encaustic

I have been playing with the encaustics again as well. I bought a new iron (my old one caught on fire) so I finally managed to get back to learning how to use the medium. I haven't quite got the hang of making it smooth or rough where I want it, and of course I am going to blame it on not having the right equipment, but it is getting closer to what I am aiming for. This is a mountain view by where we go camping (between Banff and Jasper). It is a 5x7.

Pumpkins

It has been a rough spring and summer, but I think life is gradually returning to normal. Our house still needs some furniture, my organized studio is a mess, and the dogs leave the house covered in mud every day, but those are relatively normal events that are easy to deal with, given enough time.

Now that fall is here, with cooler weather, earlier dusk and Halloween just around the corner, I am also feeling much more inspired to play. Not that I have a lot to show for it, what with all the cleaning (I shampooed the carpets twice on the weekend!), but I got a bit of time to play with some polymer clay, and made a bunch of tiny jack-o-lanterns. They are about an inch and a half including the stems.

Reborn Jaden

I finally decided to try making a reborn doll. I don't usually like to do kits, and this one was more than $200, but she is a really beautiful doll. I am really happy with the painting, and she looks so lifelike it is almost creepy - I feel like I am neglecting her if I leave her alone in a room. However, I was really not happy with the hair. I couldn't get it rooted so it looks natural, although that may have been caused by using dark hair instaed of light. I think I will try a very light alpaca hair on the next one (yes, I was happy enough with the results that I think I will do another one). And maybe I can find some blond eyelashes as well - all I could find was black, and it didn't look very realistic.

I put in real hair eyebrows too, and they ended up a bit scruffy, and the hairs are too thick, so the alpaca might be just the right texture for the next one. I chose Jaden because she looks like Gwen, but of course Gwen's hair was very short and she more bald than anything, so adding hair made Jaden look quite a bit different.

I was making a captured fairy for my sister as a birthday present, and got into a bit of a rush to finish. I put it in the oven before it was fully heated, and the broiler came on and burned the hands and feet. I am going to have to start all over, and won't be able to deliver it as planned.
He kind of looks like he was digging in the dirt. Or maybe an oil slick off the gulf coast....

Best in Breed!

Rhaynie won best in breed at the show on the weekend, despite my inept handling! Woohoo!
Now I just need to learn how to do this properly so she can place in the group again!

update

I seem to have hit a creative block, and can't get past it. I think it is this art doll I have been working on - I made the head, hands and feet at Christmas, and then put it all together in January, but now I can't decide how to finish it. I made the body using a technique recommended online, and it has resulted in ridges all around the body that will show if the clothing material is too thin. I wanted to dress her in something mossy, with black hair with white steaks so she looks very earthy, but I'm having trouble finding the right material. I think perhaps she has become too precious, and I am getting too stressed about getting it right. I guess I need to make the clothing removable so I can change it later.

I put all my art supplies away over the Christmas break when I cleaned up the studio (I use my art table to serve Christmas dinner because it is the only table large enough to seat that many people). I thought that a bit of a change might help me get back into the creative mood, so I dragged all my encaustic materials out of storage and made this encaustic landscape. Of course, my iron caught fire before I got halfway through and I had to find alternative tools to get it done, but I think it worked out OK in the end. The little encaustic iron is such a vital tool, and I had become a bit dependent on it, so it helped stretch my skills a bit to be forced to work with a different set of tools. Encaustic Landscape

cradled 8x10 Claybord

self portrait

I apologise for being absent for such a long while, but it is mostly because I have been so very busy with my new job that I am exhausted at the end of the day, and can't summon the energy to do much. However, I was surfing on the weekend, and got inspired by an image on a website, which of course, I didn't record so I can't give credit where it is due.

This started with a plaster cast of my face. It was going to be mostly white, with some aging techniques to make it look like old marble. It was a bit boring, and I thought that a bit of color might make it look like an earth goddess image. It ended up looking more like a moldy cadaver (it isn't quite a pretty in real life). So I guess this is a self-portrait as a zombie. ;-))