat board along the glue strip.

Step 8.  Lift the watercolor paper off the back of the mat board and remove the silicon sheets from the other 3 glue strips. Gently lay the watercolor paper over the exposed glue strips beginning from the already attached end, lightly burnishing the back of the paper with your hand to help it adhere to the glue.

Step 9.  Flip the mat over to the front.

 Step 10.  Position your artwork over the watercolor paper in the opening to determine where to put glue strips to hold the work in place and see how many strips you will need. Cut the strips as in step 3 above approximately 1 to 1 1/2 inches shorter than the length of your artwork. Place the strips glue side down on the watercolor paper inside the mat opening.

NOTE: I cut 2 pieces of UGlu glue tape to 5 1/2 inches in this example as my art paper is 7 inches wide.

Step 11.  Remove the silicon paper to expose the UGlu glue strips, position the artwork over top of the glue as desired and gently press the paper down onto the glue strips. Cover the painting with a piece of waxed paper and gently burnish over the surface, starting in the middle and working your way out to the edges, to assure the artwork is securely attached to the background watercolor paper.

Voila! Your piece is DONE. Enjoy! :)

Remember, you can choose any color and texture of background paper other than white watercolor paper to spice up your mounted print. Just make sure the paper you choose is heavy enough (at least 100lb / 270g/m2) to handle hanging long-term without sagging. If you prefer a lighter weight paper for the background, just attach it to a piece of heavier watercolor paper with permanent spray adhesive, YES paper paste or acrylic regular gel medium matte and allow to dry before starting this project.

Happy Arting!   Tristina

Encaustic Kitchen Mixology

When I first read books about encaustic wax painting, they all mentioned that it is economical and advantageous based on your painting needs to make your own encaustic medium from beeswax and damar resin... Right! I figured I would never need to take the time to make my own medium because it would surely be readily available from my local art supply stores... Wrong! In a desperate pinch, I found myself having to work some kitchen magic to make encaustic medium for a class I was teaching. Now I no longer tremble in fear. It's really quite simple!

I grabbed the kitchen supplies from KMart - candy thermometer, 4 quart saucepan (I recommend one with side pouring lip(s)), a small metal strainer, tight woven cloth for straining (like organza) and a cookie sheet or ice tray... preferably a silicon one! I found some great silicon King Cube ice trays at Ace Hardware to help with easily popping out the cooled blocks of medium. SCORE! :)

If you haven't already, grab Linda and William Womack's book, Embracing Encaustic; they have an easy to understand recipe and great pictures to help you along with the making encaustic medium process. The formula simply uses white beeswax and damar resin (not damar varnish!). The resin looks like light colored chunks of amber and is quite hard. I found the Jacquard beeswax at Jerrys Artarama. Sometimes you can find the beeswax and resin at Pearl Paint, and Utrecht as well - look for it in the oil painting area.

Making the encaustic medium in your kitchen is so easy. I usually use 2 pounds (2 bags or 32oz) of white beeswax and 4 ounces of damar resin. I make sure to turn the stove top extractor fan on high, then throw in enough beeswax to cover the bottom of the pan to at least 1/8 of an inch, bring it to 175 degrees F / 80 degrees C on a burner and wait for it to melt - swirl the candy thermometer around in the wax and watch the temp carefully. When all the wax in the bottom of the pan is melted, I add all 4 oz of the damar resin at once and raise the temp to 220 degrees F / 105 degrees C. The resin will begin to sizzle and pop...this is ok! Swirl the resin and small amount of wax around until the resin is liquefied (this could take up to 15 min)  then pour in the rest of the 2 pounds of beeswax. Turn the temperature back down to 175F/80C, put the lid on the pot, and keep an eye on the melting, occasionally stirring with the candy thermometer.

 It can take a half an hour or more for all the wax to melt. When all in the pan is liquefied, use the candy thermometer to swirl together the ingredients. Pour the liquid medium out of the pan, through the fine cloth (like organza) and through the metal strainer into the cookie sheet or ice cube tray. Set aside to cool.

If using a cookie tray, cut the medium in squares with a knife while still warm. After the medium cools, pop out of the blocks of finished medium...if they are difficult to get out, put the tray in the refrigerator or freezer for 5 to 10 minutes, the flip the tray over and bang on the back. All will pop out easily!

