Day 29 of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge

I wanted to make something in response to the concerns over our national parklands. This is a small weave of two parks under consideration for oil drilling. I put them together on the ground and then wove the two where they overlapped. I coated the weave with 4-5 layers of clear wax medium and then embedded the pastoral landscape from an old dollhouse a friend of mine built. Finally, I added some grass-like string for texture and balance.

I enjoyed making this piece; it allowed me to think about some important issues and feel a tiny bit of control over an unfortunate situation. Thanks for visiting!

Day 13 of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge

This painting started as something completely different. I started with the usual 7 layers of medium, then incised a grid and dropped a different color of alcohol ink into each square. The result was similar to the button piece, visually. I really liked the way it looked but then added some ink to it, and when I wiped away the excess I ruined the effect. I had pressed the letters "raspberry beret" into the piece because of the color and the somewhat musical structure of the design. So I let the ruined painting sit for several days and came back to it today. I decided to paint over the grid with a white version of a pussy hat, playing on the idea of the raspberry beret. I added several layers of color, using oil sticks and mixing red, white and clear wax, then incised the grid over the hat and filled it with red oil stick. Finally I pressed the letters in again and filled them with orange. This time I did not add a final layer of wax medium; I wanted it to stay gritty.

I really like the color play and how the image floats above the grid. Thanks for visiting!

Day 11 of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge

This piece combines working with the alcohol inks with incising. I started with 7-8 layers of medium, fusing between each layer with the heat gun to create a smooth surface. Next I dropped circles of the alcohol ink in a random pattern, following an online demo. The stems were scored with a pin tool, then the ink was dripped into the channels and the excess was wiped away. The "grass" at the bottom of the frame was created with oil sticks, then the scoring was repeated and ink added to create a textural element. The ink was fused lightly, then a final coat of medium was applied over the entire surface.

This process is extremely difficult to control, so the piece is loaded with imperfections. But I do like the result; serendipity can be a great element of these processes. Thanks for visiting!

Day 8 of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge

This construction was made by cutting up pieces of old maps and music manuscripts along with some other decorative papers I found around the studio. The background was glued directly onto the wood panel. Next the paper pieces were dipped in wax and pressed over the glitter paper. Two-three coats of wax medium were added, fusing in between coats with the heat gun. Finally, the wax was scraped away from the background to give the glitter its full voice. The title of the piece is "Moonrise".

This was a fun little collage; at one point I painted in some details, but decided to wipe them away. I like the simplicity of the design and the combination of papers. Thanks for visiting!

Day 7 of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge

This little painting is adapted from an image I took at Dead Horse Bay. I love the bottle green color, and I wanted to play with it in encaustic.. The colors are so luninous. It was painted with oil sticks over 6 layers of encaustic medium, then covered with medium and fused between each layer with the heat gun. That's it; simple and fun.

If I had more time I might add some design elements in the background like little white stars.. Thanks for visiting!

Day 6 of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge

Today's painting is from a photograph I took at Dead Horse Bay in Brooklyn last year. I enhanced the image using several apps I keep on the iPad until it looked as distressed as this location feels. The materials today included oilstick, wax medium, and alcohol inks. As always I prepared the ground with several layers of wax medium, this time over the raw board. I incised the horizon line and the pilings and roughed up the foreground to create the texture that is so dominant in that landscape. Old bottles, shards of pottery, rocks, ground up pilings - all make up the beach at DHB. The color is an exaggerated rust because of the abundance of rusty things found at the location.

This would have been a perfect candidate for using coffee grounds - next time. Thanks for visiting!