New Dremel attachment!

I just got an new and fun attachment for my Dremel. This attachment makes small straight cuts through wood. I was looking for it because I was hoping to take my resin blocks and put them behind the piece to add more depth. I work primarily on wood block frames and since I have been working in encaustic lately, and since the epoxy that I use to stick the resin to the block would not stick to the encaustic wax, I was looking to find an alternative.

I started with a piece I had finished, and it made a mess on the

encaustic. I was able to clean it off pretty easily. I didn't compensate for the frame of the piece and had to use a small saw to continue cutting thru the wood. This was a colossal pain, I will not make that mistake again. It's too bad that it

limits me on placement of the resin block. Here is a piece (right) were I cut the hole for the black first and then I'll have to create the piece around it. I've done this before but it will have to be the

norm for these kinds of pieces.

Finishing the back of the piece is still a work in process. I was thinking of just covering the back with another piece of wood that I could paint another color or keep natural. The other alternative is to get a piece of plexiglass to put behind the resin and keep the whole look clear. We'll see, tomorrow.

Encaustastic!

I learned about encaustic painting in just the past few years. There were a few artists who I met at fairs who were using this ancient medium and I was really curious. So I ordered a how to book on Amazon, paints from R&F Paints and decided to give it a whirl.

Here is a small history lesson on encaustic painting... also known as hot wax painting, involves using heated beeswax to which colored pigments are added. The liquid/paste is then applied to a surface—usually prepared wood, though canvas and other materials are often used. The simplest encaustic mixture can be made from adding pigments to beeswax, but there are several other recipes that can be used — some containing other types of waxes, damar resin, linseed oil, or other ingredients. Pure, powdered pigments can be purchased and used, though some mixtures use oil paints or other forms of pigment. Metal tools and special brushes can be used to shape the paint before it cools, or heated metal tools can be used to manipulate the wax once it has cooled onto the surface. Today, tools such as heat lamps, heat guns, and other methods of applying heat allow artists to extend the amount of time they have to work with the material. Because wax is used as the pigment binder, encaustics can be sculpted as well as painted. Other materials can be encased or collaged into the surface, or layered, using the encaustic medium to adhere it to the surface.

I kept my encaustic experiments very simple but wanted to take it to the next level. So, this past weekend I traveled to Kingston , N.Y. to R&F Paints to take a 1 day intensive workshop at their paint factory. I am happy to report that I taught myself well but I learned many more techniques and amazing tricks that I am so excited to put into my artwork. I was most excited to use all of their paints for freely before committing to buying a color online. The paints are quite expensive and it is always difficult to determine the actual color.
Our teacher Cynthia Winika

The factory only produces one color a day.

Pretty colors!

The Oracle

Recently, friends of mine asked me to do a piece for them. I found it a bit difficult to complete this piece as this couple are, well, friends of mine but also one of them is a psychic and the other an artist. They were easy to work with as far as what their vision of the piece was, they knew what size and colors and basic content. It felt like it was going to be a straightforward piece, one where all the elements were going to lay out on the canvas in symphonic way. But I was in a slump. My vision was cloudy. The eight ball told me to "Try again later".

I was given some personal items to put in the resin block. This helped a lot. Peter's sister had recently passed away and one of Markus's friends died as well, they had give me a piece of jewelry from both of them. Markus gave me a moonstone and requested a Luna moth in the piece. The resin pieces came together beautifully. One of the earrings became sparkles that grew up a branch and then there was scarab necklace with it's wings outstretched that I used to circle the moonstone. I then wanted a very crisp transfer of the trees and branches so i used a new technique called Lazertran.

I am quite pleased with the end result. Although it took me so very long to complete. I think they were very happy as well.

Intro to Web Design

I just finished taking a continuing ed class at Mass Art. I took a crack at web design and found it both incredibly satisfying and frustrating! Learning CSS is wild.. a new language for me that Glen (boyfriend), has been speaking since he was a teenager and I am fresh off the boat looking for directions to the bathroom. My teacher at Mass Art was very good at breaking down the basics and answering questions like, "How do you make the div thingy stay put in each page?".

The thing I felt was most challenging was that I couldn't take a paint brush and cover up an area that didn't work properly. I kept slapping things into my Dreamweaver page with the thought that I'd fix it later. The thing is, dealing with little problems later usually meant fixing bugs that I forgot I put there in the first place. I became obssesed with details and design elements that had me dreaming about code! I still have some tweaking to do on my site but for now I'm pleased with how it turned out. Tell me what you think.. the critiques in my class were so useful.

I'm not sure if this will be an added media to my growing list but I will be making another website soon (Fiddlehead Arts) and I am excited to do so.