Heating up for Encausticamp

I've been painting a lot with encaustics as I prepare to leave for Encausticamp. Yeah, I know, that's a little crazy since I'm heading out there to learn about encaustics, why do I need to 'pre' study. What can I say, I consider myself a newbie with this medium and I just can't seem to get enough right now.
I will be taking classes from Michelle Belto, Judy Wise and Bridgette Guerzon Mills. Should be a fabulous experience.

I'm traveling with my friend Julie and we are so compatible in our ways. We are flying out early to spend a little extra time in Portland being tourists since we have never been there before. If anyone has suggested 'must see' places, just let me know, ok? We plan to catch up with Dayna, a friend from Artfest and I bet she knows some great spots, but the more the merrier.


And oh!! The 5th edition of The Pulse comes comes out this Saturday, with posts also on Sunday and Monday. Thereafter you can look for weekly posts every Sunday.  I have put a link over on my sidebar so you can easily click over to it. I submitted some material but I'm not sure when mine will be published. I'll let you know.

Art Heals

Jenny Doh has made a mission of how Art Saves and I have experienced this over and over in my own life. This past weekend reaffirmed my thinking. I spent a lot of time in the studio, playing with plaster techniques I learned in Judy and Stephanie's class. I'm getting ready for Encausticamp, so I used my 'plaster preps' as the underlayer for encaustic pieces. Here are some of the pieces:

Plaster of Paris (grid) with tar and encaustic

Plaster of Paris (see the grayish parts), tar and encaustic

Plaster of Paris, tar, encaustic and collage

I want to give my profound thanks to all of you who commented or sent me personal emails. I can't tell you how much this meant to me. It was really hard for me to show the vulnerable side of myself in such a public way and I am very grateful for the love and support.

No wine for whiners

My blog is not a whining platform. Ok, maybe just a little bit, I've had a poopy day week, so just indulge me for a moment or two if you don't mind.
I know I project this happy go-lucky front, but sometimes not so much; it really is just a front. Inside I am a bundle of insecurities and I take everything way too personally. 
Like when I get a nasty-gram email from an anonymous person. Or another anonymous person keys my car while it is parked at the Mall. Or when yet another anonymous person gives my book an insanely cruddy review because I use the word, "Yum."
Perhaps I am too thin skinned, I know I am, always hoping that everyone likes me. Which many people do and of course that makes it even harder when someone lashes out. Particularly when they hide behind the cloak of anonymity! Geez, that is kind of a cheap shot, at least I think so.

"The Moon's Burden redux"- Acrylic, Wood Icing, graphite, ink

So I'm sad today. Sad for people who don't have the courage to stand behind their words or actions. Sad for the reality from which they come. And sad because I can't help or take action or fix something like I am want to do.

Plaster me with Diamonds

I had the most marvelous weekend. Got to make some art, hang out with my sweetie, see the grand kids, catch up with art friends, wallow around the house - geez, as far as I'm concerned it doesn't get much better than this.
I am taking Judy Wise & Stephanie Lee's Plaster class. It is wonderful and I am loving it. You all know how much I adore Wood Icing, well, I wanted to take this class to basically force myself to experiment with all the other plaster and plaster type products on the market. I guess I feel like I will be a better representative for Wood Icing if I completely understand how all the products work. And, after just one week of class, I have learned so much. If you aren't in the class, grab their book for sure.
Plaster Studio: Mixed-Media Techniques for Painting, Casting and Carving
It is chock full of interesting projects and techniques.
Ok, so here's my first attempt at using the Joint Compound.

12" x 6" Mixed media

And, so far I have learned that I like Plaster of Paris a lot.  It dries down nice and hard and the substrate feels familiar to me. But it is kind of a pain to have to mix it up since I am basically pretty lazy.Joint Compound.....mmm, I'm not as hip on it. I can't get it to do what I want as it doesn't want to hold the level of texture and when I rub it too hard, the texture sort of rubs off, it is hard to explain. I am glad I tried it though.
Overall, my infatuation with Wood Icing continues for several reasons - it holds a nice precise line when you carve into it and use stencils. It is super sturdy and doesn't crack off the substrate. Plus the drying time (of the Wood Icing) simply can't be beat. Geez Louise does it take a long time for some of these others to dry. I tend to want to use texture through my entire process, like I'll be painting and want to stencil some more texture on top, or palette texture over part of the piece and then write into it.....Wood Icing allows me to do that, but I can't see myself mixing up Plaster of Paris or using the Joint Compound due to drying issues.
All this being said, I still adore (!!!) the class with the genius Judy and Stephanie duo and am learning great things from them. They are top notch teachers.
I have some exciting news but it is going to have to wait as I'm still firming up details. Suffice to say it.is.big.

