Evolution

This piece was made for the Dinosaur show at Two-Tone Gallery for the month of June. For some reason I had collected an amount of plastic dinosaurs and now I am glad that I did. :)

Very simple composition and technique. I wanted the dinos aligned from darkest/earth tones to bright neons. They are mounted on a piece of rusty metal that I saved from tearing my old grill apart a couple of weeks ago. I used a clear encaustic fill to hold them in place.

The title is stamped copper. And that's it; Evolution. 

This piece is a composition of old toys that I can never seem to place in other pieces. It is difficult to work in colorful plastic objects into works that are often minimalist, neutral, and rusty. So they get their own piece. 

While it is mostly a haphazard composition, I did try to select only objects that had primary colors, skin tones, or black and white to keep things cohesive. 

I also love the shadow play in this top section. It is much more striking in person, so when I get this one up in a gallery you should come see it. 

Enjoy some photos while I struggle to find a title for this piece.

Mal de Mer

This piece is finally finished...why do we procrastinate the things we want to do?

At school a few weeks ago I found one of those lovely old paper world maps, about 5'x3', in the trash. It's ok for art teachers to grab things from the trash, so I snatched it and I am excited to use it on many projects.

For this piece, I cut a bit from the ocean and collaged it into a box. Then I used the swirling technique that I used on Tempus Fugit (I have to remember to take a video next time I do this!) with white encaustic paint to create the "waves" at the bottom before doing a clear fill.  

Then I drew and collaged an old ship on top.

I also added some fishing hooks using a dual-surface fill like it did on the Lux Mentis Lux Orbis piece to hold them in place. (Again, why don't I film these things?) 

I added a few flicks of white encaustic paint to the surface, and that is Mal de Mer, a French phrase for seasickness.