Now that I have made encaustic medium several times, I wonder why I ever stressed so much about doing it. Is there something you have avoided doing along your artistic journey that you can try soon in order to overcome your fear? Thanks for sharing the activity you attempted and conquered with me and other readers in the comments below...

HAPPY ARTING!      Tristina

Marker World Adventures

I have to admit I feel much more comfortable with a paint brush, chunk of charcoal, graphite pencil or pastel in my hand than a marker. There just seems to be something, well... so permanent about a stroke of marker color that freaks me out. Of course, as an artist I believe that where I am uncomfortable or unknowing I must go! Here is where some of my recent experimentation has lead me into Marker World...

Text and Border play with Chartpak black marker on Strathmore Bristol Vellum 300 series paper.

Just before the December holiday festivities I was watching Tuesday Schmooseday livestream art demonstrations (for FREE) on CraftyLink.com and was turned on by artist Tracey to a new book, "Journal Bliss" by Violette. Tracey lives in England; I just loved how she said in her British accent that Violette's book contains her favorite inspirations for art journaling, so I immediately went on my Amazon.com store (see the link at the top of this page) and ordered "Journal Bliss".

I am enjoying working through the book, and especially like the curly, fun text styles shown in it's colorful and extremely graphic pages. I decided to test out my large Chartpak markers with some of the book's letters and borders. If I let the marker nib sit for a split second on the paper before starting or when ending a stroke, the color tended to soak & disperse into the paper slightly. Where the color soaked in, there was a little bleeding onto the page underneath. I recommend that if you want to try the Chartpak markers to work with a heavier paper than the Strathmore Bristol Vellum 300 series (100lb - 270g/m2) and look for a more dense smooth surface so the marker is less likely to spread or bleed.

Also, the Chartpak markers are large round (a little difficult for me to manage in my hands) and solvent based, so they have a strong smell. The solvent has it's benefits, though, one of which is that the clear blender can be used to transfer laser copies (from the large copy machines at Kinko's or other office supply stores) onto other surfaces by simply laying the copy printed side down on the surface to be transferred to, rubbing the back until saturated with the Chartpak Blender Marker. burnishing, allowing the paper to dry, then removing the copy. Remember when using this transfer technique to copy any numbers and letters mirror image so that they come out right when transferred. Here's a tutorial on this technique: http://youtu.be/ayMMeviJx-E

Playing with Utrecht alcohol based colored markers on Strathmore Bristol Vellum 300 series paper.

The Utrecht markers are an economical alternative to more expensive professional markers. They have good color coverage and are low odor (slight smell of rubbing alcohol), but I found their round size a little large for my hands. Also, I would use these markers to work out a design idea, but would not use them for a finished professional product that I would sell unless the coloring were to be used as an accent to a bold black/grey image. They are, however, perfect markers to use while enjoying an art activity with friends and family or for scrapbooking! These are the markers that I used with friends when creating the artwork in my last "Doodle Mania" post.

Playing with Copic alcohol based colored markers on Strathmore Bristol Vellum 300 series paper.

While playing with a group of 20 Copic Sketch markers in my stash for the above picture, I found the markers to be low-odor, the size of the marker is just right for my hands, and the color is brilliant The ink flows on the paper smoothly and the coverage is dense. I did not experience any soaking or spread when working on the Bristol paper; the color went right where I put it with perfection! I can say with confidence that I could use these markers to make finished artwork that would look professional and bright. 

Even though purchasing the Copic Sketch markers is a BIG investment (there are 358 colors at about $8 per marker retail - check out Dick Blick online for a cheaper price), the brilliant thing is you can replace worn nibs and they are REFILLABLE!  Each ink bottle will refill the markers anywhere from 10 to 12 times. Purchasing these markers is an investment to last you many years. However, if for some reason you were to want to give up all or a portion of your Copic Sketch marker stash at any time, there is a thriving community of art enthusiasts on eBay looking to buy the used markers.

