Nature Squares


On this wonderful winter's snowy day in Maine I'm taking some me time to update my Etsy shop and share my new work!







Each painting is 6" x 6" on cradled wood and is painted with encaustic. The images are transfers of my digital photographs done using the Xerox and water transfer method.


Cottage studio


click for larger pic

I've been having some creative blocks and I think the solution may be to change where I'm working. I love the studio inside of my house but I really do love the idea of moving outside---but into a covered area. We have a one room cottage in our yard and I'm very excited to start thinking about transforming it into a real studio. I want a place that I can paint and not worry about the smells lingering. And a studio that I can work LARGE and hang my work on the walls.

So this is the BEFORE photo. This is what we have to work with. It's just filled with some random junk and needs insulation and some simple walls. But I think it's going to be fabulous!


This is a shot showing the loft space up top. I can even take a nap in my studio if I want to! haha

Art in the Barn-- starts tomorrow!


THREE ARTISTS COLLABORATE IN CUSHING SHOW

A wood-carver, a painter, and a jewelry artist will join efforts to produce a show of their work at the Cushing Historical Society Friday - Sunday, July 16 - 18, another of the Arts in the Barn summer exhibition series. The show will open Friday evening, 5 - 7 p.m., at the Society's barn on Hathorne Point Road, and will continue Saturday and Sunday, 10 - 4 p.m.

Cushing resident Bob Matus, boat-builder, carpenter, and lobster fisherman, is a wood-carver in his spare time. As he works he keeps an eye out for interesting wood scraps and pieces of driftwood that have the potential to become such things as mermaids, eagles, or elegant ladles, spatulas and spoons. He markets his carvings under the name Heron Cove Wood Carving, and is represented by several Maine galleries.

Painter Jamie Ribisi-Braley earned a BFA in painting at Boston University. She now resides in Manchester, Maine, where she operates Sweetland Retreat, a retreat for artists, with her husband and sister. She specializes in encaustic painting, a medium that she teaches and uses in her own work.. Her paintings have been shown in galleries nation wide and the State House in Augusta.

Deb Hanson is a part-time Cushing resident who will present her jewelry, and acrylic and oil paintings in the show. Hanson says that she incorporates what she calls the "Colors of Cushing," the unique colors of the St. George River fishermen's buoys, in her work. Her jewelry is fashioned with handmade beads and silver accents that have been inspired by the reflections of the sea.

Admission to the show is free. For more information call 354-8219

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If you're in Maine, please attend our Artist's Reception to kick off our Art in the Barn Weekend!
Friday July 16th, 5-7pm. Free local wine and cheese will be served.
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Encaustic exhibit opens today!

I'm so excited for the opening of the Luminous Layers exhibition! Even though I can't be there in person, I am there in spirit and in paint :) Two of my painting were accepted into the juried show and I'm so proud to see one of them at the bottom of the postcard that they sent out (pictured above).


I really do wish I could be there-- there are tons of demos and talks. Mostly I would have loved to meet the other artists in person! The online encaustic world is always buzzing with excitement (pun intended) and I feel like I already know everyone but it would be so nice to actually meet them.

Another time, I'm sure!

a little peek




A little peek at what I was working on today. These are 11x14" canvases that I repainted over (failed attempts from long ago). These are made from oil paint, oil bars, and oil pastels.

Looking down a parallel path

I've been in a sort of rut for a while. Thinking of where to go next, artistically. The imagery hasn't totally shown itself to me and I've been wondering how to coax it along.


I recently won a gift certificate for art supplies through Dick Blick and took the opportunity to get some new art supplies and venture into a new realm. I started with Gamblin Oil Ground to prep some large wood panels with. I also ordered some wide masking tape to keep the edges of the panels clean. Then I got a mix of black, white, & gray oil sticks which I've been dying to experiment with for a long time. I also threw in some charcoal powder and graphite powder. this is going to be fun!

I have a vague idea of what I want to do but I'm really excited to just start working and see where it goes. Using the Gamblin oil ground is pretty sweet. I've never used it before but was looking for a ground that could be used with encaustic, if I
decided to add that as a medium in the future of these pieces (acrylic gesso doesn't jive with wax). What I really like so far about the oil ground is the application. It only takes 2 layers-- the first can be slightly thinned with Turpenoid and applied with the side of an old credit or gift card! Yes-- exactly what I needed-- more household items to use as art supplies!!! This layer goes on so thin but is a very vibrant white. The
next layer, which I plan on doing tomorrow, is applied as-is from the can and takes a bit of time to dry but I think overall will be much nicer than acrylic gesso.

I'll be sure to keep you updated on the progress; hopefully the new materials will inspire me!

You can watch a really great video tutorial on the Gamblin oil ground here.

Student work

These wonderful paintings were created at the Intro To Encaustic Painting workshop that I taught last week at Sweetland Retreat. I love watching artists work and this group of 4 women worked so well together. They were constantly looking over to see what the next person was working on and giving each other ideas. I love the variety of techniques and materials that they used and wanted to share them with you!


(she used gold and silver leaf in her painting!)

The mermaid painting is done using layers of blue tissue paper.

I've been framed...


I'm so happy to have made the decision to have these two paintings professionally framed. They have both been shipped cross country for the Luminous Layers encaustic exhibition in Oregon at the Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts.

Although these paintings are a decent size on their own (12" square), I really wanted them to stand out and look finished so I brought them over to a friend of mine who does framing. I am so impressed with the outcome, I know I'm going to keep going back to them!

They have their working studio, Artifacts, on their beautiful farm in Farmingdale, ME and also have a showroom in Topsham. You can visit them online and see other examples of their framing & guilding here: http://www.artifactsmaine.com/






Hooray!


I was just selected to be Dick Blick's Artist of the Month! You can see more on their Facebook page. I've been awarded a gift certificate to spend on art supplies...what more could a girl ask for?? :)



New encaustic painting


The Tree Is the Real Thing
Encaustic & Mixed Media on wood
24" x 24"
April 2010

title from the quote: "Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing."
-Abraham Lincoln

I started this large encaustic painting in June of last year and I finally finished it today! What a great feeling to get this monkey off of my back :) Seriously though, I've had a good time trying out some new techniques and color schemes and trying to make it all meld.

I had known that I wanted to use this image but I wasn't sure where I wanted to go with it. It went through many lives, as I posted in an animated gif last year, and I finally pared it down to the elements that I thought it really needed. This was supposed to be another in the series of "Ghost of the Past" but it definitely has a different story than the others so I'm letting it into the world on its own.


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