Do you submit your work to art shows? I’ve been thinking about getting back into it. I used to submit my work upon occassion …if I found a show that I really thought suited me. Have you had any reasonable success with this? I’ve done great for local shows but not for those big national and international calls that you see all over the place.
Painting with wax- whatcha want to know?
I’ve been working hard on writing a tutorial about painting with wax. I have the introductory ‘course’ written already and some other subjects like using images, embedding objects, etc. What would you want to learn about? If you’re experienced already or just wondering about encaustic painting…what would you want to know?
Color me happy
I made some more encaustic paint samples last night and am loving the enhanced colors. I wanted to add some more vibrance to them and am so happy with the results! I have some more color lines I’m thinking of making– how can I find more hours in the day? I think I’ve exhausted all the workable hours I can find. But it feels good to keep busy so on I go! If I could only figure out how to hand make time. Hmmmm.
After the art has left the nest…
Today I received the most wonderful email from Samatha in Toronto. She had purchased a watercolor painting of mine some time ago and was holding onto it until she could figure out the right home for it. As she wrote to me,
Artists I Admire- Adam Junior
Studio
3.5‘ x 2.5′ x 3’
Resin, clay bricks, tin
by Adam Junior
Mixing colors
This morning my friend asked me to make her a custom color of encaustic paint- Robin’s Egg Blue! I love mixing custom colors and couldn’t wait to come home and give it a whirl. I used my white encaustic medium and mixed in some ultramarine blue, titanium white, a custom yellow mix and natural encaustic medium for that slight hint of green. I’m not sure if there’s anything I love more about painting than mixing my own colors!
Thoughts on colors and why we are drawn to them
Today I had the extreme pleasure of visiting a yurt! We’ve been dying to get one (or twenty) for our backyard — yurts in the hayfield! There is a clear dome window at the top which lets in the most beautiful natural light! It would really make such a perfect studio setting; fantastic even lighting and plenty of room to spread out all my art supplies! Oh that would simply be heaven!
My husband is obsessed with yurts- that’s his drawing at the top of this post:
Looking closer- Ghosts of the Past 2, Encaustic Painting
Ghosts of the Past 2
Encaustic, embedded Photograph, & Grass on found wood
9.5″ x 9″
September 2008
Available in my Etsy Shop or through JamieRibisi.com
Looking closer- a brief exploration of art:
This painting incorporates the technique of embedding objects in the wax. The grass and the photograph are both embedded and it’s a pretty simple task!
First, I fused one layer of encaustic onto my substrate and fused it. Then I brushed encaustic medium onto the back of the image and a little bit on the area that it was heading to live and smooshed them together real fast. Using a flat tool, I got all of the air bubbles out and then layered another bit of medium on top of the image. Fuse and repeat the layers of medium until satisfied with the result.
The grass is done in a similar manner but takes a bit of adjusting the blades because they are so small and fragile. Embedding natural objects into wax is really fun because the material will change as it adjusts to the heat and to the wax. They tend to brown and dry out slightly as they sit in the pool of molten wax. Just like nature– you never know what’s going to happen and that’s the best part of encaustic painting– in my world, anyway!
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If you liked my little behind the scenes venture into painting, keep following my blog for the “Looking closer” series and learn what I do, how I do it, and why!
For the encaustic dreamers, I will also be creating a tutorial that will give you detailed in-depth tips, tricks, & techniques with lots of technical info so that you will feel safe and armed with the knowledge to feel comfortable creating your own beeswax art! I’ll post it here once it’s ready for sale (& some freebie opportunities, too!)
Roots #1 – new encaustic painting
Roots #1
Encaustic, Image Transfer, & Oil Pastel on Cradled Panel
8″ x 8″ (20.32 cm x 20.32 cm)
January 2009
Now available in my Etsy Shop or through JamieRibisi.com
Hello!