There are lots of video tutorials for how to use Copic markers on YouTube and a bunch of informative blogs by certified Copic teachers, including showing the different methods of refilling the Copic markers. One of the bloggers, Sharon Harnist, is kind enough to have a chart available on her blog that can be printed out, then simply color in the spaces with the markers you own so at a glance you can see what colors and blending options you have. I printed my chart on a light cardstock rather than plain printer paper so it can withstand being dragged in and out of my car when buying more markers - especially when they are on sale at Michaels! Click this web address to get the free chart or cut and paste it into your browser: http://paperfections.typepad.com/files/2012_1-pg_copic-blank-color-chart_sharon-harnist.pdf . If the link here doesn't work, just go to http://paperfections.typepad.com (no www) and search on "marker color chart" in the archives. Select the first article that appears and there will be a link in that blog post to the free Copic marker chart.

One of the many benefits I found with the Copic Sketch markers is they are designed to create beautiful blends by "flicking" the colors into one another, and I intend to practice this technique more to see where it takes my art-making and journal adventures...

Devon's poem, "I love you" and drawing with Utrecht markers and Sakura pens.

As usual, while I had out the markers from this article, my 13 year-old grabbed some of the Utrecht markers and a supply of my Micron and Sakura Souffle and Gelly Roll pens and drew the poem and pictures above. There's nothing like seeing the beauty created by those in an environment where the creative juices are flowing!

Happy Experimenting!

  Tristina

Doodle Mania!

Ahhh, collaborative art making... Last weekend I sat down to try the first prompt in the new book by Traci Bautista, Doodles Unleashed, with a friend of my daughter's who had an itch to "make something". I grabbed out colorful Utrecht alcohol markers, some Tim Holtz stamps, cat-eye chalk ink pads, a bunch of stencils and my favorite pens (Sakura brand Micron size 1 and Gelly Roll) to get the ball rolling. Using the Spontaneous Marks book ideas, we began scribbling color onto our Bristol papers with giddy abandon.

 Sarah Rodeberg "Doodles Unleashed" inspired artwork.

For my doodle page, I decided to try out some stamps I hand carved and experiment with the Sakura Souffle pens as well - they add that little bit of puffy shine to the design.

Couldn't help myself... had to add the raffle coupon!

The next prompt in Traci's book had us Finding the Doodle; randomly painting on a page and then doodling around the shapes. This was so much fun, my 13 year old, Devon, got in on the fun...

 Reminds me of Dr Seuss' Whoville. Acrylic paint and India ink.

Just amazing what kids see in the swirls!

There is sooooo much more to discover in Traci's book, I'll show you the results of my working through her prompts as I try them out.

I've also recently been working in another book, Creative Doodling and Beyond, by Stephanie Corfee. Stephanie includes examples of her stylized doodles, then gives blank pages adjacent for her doodle fans to practice with. My favorite pens for her exercises are the Micron colored fine-point markers. They give great control and don't soak through to the opposite side of the pages. I'm just in the beginning of this book, but looking ahead I am excited to try her projects using dimensional paint to doodle custom stamps, make gift bag tags, doodling on photographs, creating custom banners, embellishing fabric...and BEYOND!!! I moved into an art journal with a left over paint background to try my hand at Stephanie's doodles today and here's what was created using Sakura Gelly Roll pens:

Stephanie's book page is to the left... doodles in my journal to the right.
See the hidden protozoans with a tail I added to my design? Yes, I'm a closet scientist! :)

More of this weekend's journal play included doodles and stylized words inspired from Handcrafted magazine vol 8 (winter 2012).  [Got so much art-making done these last few days, it feels GOOD!] On this page I also created color samples of different pens (Sakura Souffle, Gelly Roll, Micron) & China markers (grease pencils) and experimented with them all on the page to chart their effects. I also pulled out the Twinkling H2O's shimmering watercolors to throw a little sparkle onto the page. My favorite text from this play is the word "wish". Will have to look for an art piece in progress to use that on... and if you're like me, that means you have at least 5 pieces in various stages of work at all times!

To perfect our ART, it helps to PRACTICE. My advice: grab a doodle book or any magazine and start playing with what you see. Keep it simple. Create fun variations of common motifs like hearts, flowers, leaves, swirls, words, houses, animals, faces, etc. Then, play with color. Eventually, you will find that... inspiration is EVERYWHERE! 

