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 10 of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge

This is a very simple image I created with a stencil to honor Street Art. I have a photograph of this figure, from the street in black against a white brick wall. I wanted to do the opposite and appropriate the character in white against the raw wood of the base. I did coat the ground with four layers of wax medium, fused between each layer with the heat gun before taping the stencil to the piece. I used a titanium white oil stick to color in the stencil, fused it lightly, then let it sit for a while to cool and dry. Finally, the piece was coated with clear wax medium to seal the image.

I knew I wouldn't make it to the studio today because of the snow forecast so this was created in my kitchen with a suitcase full of materials and tools. Thanks for visiting!

Day 9 of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge

I wanted to create this button piece for my daughter, who has taken an interest in sewing. A lot of my photography is around textiles: abandoned silk factories and clothing mills from the early 20th century. And my mixed media work references weaving and needlecraft. So I collected these buttons and put them together in a grid against a simplicity pattern from the 1960's - one that my mother might have used in a time when she made all of my sister's and my clothes. The piece began with 8 layers of encaustic medium. I floated the pattern onto the liquid wax on the top- most layer so that it would appear transparent. I added a few more layers of medium and then embedded the buttons before topping the piece off with a final layer of wax.

I like the perceptual effect of the differently-sized buttons: the energy created between them vibrates with energy against the creamy base of the wax. 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!

Day 5 of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge

This is a simple little landscape. I was practicing layering the wax, mixing color and creating texture by varying the temperature of the wax across the piece. The composition is borrowed from a demo I watched on line; I added the sunset colors. I used some oil paints to deepen the color. The streaks are caused by my impatience; not allowing the oils to dry completely before adding the final layer of wax medium. I think it looks okay, and even adds some movement to the piece, but in the interest of full disclosure - there it is.

I enjoyed experimenting with the oils and wax. This technique opened up a more flexible way of working with color than using the pigmented wax alone. I'm looking forward to practicing and refining the the use of these materials over time. Thanks for visiting!

Day 4 of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge

I've always enjoyed using the encaustic process for preserving interesting artifacts. Embedding an object into wax medium is a way of saying, "look" - much like the process of taking a photograph. For this piece I layered several coats of wax medium over a board pre-treated with encaustic gesso, fusing between layers with the heat gun. I then used a small piece of rusted pipe to incise the circles into a grid pattern. I used alcohol ink (terra cotta) to fill in the circles and wiped it away - but not completely - to lend a rust color to the background. Finally, the rusted metal object (found in my backyard on City Island, along with the aforementioned piece of pipe) was embedded into the center of the piece to show off its rusty beauty.

I love rusty things and the shape of this one is really intriguing to me. Stay tuned for more rusty things to be celebrated in future encaustic works from the studio. Thanks for visiting!

Day 3 of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge

I really enjoy using these stamps. This piece began with 6-7 layers of encaustic medium, fused between each layer with the heat gun. I added 3 layers of titanium white pigmented wax (fusing between each layer). I applied the wax cold so that it would rough up and create a textured surface. I could have left it right there: it resembled snow and was pretty pleasing at that point. But I picked up a couple of the stamps and pressed into the surface, thinking about lace. Finally I applied oil sticks, rubbing pigment into the depressions and then wiping it away, but not completely. The color cast left behind made sense and I repeated the process with 2  additional colors. A final coat of wax and a fusing finished the piece.

The title of this piece is "Scranton Lace" after the many days spent photographing the Scranton Lace Factory in Pennsylvania. Enjoy and thanks for visiting.

Day 2 of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge

Today I used some wallpaper stamps I found in a store in Hudson, NY last spring. After coating the board with six layers of wax medium I pressed one stamp several times to create a roller coaster shape. I used oil sticks to rub pigment into the channels created by the stamps and then coated the rest of the piece with color pigment, layering wax over the surface after each step and fusing each layer with the heat gun. I used the "crown" stamp, treating it with the same technique and buried that under several layers of wax. Finally, I used letters from a punch stamp set and repeated the oil stick method: rubbing the pigment into the letters and wiping away the excess.

The title of the piece is "She Married a Roller Coaster" after a story I heard on a podcast on my way to the studio today. Thanks for visiting!