A Perfect Pear and/or Pair

Katherine Engen and me

Some images from the class - Paste Painted Paper, Batik, some arty pics that I took

You all know how much I love Valley Ridge, geez, I talk about it enough, huh? Well, I finagled another trip up there, tee, hee. This time the class was Paste Painted Paper (which I taught) and Batik Paper (which Katherine taught). It was a blast. The students loved the Paste Paper and enjoyed my unusual techniques........that is, until the genius Katherine pulled out dyes for Batik Paper......and we smelled wax.....and we played in wax......and........well, let's just say I am in love with a new technique. I have been bitten hard by this one. Wowza!!! It was too good for words, and sadly, my paste painted papers look very mundane in comparison.
You will see more Batik papers from me as Katherine wants me to take this class from her and "run with it." Such generosity and oh how I can.not.wait. Have already ordered supplies as I am anxious to make this my own, with a strong influence from my dear friend Katherine. Of course.
And see that pic of horses......we were thrilled beyond belief when Katherine's neighbor Verne offered us a ride with his majestic Percherons.
And what, pray tell is that other item? Turkey feet. Yeah, who knew they were so beautiful. My eyes were opened to all sorts of beauty this past weekend and I am so grateful to Katherine for the opportunity.....to my students for their support and friendship.....and to life....I have to pinch myself I feel so blissed.

Stencil Madness

Designed by Judy Wise

Designed by Judy Wise

Designed by Pam Carriker

Available in both the 9x12 and 6x5 sizes. Click HERE to see them on Stencil Girl. I am heading off to Valley Ridge for 3 days of Paste Paper and Batik Wax paper, woo hoo!!! Katherine and I are doing a collaborative painting frenzy and I can.not.wait. I sincerely hope it is cooler in Wisconsin and I also hope there are no Cicadas.
No worries though, John will be here to fulfill all your Stencil Girl orders cause I like to keep him busy, ha, ha.

Nine

That is the number of new stencils we will release very soon - in both the 9x12 and 5x6 sizes. John has photographed them and I am working on getting them up on the site. Actually, better said, I am building a totally new site. So, here are my teaser photos.......amazing stencils by Judy Wise and Pam Carriker. I can hardly wait to share them with you guys. They are sooooo sweet!

A little imaginary vacation

You might recall here when I drove to Licking, MO to teach a collage class organized by Lanie Frick. Well, I told Lanie about my involvement with the Wood Icing Studio & Gallery and how I teach and exhibit there.  She was immediately interested and we've been trying to set up a time for her to come over and see the space.
And yesterday was it! She came for lunch cause of course everything I do has to involve food I am a little piggy like that. We met up with Bud. Lanie and Bud are friends from a long time ago, horse friends. It was really fun for me to hear them share stories - not being a 'horse person', it is incredibly exotic to me. I especially enjoy hearing about the horse's personalities; they are apparently just like people with very strong traits. It really makes me wish I had another childhood to live, so I could grow up as a 'horse girl' riding bareback through the woods, oh how I can dream.......
Anyhoo, I digress. As usual.

Once at Wood Icing, Lanie showed her work to Rose and was invited to join the Gallery. Yippee!!! Since we have an Opening coming up on 6/18, getting her work framed was of the utmost importance, so we headed straight to Michael's, coupon in hand, to select frames for her pieces. Pieces that are so friggin' amazing......like this......

I adored hearing Lanie's stories and I wanted to listen all day long, I think I must have lived in the country in a previous life, that is how drawn I am to hearing about every.little.thing......from raising baby goats to getting thrown from a horse to a bank drive thru where the teller not only knows your name, but knows your dog and sends a treat back with the deposit slip. Another world that is oh-so-lovely and oh-so-different from the suburban world where I live. Ahh....
We popped over to Chesterfield Arts to see a show that my friend Jeff had curated (nice job, dude!) and I signed up to volunteer for Make Your Mark which happens this coming Saturday and is the singular coolest community arts project that I know of. We saw the 'paint by number' on the levee wall, perused the sketch and I am getting very excited indeed. Hope that my grandsons and anyone else in our area will come on out to paint with us on Saturday.
Geez, Louise, sorry I've been such a blabber mouth today, before I leave, here is a link to Lanie's BLOG.
I wanna get her writing more.  Cause I, for one, really like her stories.
And oh.......forgot to mention.....I have started a new site - a place to sell my art since I'm not doing the Art Fairs this year. If you are interested, you can check it out HERE. I will post pieces every now and then. I'm trying to keep the prices reasonable since I don't have to incur the booth fee, etc. And each one is obviously an original, so when it's gone it's gone.