Florasaurus

Another work for Two-Tone Gallery's June Dinosaur show. This is the Florasaurus. 

It is an encaustic collage with a drawn dinosaur, paper scraps, flowers and encaustic paint. 

And a picture for size reference. My biggest encaustic collage so far. 

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.

Emergence

This piece is fairly different for me, I am trying some new techniques and ideas to incorporate in my other works.

After showing at a couple of galleries last month, one critique I heard was that my works were too small to grab attention in a gallery setting. So now I'm trying some larger works. But that also brings complications. Adding weight to these pieces adds stress on the hanging mechanisms and to the 3D collage materials. I've reinforced both of those things, but I'm also sitting here with them on the wall to see if they're going to fall down. How fun. 

This piece began as a wooden octagon that I found at a thrift store. It was originally a "make your own clock" kit. 

I added a plaster face that had been "gifted" to me last year and did a fill with yellow beeswax. It smells delightful.

Then I added nails and black thread to create a geometric design over the other elements.

From this piece I've decided to add more plaster pieces (I love the element of realism and the endless possibilities of using casts and molds), and geometric designs. It is a nice contrast between the organic themes of the face and wax vs the geometric strings and wood.

What Makes Us Tick, Tick, Tick

I keep coming back to anatomy as a theme. I love old technical drawings and illustrations of how things work, especially anatomical renderings. This piece is an exploration of black and white based on anatomy.

The skeleton fit so perfectly in this space that he inspired the whole theme.

I placed a jar with a tooth over a drawing of a mandible with some pearls.

The clock face is from an old pocket watch from the collection of parts I won from an art challenge ages ago.

Another drawing, this one of a rib cage with a small metal heart.

The large section has the number 206 in the background.

The last section is clock gears to tie in with the "ticking" theme.

The Stars are Projectors

A piece for the weekly challenge at Theme Thursday: Stars. This is an encaustic fill in a 3"x5" tin with star embellishments, paper, and glitter. The rest is lyrics from a Modest Mouse song. (Who else is super excited about their new album next month?) 

Tempus Fugit

This is a work for the Three Muses Weekly Challenge: Balloons. It is an encaustic collage with 2D & 3D materials. I used wooden pocket watches as the air balloons with gears for the baskets. The colored lines are white string dipped in colored encaustic. The background stripes, clouds, and text are all paper collage. A very airy and light and fun piece.

And I got these wonderful swirls by painting the background with white acrylic paint before I did the clear fill. :D 

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.

rust & wax

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