Art Unraveled: Part 2

Art Unraveled was awesome . . . and it's just taken me a very long time to get it together enough to post about the classes I taught! I taught two classes, Washed Up and Worn recycled rubber jewelry, and a Wax and Fiber encaustic class.

First, check out the extremely cool cuff bracelets my students made from recycled bicycle inner tubes! Wonder Twin Powers Activate!


I never got to take any pictures from the Wax and Fiber class because I didn't pack enough encaustic medium. I went by how much I use, and how much Linda Womack and I had used during her class in 2008. Yup. This was a learning experience. We ran out of medium. Twice. I had to beg and borrow from the infinitely kind Judy Wise. Twice. The next day, I rented a car, and drove all over Scottsdale, Tempe, and Phoenix buying up all the medium in town so that Judy could teach her class the next day. That was after I realized that no one in town carried damar resin crystals, so I spent three times as much buying pre-made medium. Yup. Lesson learned! Next year, I'll be prepared!

Art Unraveled: Part 1

When you find the thing you want to keep learning about, the thing you feel like you could explore for the rest of your life, you've probably found your calling. For me, it's art.

About a week ago, I got back from Art Unraveled, a big mixed media art retreat down in Arizona. I was teaching classes, and I also got to take a few - part of the whole this-is-my-calling-and-I want-to-explore-more thing. I took a resin class from Susan Lenart-Kazmer and made resin papers and cast some objects in resin. I didn't walk away with any finished jewelry projects, but I made some cool components and got to play and experiment.

A cast resin shell and resin papers sealed onto wire frames.

Resin papers, a cast key, and bezels filled with papers, objects and resin.

More papers, another filled bezel, and a cast key colored with acrylics and waxes.

I also got a chance to take a Photoshop class from my friend Mike Jennings. I haven't turned into a Photoshop guru overnight, but I did make a few interesting collages, and I finally understand masks, knocking out images and layer blending a little better than I did before!

I'm particularly fond of the brittle sea star in this one . . .
though the composition could use some work.

Encaustic Experimentation: DEMO lite

I've been prepping extra samples for my Wax and Fiber class at Art Unraveled next month, and have been having a lot of fun with some lace I picked up at Knittn' Kitten. It's a huge pattern, machine-made synthetic lace, and looks like it was probably designed for curtains or something similar.

I laid down a few layers of encaustic medium (wax and resin) onto a birch plywood panel and some light colored encaustic paint (wax and resin and pigment), fusing each layer. I then burnished the lace into the surface with an old spoon. Next, I laid down some additional encaustic paint and fused it in.


Here's a close-up of what it looked like with the lace still on it:


I waited for the wax to cool a bit, then peeled the lace up. It left wonderful patterns in the wax, and I then filled those patterns in with contrasting wax. After building up more layers, fusing and scraping back, you can clearly see the bolder patterns of the lace!



I also embedded some thread in the surface for extra detail . . . . I am really loving combining wax with as many media as possible!

Texture in Context

I finally got pictures of the actual pieces I worked on in the texture class, and thought it might be fun to share what the texture looks like in context . . .

I think the dots here help the little raised bit feel like it belongs on the background.

And this one doesn't feel finished yet - but it's almost like the wrinkles in the background become like veins or roots - especially if you consider them in the context of the heart. Maybe taking the veins and extending them to the edges?

I'm done with the work for the Other Side of My Brain for awhile, and I'm delighted - I'll get to spend some time in the studio, and updating my website and getting ready for fall classes. Not that I'm ready for fall, but I am ready to be back in the studio, applying some of this great stuff I've been learning!


And speaking of texture and learning stuff, check out this great tutorial from Sister Diane on How to Emboss a Metal Tin over at CraftStylish. She's also got a whole podcast on how to create faux punched tin and embossed metal looks with inexpensive materials. Talk about a tool to add to my texture arsenal . . .

Re-Raveling: Texture

Here's my final report from Art Unraveled, now that I've had a chance to fully re-ravel after the revelry . . . it's amazing how much being "on" for a week can take out of you! I took one more class, this time with Jacqueline Sullivan and this time all about creating textures with acrylics. We used cheesecloth, books, modeling paste, aluminum foil, tissue paper, and many secret techniques which I cannot reveal to you here, but which were a lot of fun. It felt like a good compliment to the exploring I've been doing in the book Acrylic Revolution by Nancy Reyner.




This also makes me excited about ArtFest . . . I really got into some texture techniques there last year, and registration starts soon . . . I'm trying to figure out how to work in an abstract acrylic techniques class with Mary Beth Shaw and a class with Bee Shay . . .

Re-Raveling: Judy Wise

I also had the chance to take classes at Art Unraveled . . . I've been so loving encaustic that I jumped at the chance to take an encaustic collage class with Judy Wise . . . I'm always up for learning some new techniques. Judy Wise combines acrylic painting with wax and collage in a really wonderful way . . . her style reminds me of Chagall's world if it were peopled with angels and goddesses instead of goats and fiddlers . . . and she blogged about her Art Unraveled
class here . . .

Here are the pieces I did: This first is acrylic over-painting on a vintage image, with wax and collage elements.


This second one is a clip art image of a heart that I turned into an octopus, combined with a clip art woman. Again, painted over and coated with wax and collage elements.


I can't say that I'm crazy about either one, but I learned a lot and got some great effects - and I have to admit I love the whole heart-as-octopus thing; I really want to try that again on a larger scale . . .

Re-Raveling

I just got back from Art Unraveled in Phoenix, Arizona. I was helping Linda Womack teach a few encaustic classes . . . and yeah, we both look a little spacey after traveling and teaching two classes and schlepping 107 pounds of stuff, but we had a great time! And we both got a chance to relax by the pool . . . no pictures of us in swimsuits, though . . . this picture is embarrassing enough!



Linda blogs about it here, and shares a lot of the art the students made. One of the best things about teaching is seeing students get excited and try new things . . . Linda did a bunch of demos (including an amazing thing with paper napkins) and I answered a lot of questions and played Vanna White with the art materials. Here's some of the awesome things the students made after only a few hours playing with the beeswax and collage materials . . .






Wow!