Time flies...

Wish I could figure out where exactly the last 4 weeks have gone, and I extend my sincere apology to faithful visitors for the gap in posting.

I know that there was some travel across the state of Pennsylvania and to Maryland, and a few days spent quilting with beloved friends, and some family meals in there, too.  Oh, I worked in my square foot garden, too. The rest of the time I am not so sure about what I was doing or where the hours went.  I know not much creating got done.

 

Watercolor underpainting

This afternoon I am committed to returning to the encaustic project from my trip along the Susquehanna River back in April (already 3 months ago!) I am going to post the encaustic work in phases rather than waiting until I decide to stop working on a painting to post a photo.  It will be interesting for me to see it in a freeze-frame evolution.  This is painting number 1, after the first washes of paint and 'burn in.'  That term refers to applying heat either with hot tools in the wax or heating the air over the painting to bond the colors and layers of wax to each other and the wood support.  Some basic physics comes into play here since the darkest pigments absorb heat more quickly, and there can be some interesting and surprising outcomes because of this.

 

 Encaustic painting phase 1

 Check back soon for phase 2 of this encaustic painting...

creative organization...

Collecting images and saving scraps and bits of papers, tickets, ephemera of all sorts is a trait of us 'creative types.'

This evening I am working on some image farming - sorting out images and notes I have set aside thinking they may have a nugget of something I may want to revisit - a colorway, or lyrical line or historical context for a project.  I have a wonderful counter in my kitchen where I love to sit down with a cup of tea, my glue sticks and my box full of beauty!  Ah - life is good.

Along the Susquehanna in April

In April of this year I had several occasions to travel along the Susquehanna River in central Pennsylvania.  What a mighty and awesome river.  I made color notes and sketches and am now starting to work on a series of paintings from these April days.  

As I have posted before, I am working first in watercolor washes as underpaintings then will rework each painting in my custom manufactured encaustic paint.  These are the first 5 of what will be a 15 painting series capturing April days along the mighty Susquehanna from Milton, Pennsylvania south to Holtwood and Susquehannock.

 

Christmas in July is coming.

I'm in a Christmas sort of mind today.  Last winter I created a Victorian era candy box for a Valentine's Day gift.  It was a figure of St. Valentine holding a heart in his hand and a pair of lovebirds at his feet.  The torso lifted off the base to reveal a round container that could hold candy, or a trinket.  This week I am recreating that type of container, but featuring St. Nicholas and the symbols that surround his lore.  He may end up looking more like Father Christmas than a saint, but you'll have to check back to see just how he turns out.  Here are a few pictures of him as I build his arms, torso and the candy box base.

The tubular fabric which will become an arm is handstitched upside down and inside out to a groove on the wrist of the sculpted hand, then reversed, stuffed and stitched closed.  Ta da! You have an arm.

water and coffee are creative fuel for this artist...

 

And, this is the figure of St. Valentine...

Like him, the figure of St. Nicholas I am building will have head, hands, boots, and sculpted symbols made of Creative Paperclay.  The tubular candy box, legs and torso are made of a combination of wood, acid free paper, bamboo fiberfill and cotton textiles.  The clothing for St. Valentine is made entirely of vintage linens with wool embroidery, metallic embroidered ribbon and leather. St. Nicholas will be dressed in vintage textiles and trims, too. This makes for an art doll who is made entirely of archival materials. Maybe best of all is scouting for the textiles and jewels and materials that combined, become these figures. A wonderful joy and a gift of living the creative life.

Dressed to kill

Each of the girls these 5 dollies were being made for had requests to be met - favorite colors and hair styles and so on...

Now, the dollies for Vermont are completed and in the hands of 5 sweet and beloved girls. Here's their head shot.

Dew Drop Dollies

There's something wonderful about a doll made just for your little girl.  These dollies will be traveling north to Vermont once they are dressed.  Come back again to see them dressed and ready to travel.

 

Two more paintings

Here are the remainder of this week's encaustic paintings. They were shown in the underpainting phase on May 17, 2013. They're now posted in my shop at www.etsy.com/shop/composegrace

Snow Farm 2013

Winter Silos 2013