Studio Time
I did spend some time in the studio today even with a couple of grand kids here. Not the kind of time I would have preferred……..painting. But I did get a little accomplished. Cleaning up stuff…I’d been running around pulling out cardboard shipping boxes like mad the other day trying to find a solution to shipping the 36 72″ painting and along with it two others 48 x 36 and 24 x 30…….I could get them all in the one FedEX ground shipment if I packed carefully so they wouldn’t get out of the range of ground shipping sizes.
Anyway…….it was a big mess since, of course, I had to pull everything to find the correct sizes and enlist help from the ‘honey’ to get them to work for me. They are now in the hands of Fed EX with lots of finger-crossing that they make it safely to Seattle.
I got two older paintings in need of re-framing ….re-framed. Now to remember who wanted them. I threw out some stuff and by then had to go down to the house and check on kids and ‘honey’.
While I was doing all this, I was thinking about working on two paintings that are only 1/3 and 1/2 finished……and then there were the two canvases calling to me with their pristine white surfaces on the wall easel. Hum…and then there is the Fair Park show “Global Swarming” coming up…I need some encaustic paintings for that…images due Aug 1.
Lots to do around here.
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Progress
OKAY…….making a little progress here. I got the images all processed. Here are the two small 12 x 12′ encaustic on panel paintings I started for the demo in Dallas last week. I actually haven’t done a lot more to them since then. I mainly worked on the one I worked on for the demo and the other one is done I believe. Nothing is written in stone since encaustic can continue to be worked on forever, kinda like pastel.
Although I started these with the same color palette at the same time, one takes on a more watery look and the other a more woodsy or jungle look. Probably because of more blue/green in the watery one. Anyway, titles are always difficult…….but I thought of something right away for these. “It’s A Jungle Out There” for the top one and “Submerged” for the other.
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Learning Curve
Hum…the slow learning curve continues. I made some photos of paintings….Vista 64 bit doesn’t like the driver for my EOS XT. I finally gave up with trying the plain Vista driver on the Canon site and did a search. I found that changing a setting from PC connection to Print would allow it to be uploaded…….who’s a thunk if you didn’t find the answer on the internet. Get going Canon…Vista 64 bit or some other 64 bit is here for a time.
So then, it imported into a new part of a new program and I go fumbling around saying “where are all my menus?” Finally, I discover the new Express Labs is different that the plain old Corel PSP menus. I finally have ONE picture painting to show you.
This one is an encaustic painting, 24 x 24″ titled Antiquity.
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May 25
Man….can’t believe how much trouble I had downloading my old diary program. They had quit the old freebie version I used for making notes and adding to my blog. AND, being a newbie to Vista I couldn’t find the darn file after I downloaded it to unzip it. FINALLY, I just downloaded it to the desktop and went from there fine.
I like using this program (Advanced Diary 1.3) because I can sometimes get bumped off the internet while writing to the blog and then lose everything. This way I write, copy, paste and voila.
I have been struggling a little with new computer, new software etc. so not a lot of time to think of something for the blog. I am working (somewhat)…I made a trip to Dallas for almost a week and went to the opening of the new Encaustic Center up in Richardson last Friday…I was one of many of the TxWaxDallas group who did mini demos of how we paint our own style of encaustic paintings.
I have a couple of new encaustic paintings going and need to get to work on more. this group is ‘cooking’……lots of exhibits coming up for us. The next one titled, Meltdown, will be at the Art Hotel Gallery located at 1-30 @ Akard sometime toward the end of June..with work due mid June. The next one after that is the re-opening show for the beautiful Fair Park Discovery Gardens building. I need all new work for that show, titled, Global Swarming. Mixed in there is the show at the Tarrant County Community College S/E gallery which will be hung around September 10.
We still have a myriad of small and large projects going and winding down around the farm/ranch as well. Not much time to sit on the porch lately but that time is coming.
I’ll get a few pics up soon…..promise!
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Having a melt down!
I’m having a meltdown…and not the good kind with beeswax. The kind that comes with the excitement and frustration of setting up a new computer. This thing is gorgeous…HP TouchSmart IQ 816. A 25.5 inch screen all in one. The problem and frustration is having a borderline connection and VISTA. I’ve been using XP Pro for 4 years and this is not a pretty sight a grown woman almost pulling hair.
On top of that some of my software discs disappeared in the move. I’m trying to get my FTP program to load (I have the Key) but it’s not working. I don’t have an email program set up yet due to using Web mail so much. Who knows how many little programs are not installed yet and I will have to hunt them all down one my one for my preferences.
OK…….no more negative hair pulling.
Here’s the painting I painted almost entirely at Mississippi Art Colony the first day. I did a little tweaking but I think it’s working. I can’t think of any other title for it but to add to my Little Pieces of Land series at #29. It is 48 x 36″ acrylic on canvas.
Now to get the varnish and hangers on it and on to more if this darn computer (I am not going there again).
So bye for now…you know where I’ll be.
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Retreat update
Almost time for Happy Hour………….but I wanted to post a couple of paintings I’ve been working on here at MsArtColony. Wonderful session. Time is flying by.
Got to tell the story about the first one …gray one. I decided to get away from some of my comfort zones and not tone my canvas or draw anything at all in with charcoal. I used paint from a palette that was drying up and I thought I would get some imagery from something there in the studio. SO, I decided to paint Larry at the easel…….great shapes there I thought. SO I got all ready to go, dipped my brush in dark paint, looked up and Larry had vanished. So I just painted the ’empty easel’. I guess no one but me or one of my studio mates would know but I KNOW. Guess that’s a close to a figure as I’m gonna get.