Happy Doodling!   Tristina

Small Steps On Our Artistic Journey

I was in Los Angeles last week and was surprised & delighted to see an interesting way to display artwork... a large painted canvas was grometted and fixed to the outside wall of a building on Sunset Blvd. Beguiling!

In addition to my reading several artful books and magazines lately, I have become enthralled with watching videos on YouTube. There is such a wealth of sharing going on in the cyber-world...for FREE! I began my online quest to look up examples of artists using one of my favorite art supplies, PanPastels, in mixed media. WOW, it was a revelation stumbling across france-pappillon.com and Donna Downey's YouTube videos. Thank you so much to these artists for allowing me and our readers to be INSPIRED by watching the art unfold right before our eyes. If you are a visual learner, there is a bounty waiting to be had online; and in easy to digest bite-sized chunks of time from one minute to a half hour and more - enough to whet or satiate everyone's appetite!

It was fun today to play Donna Downey's "Listen to your inner voice" canvas painting YouTube video with lovely background music (it ran for almost a half hour) while I created the below mixed media painting (it's not done yet, but well on it's way):

At the end of the most recent Nov/Dec Cloth Paper Scissors magazine there is a lovely article by Soraya Nulliah about finding ourselves as artistic creators. It says in part, "Every small step leads to another place where the whole world opens up and is full of exciting discoveries and possibilities. Reading an inspiring book, signing up for a class, making time and space for everyday creativity - all of these activities will support your artful journey." So much wisdom is available for us out there if we just take those first steps, then keep stepping ahead on our artistic journey...

Happy Creating!  Tristina

Free Your Mind for Inspiration

I'm being inspired these days reading Sue Bleiweiss' book, "The Sketchbook Challenge". Makes me want to dig right in to my journal and create SOMETHING! Don't you sometimes find yourself staring at a blank page/canvas, or simply colored background wondering what your next step should be? Yes, I find myself there, too! Using a colorful book full of tidbits from accomplished mixed-media artists like "The Sketchbook Challenge" can really help to get unstuck.

I wrote a short paragraph on the blank page about looking at other artist's work to get inspiration and imagine what materials & techniques were used to create their pieces, then I used a brush marker to make the shoe and flowers. The colors are from Derwent Inktense water soluble colored pencils and water. A painting with a shoe attached by one of my daughters was the inspiration for this page.

Artist Lyric Kinard in Sue's book says, "My sketchbook is a place where ideas come into being, time is filled, the brain is allowed to wander freely without expectations or limits. Compositions are explored and themes are developed...but mostly it is a place to play." In that place of playfulness, I tell myself that the work is not precious; if I don't like what I create I can work over it! This frees my mind to get ideas flowing to the page/canvas. I surrender to the idea that whatever comes out of me, through me really, is OK. Don't worry that something might look dumb, or won't look 'right' (what's 'right' anyway? as long as it's YOU it's good!). Try an exercise I learned from Claudine Hellmuth to get out of having to make your work 'perfect' and do an entire project with your non-dominant hand. It makes your work look more child-like and helps free our need for perfection!

I was flipping through a drawing book and saw these exercises when I decided to do all the strokes with my left hand (I'm right handed). I love the unpredictable, jagged, organic look this gives my work.

I really appreciate the section in Sue's book where she invites her guest artists to consider everyday objects. This is a subject that every one of us can make use of at the spur of the moment. The examples from the artists of how they touchstoned from this concept to making their sketchbook studies of scissors, forks and knives helped me better observe beauty in the ordinary. I especially like what artist Kelli Nina Perkins said, "Imagining my everyday objects brings a smile." She also suggested as an idea (and it's shown in the book) to make 'clean' sketches in our journals so that later the pages can be scanned and transferred on to paper or fabric as the basis for other pieces of artwork (her sketches were scanned and put on fabric to make pillows, then she chose to paint some of the images with a vibrant transparent paint - they are gorgeous).

Here I grabbed a photo one of my friends shared on Facebook that intrigued me and played around with the shapes. Shells fascinate me! The spiral shape top right I now use in my paintings.

