horizontal surfaces are for . . .

ART PROJECTS!!!!

the studio workspace

the "art bar"

the breakfast table

the dining room table

While I'm waiting for wax to melt in the studio and for the temperature to warm-up so I can go outside to do some sanding and for paint to dry, I thought I'd share a little story about my sweet husband, Patrick with you.

When we built the house we owned last, we included my first studio which I absolutely LOVED.
One day Patrick came home from work to see every horizontal surface covered with plates that I had collaged for a Christmas artisan fair.  And he said "I thought when we built you a studio, this wouldn't happen any more."  Well, of course, I just laughed and said something about that wasn't in a contract, was it?

Art projects just expand to fill the space alotted and then they overflow. Or maybe explode is a better word for it.  I am currently working on some large pieces that just don't fit anywhere but where we should do our eating.  But this is "picked up" -- I wish I'd taken the pictures a few days ago when one of the sofas and the ottoman were covered too. 

(oh, there's not a picture of the bar becuz it's covered in Halloween decorations, not art projects -- I took them down but I never got them boxed up LOL)

Have a fun day arting everyone.

Arting with Friends

A year ago, my friend Ellen (above) and I took an encaustic class from Ellen Koment

in the Paseo Arts District here in Oklahoma City.  It was a long hot two days.

We learned a lot. 

And then, because we didn't use it right away, we forgot a LOT. 

So yesterday Ellen came over and we practiced, practiced, practiced.

And if you know either Ellen or me, you know we talked and talked and talked.

But that really helped us be loose in our experimentation.

(More on the experiments at the bottom of the post.)

Here's the only piece I made from scratch and finished.

Well, I'm not quite sure if it's done.  I think so but . . .

Makes me think of grapes for some reason

(maybe cuz I am ALWAYS hungry?  LOL)

The next piece is one I started in class and didn't like.

So when I first whipped up my batch of encaustics, I covered it in white.

And I still didn't like it!

So I scraped and dug and put green wax in the cuts, scraped some more, etc, etc, etc.

Still didn't like it!

So yesterday I pulled it out and covered it in black.

Then I scraped in a tree which I filled with gold.

A lot more scraping and torching and this came out.

I like it.  But it's nothing like what I usually do.

Which can be a very good thing some times.

Ellen and I had so much fun! 

By the end of the day, I think she was as in love with scraping as me. 

I'm telling you, it is soooooooooooo relaxing ~ even contemplative. 

And I'm pretty sure she'll be buying a kitchen torch soon. 

They are so much less intimidating than those big old tank things. 

And easier to control. 

My friend Roz loaned me her torch but I'm going to wait to use it til I do something BIG! 

You see, I am deathly afraid of fire and I burn myself all the time in the kitchen. 

Yeah, I'm a little confused as to why wax is my favorite medium. 

Talk about pushing yourself out of your comfort zone!

In my last post I mentioned I was working on 3 art group projects.

This year we're doing a round robin of boxes.  Very cool. 

When they're all done, I'll share pictures.

In addition, every month the hostess gives us a "challenge".  

I've got to admit, I am pretty lax about doing them.

But in May, Lynda gave each of us an unfinished curved wood cabinet door.

LOVED IT!

and I came up with this ~ After the Fire

Working on the curved surface was tricky. 

But again, something new can yield wonderful results.

Also in the last post I showed some works in process.

Here is one of them with a few more steps of wax collage & color.

Looking pretty different, huh? 

Well, I think it's about to change.

You see, while we were experimenting and talking yesterday, guess what happened?

I got distracted (surprise!  not) and ignored a piece

on the heat for a little longer than I should have.

And I loved the glass smooth finish it gave the wax

so I'm going to do it with this piece on purpose.

I have no idea how it will work becuz you just never

know what the wax will do when it gets hot. 

Okay, you know it will melt, but will it run, pool, slide completely off?

I'll let you know what comes next with this.

I love arting with friends.  New ideas just seem to form in the air.

And while most of the women in my art group do work entirely different than me,

I always come away so inspired.

I am so glad I revamped my studio so there's room for two or three to play.

There's even room for small class of four.

If you're in OKC, let me know. 

Maybe there's some arting in our future.

working in the studio

I've been quite busy working in the studio lately.

These are two of the pieces still in process.

I'm also working on three projects for my art group

(I missed a couple during tax season)

But the main thing I've been doing is revamping the studio.

Actually,  the only thing I've FINISHED is revamping the studio.

It's going to work so much better - for day to day studio time,

arting with friends and maybe some classes.

You can see a lot more pictures on my facebook page by clicking here.

You can see what it looked like before the revamp by clicking here.

Of course, my brain has come up with lots of other things to do

but I think I'm going to stick with making art this week.

Thanks for stopping by - Sherry