Scorched Earth

Scorched Earth

Image Size 24" x 12"

Encaustic

We have been having a severe drought here in Southern California for several years.  Last year, I think we had three days of rain and none of those storms produced any significant rainfall.  Our rainy season is usually from November through April and so far we've had a couple of storms and one of them was huge so we're heading in the right direction.  Experts say even if we get our normal amount of rain this year (about 13") it will take several years for our ground water to be replenished.

We are supposed to get a storm either tomorrow or Wednesday so this painting is my artistic rain dance.  So many times rain is promised by our local weather people and none materializes.  I hope we get a nice storm that gives us a good amount of water but no downpours that will cause flooding.  Do you think it will work?  I'm sure it will.

This is another encaustic painting.  Molten wax seems like the perfect medium for a painting named "Scorched Earth".  I also added shellac to the painting and set it on fire.  That created a little too much texture in the sky so I added layers to tone it down.  I'm really happy with the result.

Pique

Pique

Image Size 36" x 54"

Acrylic

This is what the inside of my head looks like right now.....

I built a cradled surface using a 1/4" plywood with a veneer on one side and gessoed it several times to seal it and make a textured surface.  Then I did a combination of pouring and scumbling to create the image.  It was a very freeing project that let me get rid of a lot of frustrations.  Abstracts are great for that and there's nothing quite as liberating as throwing paint.

The Sentinel

The Sentinel

Image size 4" x 6"

Encaustic

December is always a busy month and this week was especially crazy so I didn't have much time for art.  This is a very small encaustic study that I did.  I enjoyed playing with layers of opaque and translucent wax.  The tree looks darker in this photo than it really is in person.

I'm planning to be working on encaustics this week too but first, I want to paint a large acrylic abstract.  I'll start that tomorrow...

Lake Powell Encaustic

Lake Powell Encaustic

Image size 6" x 4"

Encaustic

I painted a small encaustic this week.  Lake Powell is a favorite subject of mine to paint.  I love the rusty colors of the canyons against the blues of the sky and water.  This beautiful lake has my favorite complementary color combination - blue/orange - occurring naturally  in the dramatic canyons.

Painted Tile Landscape

Painted Tile Landscape

Image Size 8" x 12"

Glazes on tile

I have a lot of white glazed tile leftover from remodeling projects from decades ago - no, I don't usually throw stuff away if I think it can be used for an art project.  This is my first try at painting on a glazed tile with low fire glazes.  I've painted on bisque tiles before many times (porous with no shiny finish) but this was a different experience.  I painted then fired these tiles twice because I didn't get the glaze dark enough the first time.  After firing the first time, the glaze became permanent and I was able to add more paint without lifting my first layer.  Since the surface is slick, the glaze wants to slip around and lift when more glaze is added.  I think I will be able to paint with one firing for the next project.  Each time a new medium/surface is used, there is a learning curve and I learned a lot with this painting.  Next time should be easier.  Another challenge when painting with glazes is that the way the painting looks before firing is very different than after it is fired.  It's fun to open the kiln and see the result.  It's always a surprise.

This was so much fun and I'm planning to do more very soon.  I like the looseness of this and it feels good to use up some supplies that I've been hoarding.  I need to mount this on a board and grout the lines between the tiles to finish it.  It will look a lot different when that's done.