You can learn more about Sue and The Sketchbook Challenge by going to www.SueBleiweiss.com and www.TheSketchbookChallenge.com. Find projects at www.SueBleiweiss.com/blog/free-projects/. Now, go free your mind and get sketching/painting/dancing...whatever creative outlet your heart desires! Be playful and organic. Create to your heart's content. :D

Tristina

The Exhilaration of Competition!

Ahh, the smell of fresh green grass and the shade of old oak trees, sharing time with my daughter on a beautiful sunny day along the waterfront... Enjoyed this real life experience Saturday in the Riverfront park Broward Art Guild sponsored Quick Draw timed painting competition. My fellow artists and I had 2 hours to make our creations in the idyllic setting while passer's by stopped to ask questions, photograph & wonder at the art making happening right before their eyes!

Working with Charcoal and Pan Pastels to make a quick underpainting.

My daughter, Devon, in the background working on her clock drawing.

This was my first timed competition. Over the several days leading up to the event, my emotions and calendar kept waffling; did I really want to stretch myself to make a full mixed-media painting in just 2 hours? Could I get done in that short time? What subject would I paint that could be portrayed quickly and tie in with the environment? The event was taking place outdoors; was it going to rain on us - it always seems to rain around 3pm in steamy Florida and the competition straddled this time?! What would I do with my two daughters, age 13 and 16; would they come or stay home - could I trust them alone? But...my car really needs a good wash / wax and the only time the guy's available is Saturday afternoon...and on and on.

13 year old Devon drawing the clock. Photo by Sun Sentinel's Mike Stocker.

Don't you find that sometimes it just takes making the decision to bite the bullet and make it work? I finally decided to just do it! To put my fears (pesky internal dialogue (I know you have some too!)) aside and commit to having fun no matter what. I made the decision to participate in the Quick Draw early Friday evening and spent time after the kids went to bed gathering supplies: Gloves (check), Gesso (check), Liquid Matte Medium (check), Regular Gel Medium (check), Brushes, Watercolor Paper, Water and Alcohol Spray Bottles, Texture Tools, Apron, Painter's Tape, Paper Pallet, Old Dictionary, Fabric, Oranges Mesh Bag, Bubble Wrap, Scissors, Cotton Balls, Water Containers with Lids, Water Jug, Drop Cloth, Paper Towels, Trash Bag, Easel, Chairs, Table, etc.. Then for mixed media: Pan Pastels, Pastel Sponges, Acrylic Paint, Oil Pastels, Charcoal and other Pencils, Inktense Watercolor Pencils, NeoColor II Water Soluble Crayons, DecoColor Acrylic Pens and Ranger Alcohol Inks. Whew! That was a mouthful. I then selected a gallery wrap canvas and slathered it with Golden white Absorbent Ground so the surface would take pastel well, leaving it to dry overnight. By then it was late in the wee hours of the night, but I went to sleep satisfied that I would be prepared the next afternoon.

Devon and me under the beautiful shady trees on the river. Photo by Sun Sentinel's Mike Stocker.

I was thrilled that Devon chose to come with! We checked in, loaded up our supplies on a hand-truck and wandered back and forth along the riverfront searching for the "perfect subject". Settling on the clock tower, we found a beautiful area under big shady trees to set up. We had a half hour before the start of the timed competition to arrange ourselves. After I had my drop cloth down and canvas set up on the easel, you wouldn't believe it, but some parrots up in the tree above us let'r rip onto my canvas...bird poop streamed down. Thankfully I jumped out of the way, so it only got on the canvas and drop cloth. I took this as an excellent sign of good luck! Grabbed a paper towel, wiped the poop off best I could, and got my pan pastels ready for the starting horn. My adrenaline really started flowing when the piercing air-horn blasted.

Laying the underpainting with Pan Pastels. Photo by Sun Sentinel's Mike Stocker.

I had decided the night before that I would look for an architectural feature and make a somewhat abstract, loosey goosey rendering using Pan Pastels for an underpainting because they are so color rich and easy to apply in big strokes with a sponge (I was trying out the Pan Pastel brand sponges, but you can use cosmetic wedge sponges just as well). Lots of people stopped by fascinated by the Pan Pastels! I explained that they are my favorite because they are pigment rich for bold colors and barely make any dust; they don't have any dusting off the surface of the canvas, so I didn't have to wear a face mask! The underpainting took about 40 minutes. 

