Grimm

this is a fairy tale themed assemblage. imagery is kind of predictable, but it's something i felt i needed to do. 8"x8".

Burst

ever have those pieces in your studio that you absolutely love and want to put in every artwork, but it just doesn't work? and those others that you keep because it's okay and you may use it sometime but it's not that great? well, that's what happened to create this piece, Burst. I was in love with the large gear and wanted to use it in everything, but it never worked with anything. the little canvas (3"x5") is something that I've had since I was...10? I had drawn some smiley faces and things on it.  turns out, when you put them together, they are perfect for one another!
Simple process: I wrapped the canvas with a dictionary page, then cut out a hole for the gear with a craft knife. then I screwed the gear in and it held surprisingly well, no need for any adhesive. so that's it. took about 15 minutes, and it's one of my favorites. I may go back and do an encaustic fill on this one..not sure yet. it would be a great addition to my Rust & Wax  series...

soon

a few works in progress. finally seeing some light at the end of my proverbial tunnel that is preparing for school. here is a preview of a new work. waiting for the glue to dry, then i will do an encaustic fill for another installment in my Rust & Wax series. 

sorry to be gone so long, i will return with new works! for now, check out some Pinspiration on my Creatable Board.

hiatus

as if you hadn't noticed....

there will be little time for art going on in the next couple of months (sad face), but for a good reason! i finally got a teaching position ( a very lovely rural elementary school) and i'm afraid i will be quite swamped with those things. i feel like i've already got a nice head start, but you can never really be prepared for something as big as this. so, if you are just interested in what i'm doing, you can find me at my art teaching blog, Art From Chaos, just follow the button below. again, so sorry, and i will miss my art. :(

rust & wax

a study in texture, neutral colors. 8"x10".

new projects...

working on a couple of encaustic projects with some mixed media. i am really excited about one...the other is a failing disappointment that i can hopefully salvage somehow. trying to finish those up today!

happy earth day!

4 years ago on Earth day, my husband and i went to our high school for some hardcore vandalism...we planted this. lol. it wasn't kept up with after we graduated, but i am still very proud of what we did all by ourselves!

he started the environmental club there and we were voted most earthy and natural for senior superlatives. this day was made for us, ha.

mantle clock, redone

this is a re-do of an old piece, which aparently i didn't even like enough to give a name. a link to the old piece can be found here. 

it started with an old mantle clock body that i found in the trash (whoo!) i kept with the old theme of time and death, but added some different pieces. 

since the recent encaustic workshops , i have had a surplus of supplies, and it's all out...so i can use wax in my assemblages!

the compartment with the wax and nuts is my favorite. i also love the rusty metal circle and the eye. 

much happier with this piece now!

rust and white

this piece nicely reflects my new-ish love of mixing rustic country with industrial. it started with a simple wood shelf from the Dollar Tree (whoo!) spray painted white.

then i started to add some little pieces, trying to keep with a white, pink and silver color scheme. 

after that, i decided it needed more rust and wood textures. so i added the screws etc. on some tree bark.

then i thought i was done...but i didn't just want to hang a white piece on a white wall...so i brainstormed for a few days and figured out how to connect the piece to an old rusty door. 

just mounting it on there (with contact cement) and putting it on a wall was not an option. the door had rusted so much that the handle could not come off, and it would hang awkwardly on the wall. so i added a wooden square to the back and disguised it with some tree bark, now it can be propped up like a picture frame!

...which turns out to be a nice change...you can't hang everything on the wall...

deconstruction and re-do

nothing is safe until it's out of the workshop...and these pieces were not out yet. working on some "new" pieces, which means i hate some of my old stuff, and i am destroying it. sorry if you were a fan of those works....they are gone now...and there are much better new stuff on the way!

coming up....

i've gotten in some good art time recently...but nothing that is finished :(. here is a glimpse of what is to come. it's mostly finished, but i need to find a way to mount it. i could just hang it...but that seems a bit boring for this one. somehow, i want to mount it on this nice piece of rusty metal, but it's not working out quite right...we'll see!

reach

this is a small mixed media piece. it has four basic parts: a doll arm, a 3"x4" piece of wood, a piece of vintage lace, and a random rusty metal piece. 

the scrapbook paper is from a Tim Holtz paper stack. i did an encaustic fill over that and set in the metal piece and arm.

so that's it! Reach, a small and difficult to photograph piece.

subject 6.7

so this lady is finally finished! i started with a metal circle and burned speaker combined with some doll parts. 

 for the background and base, i tore up some pages of an old book to create a collage then mounted that on an 8"x10" piece of Masonite board. 

at my final encaustic workshop this past Monday, i did a clear fill around the piece.

after that, i scraped down the encaustic medium to make it more smooth before i started adding all the little parts. 

the center contains a watch part with a magnifying glass mounted above it. the other 2 circles are old pieces of clocks. small black wires were added to spread around the black color.

last, i added the label, Subject 6.7. this piece reminded me of a bug collection or dissection, so i carried on from there. so happy this one is done!

encaustic workshops

so tonight was the final night of my workshops at the Murfreesboro Art League. here are some student works, most are still in progress, but I am very proud of what they were able to do in the time they had! great job everyone!

Quench

i finally found how to use this rusty old faucet! 

first step: i covered a wooden plaque with some floral scrapbook paper.

then i started layering the metal pieces. the metal butterfly came first (warning: assemblage art is very dangerous. that wing went inside of my finger, sliced open my knuckle).

after the butterfly of doom was nailed down, i added the faucet. it's turned at a weird angle so i could use the parts of it differently. it is held on using nails that run through gears.

after that i added the glass gem with the eye drawing and the light bulb. i originally had a clear bulb, but i decided this was better. and that is it! this one is called Quench.

tonight is the last night of my encaustic workshop at the Murfreesboro Art League. i will be completing this piece. the sculpture is complete, now it just need to be mounted onto the background, a simple text collage. can't wait to see how this turns out!