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Encaustic work progress
I got some work done today in the studio on that 24 x 24″ encaustic I had going. It has more cohesiveness now. Who knows what I will do or not next? I’ll mull it over. The photo isn’t that great….it came out dark and with too much of a sienna cast so I manually fiddled with it in PSP but I’m not that good at working with images like this. It’s rainy, stormy, dark today so I won’t take a real shot of it until I’m sure it’s finished and I have a good day outside to shoot it.
I should be gathering all my stuff for colony………I’m just a slug to day so I haven’t done much but pile up some stuff. I think I’ll run to Dallas tomorrow with Carolyn my art buddy in the next town…..go to TX WAX Dallas meeting at the new encaustic center two members have opened there in Richardson. Guess then I’ll HAVE to get to work loading stuff as Monday is the last day for all this.
Wheee…..then off to Colony bright and early Tuesday morning to paint and talk up a lot of art for the rest of the week.
Listening to the Eagles……..Long Road Out of Eden.
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Update on Wax Easel
I finally found that old wooden watercolor board portable easel a friend’s husband made me so long ago. I have used it before when working on collage and my neck would hurt bending over too much…..why not for encaustic as well!
It does slant but not as much as a full easel and I can move it and lay my boards flat when needed.
If I want to go all out with uncontrolled drips, I can just put it on the old Stanrite metal easel……………yaaay!
Can’t work today to see how it will go and will be gone tomorrow all day………..but Wednesday, I’m gonna try this all out as I can definitely see a lot needs work now that I have that photo up on the easel.
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Happy Easter
It’s not until tomorrow but I might get busy and forget to wish all a
HAPPY EASTER!
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Afternoon in the studio…..
It was afternoon before I could get up to the studio to start working on more ‘wax painting’. Too much time spent trying to “tweet”. My DH took a nap while I was upstairs….kept wondering what that ‘tweet” sound was…TweetDeck, of course. He thinks I’ve lost my mind…maybe I have.
I have no idea what I did this afternoon, but I just kept adding wax medium, paints and paint sticks, then burnishing them with my little iron or heat gun. It took some time but I’ve got some layers going here. I need to raise my worktable. Deanna Wood sent me some photos of the blocks some people use …I’ve seen these at my art colony. I think it would work but then I have all those cords that are slightly shorter than you would like when it comes to extending your work area. I’ll mull it over. ..or maybe tilt some of the work up when it doesn’t matter if it’s flat.
More later…..
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Setting up the studio wax work-station
If this set-up looks a little make-shift, that’s because it is. I know I will never get any encaustic paintings done if I have to keep setting up and taking down from my main work table in the painting room of the studio. I needed a special place, pretty or not, to work so I can pick up and put down as time allows.
SO, I took the old hollow core 80″ door off between the living-room/storage part of the studio and the canvas painting room part of the studio. It was in the way any way and was the only door with no panels so it would be flat. The hinges and doorknob are left on in case I ever want to put it back up. I set it on the small kitchen table and I covered it with heavy construction site paper. I moved the old porcelain topped cabinet my m-i-l used to have a toaster oven on over next to the table. I put as much encaustic paint and wax medium etc in all the drawers as I could get in and will have to try out the set up to see what needs changing on down the line. I had to bring in a heavy duty extension cord and multiple plug set up for all the plugs………this IS a problem with all the connections you have to make painting with wax. You note that I have my fan set up for exhausting out any fumes. I have a few shelves that I will put some implements on. I ordered one of those heat regulators and a brass brush and the flow control tool, etc. Now to get back used to working with just wax before trying them out.
Just to try things out a little, I pulled out the other 24 x 24″ home-made panel from long ago. It was covered with canvas. From my other problem with canvas coming loose when only stretched and stapled on the sides, I decided to take it off the board and put on some plain beeswax and then put it all back on and maybe then it would stay attached better to the board when all the wax paint starts to build up. It took some time to get it off….seems like this one must have been better attached than that other one that no wax had seeped through. By the time I got it off it was all folded into a weird shaped I set aside until I could get some wax layers down on the bare board. I forgot how time consuming this is……..and how much my neck and or back would start aching from leaning over. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY TIPS TO PREVENT THIS ACHING NECK THING?……please let me know.
I think I finally have it fairly well straightened out now and ‘glued’ down with wax. I’ll smooth it out some next time and start thinking of what I want to do with this panel.
One thing is pretty much decided now after two home-made panels covered with canvas………….I don’t like doing this prep so I think I will go back to working on a plain panel or one with paper glued to the surface. Also……no money saved as then you have to frame these suckers as the sides don’t look great like the nice 2″ deep panels.
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WHAT A DAY! and a painting
I got ready to go up to the studio and just as I got all ready to paint, the electricity went out. I called the electric company about 11am and it came on for 15 minutes about 5:30pm….then out again as I was trying to work on a digital image. Now it’s back on ……7:30pm but I waited a while to turn the poor mistreated computer back on.
I went ahead and painted and then took the pictures earlier……….here is the work as it stands…40 x 50″ so I wasn’t too thrilled with just wiping it out so I kept working. YOU tell me what you think. Trees and plant/organic life shows up in my work all the time but this might be getting to be too much for me. It’s kinda on the edge of realistic and abstraction and I’m not really sure if it works or is too much realism.
Oh yeah………the outage was due to terrible winds…we thought they were almost as bad as when Ike came through here but no rain….weird. I need to go check the weather patterns to see if more is in store.
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