Then I went into mixed-media high gear... I grabbed a page out of the old dictionary with words around the definition of "circular" and cut circles that were glued to the clock face with regular gel medium. Then I added some of my hand colored tissue and fabric to the painting in the same manner. Next, I sprayed the painting in areas with rubbing alcohol and squirted the alcohol inks on to create fast-drying runny highlights; I turned the canvas upside down also while doing this to get the ethereal feel of dripping up in places. Moving on to acrylic paint, I used a champagne cork I found in the grass while setting up to stamp different color "bubbles" on the painting, then used my favorite copper and brass colored paints to paint in the clock. A charcoal pencil came in handy at that point to re-define the lines of the clock, so that I could come back in with payne's grey paint on a small brush to loosely paint in the lines. Devon was finished with her drawing / painting at this point and named it "Alternate Universe".

Devon's "Alternate Universe"

My parents had joined Devon and me during the flurry. Dad, looking with fresh eyes, suggested that my painting needed a tree! Wow, I had about 20 minutes left, so I went for the soft, creamy Sennelier oil pastels to quickly throw in some suggestion of greenery near the clock, then a little hint of Pan Pastel color over areas of the "tree" to knock down the shine worked perfectly to give my clock a counterpoint. When the last 4 minutes of the competition were called, I whipped out my titan buff off-white paint and added a few last highlights to the clock. Wow - BRUSHES  DOWN!!! 

We were given an hour to make our paintings ready for auction, which meant framing or, in my case, painting the gallery edge, cleaning up and transporting our works to a close-by restaurant for judging. I used an ink roller and payne's grey acrylic (I love the way it dries so fast!) to paint the edges of my clock tower and sent it with the easel, daughter and parents to the restaurant while I took all our gear to the car. 

Devon's "Alternate Universe" drawing/painting on the floor in front of my mixed-media clock tower.

It had been so hot out in the park, I think I lost 5 pounds from sweating...so it felt heavenly to be indoors at the restaurant for dinner with my family. It was nerve wracking watching the judge walk back and forth in front of the paintings asking questions of the Broward Art Guild President. In the end, the bird poop magic worked; my painting won FIRST PLACE! What a great experience. My advice to you about competitions? ...Set aside your fears and boldly jump in, bring yourself to the competition, and enjoy the process!!!

FIRST Place Ribbon!

P.S. The 4 o'clock on the clock face is the time the contest ended. :)

Go forth boldly!  Tristina

Linda Womack Inspires Me!

About a year ago I took an Oil PaintStick and Encaustic painting class in Kingston, NY at R&F Paints with a fabulous Artist and Teacher, Lisa Pressman. What an excellent experience that was to be inspired by and surrounded with such dedicated and talented people and...all the paintsticks and encaustic paint I could get my hands on! While there I purchased a great little book, "Embracing Encaustic", by Linda and William Womack. Wow, if you are curious about working with Encaustic Wax in your paintings, this is the perfect tool for you!!! Here are some of my 4in x 4in cradled boards painted with encaustic wax techniques from Linda's book:

 from 'Adding Texture' chapter

 from 'Incising Lines' chapter

 from 'Collage with Wax' chapter

and, this is my own creation taking the incising lines to the next level using Liquid Pencil potted water soluble graphite to fill the incised lines and give the surface of this painting a shiny depth only the graphite can give. :)

I just checked out Linda Womack's workshop website to see what she has going on. She has AWESOME online classes for all levels of encaustic wax painting! There is a fee for these classes (well worth it in my opinion), but you can get an inspirational tour of her studio for free by simply following this link: http://www.womackworkshops.com/about-the-teachers/.  Just watching her studio tour I was inspired to see her INSPIRATION JOURNAL (gonna have to start me one ASAP!!!) and the beautiful nature books she uses to gain insight into ideas from Mother Nature for shape / color / texture to go in to her paintings.

Thanks Linda for sharing your excellent tour! Look forward to seeing you in one of your internet classes soon.

Happy Fusing! :D    Tristina Dietz-Elmes