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!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Encaustic Experimentation: DEMO lite
Posted by
Bridget
at
10:31 AM
4
comments
Labels: Art Unraveled, DEMO, Encaustic
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Drawing on the Walls: Roundup
I've been working away on my book, Artmaking as Playful Prayer: A 12-Week Guide to Developing Your Creativity as a Spiritual Practice, and finally got a draft out to my marvelous test readers earlier today. Now, I'm waiting to hear what they have to say and working on the hands-on explorations that will appear in the book! And you know, I'm going to need some people to test out the art stuff (hint, hint).
One of the things I mention in passing in the book (and may need to explore in more depth - perhaps in my own basement) is the idea of drawing on the walls. It's basic, right? It's exactly how our ancestors got started, and it's a straight-forward form of artmaking. You have an object that makes marks, and something to make marks on, and the nearest, easiest thing to make marks on is . . . well, the walls. And then I remembered seeing something on-line about people doing just that . . .
A few hours of Googling later, and I have found some cool goodies to share with you. If you're a bit shy of messing up your walls, there is paint-by-numbers wallpaper (found via casasugar), like this from Jenny Wilkinson:
If you're ready to just dive in, but like a little structure, you might try something like this frames wallpaper by Taylor & Wood (found via the droolicious blog on babble.com) and available in the US via the Graham & Brown website. I really want this for my office, and it would be super fun in a bathroom or kid's room! It also has the advantage that you can steam it off and perhaps take it with you - avoiding the whole "I'm moving and I have to paint over my artwork" trauma.
Or, you can just grab your permanent marker and go to town! I found two brave souls who have done just that via compactbydesign.com. The first is Charlie Kratzer from Kentucky who grabbed a Sharpie and decorated his basement - you can even see a video of the whole thing on the Kentucky Sun website, but here's a taste:
Or, if you have a gold pen and steady hand, you can check out Kellie's blog and see what she got herself up to in the hallway:
Yup, I'm looking at the office in the basement in a whole new light . . .
Posted by
Bridget
at
11:00 PM
3
comments
Labels: Drawing, Playful Prayer Book
Monday, July 13, 2009
Bottle Cap Art Round-Up!
Installations
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgFOoz0krt0wyKSkl6ky3HQRUuxH4aMfqMoLhj_lPjZ4nbQPVVLdslcPiHArI9xaogRrO1wrvhk3ubZoj9C33g1OVqNambjEXcsj93LW3pXeW6rkEzZXQovjjSDOQMnRQEmqjeSDxwa0xZ/s400/juicydetail.jpg)
LIke this guy, Bryant Holsenbeck, who does temporary, mandala-type installations with community help . . . all out of bottle caps and lids.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKsLifA80cmQTH9307UvMipO7kn2iJRIpWa6Nor8DmFAqhDPDSwqHKiorCCFUFTV6FM3nwd8ok5ibGAsrDf-vJ_aqoisZi5ZFEAKu4LUVieMS5H6ZZIXlnWhxBRnjnIhLTFuF_Iyonzc_l/s400/lids9.jpg)
like this little skull and tassel pendant . . .
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDEjDSTHgbSdeE49melubqASli2tDAX0NY0nW9zysYtDApaG2W-yW5zHNgrYU9vGgfCL4ZSUORuQDKppfEi9U5QTUkEHtuEPUewDpqufkxWqoDBSl-I7xfIB4tO32Co3DgyajRFmMLQeHi/s400/bluefeatherpendant_web.jpg)
found some other great folks doing bottle cap jewelry:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPe0hV4n2oBwUqoF0ZkVMy0XfOc6RyzFps9PHMUJPEi40csViS-Gyd_75yBbb8wR2L1D6mb0QJqseNwgNVSXvpXGp18RlELjOw3DtnyBTXMvEQA-8O8rRySunrda3sKk6xTnvOlLYz6Ful/s400/bottlecap_barbie.jpg)
and old Barbie and doll parts.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj9SW8f6Onrd4QEz3zSLNMlQBwr8BMd-zH9AAg472917hkDV3NC2_2DJRI87k7gm3MNg413-FuCreCKUwMtqj-5cgJRsY8V1LAUkhUZOyzNEQrLaAAvPN9O_Ri_pOChzSuPZ0lX1OWW0Nm/s400/highfivenecklace.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg94aFQB9W5AtfiOJxl8JdJJe1fOvlZv3mkzULhyphenhyphenG7nS5PLjBZb6d5TxR2Y4P0MorikEw6XxV2U6nBnlcVi0q41SXkXOnLyLDgRvTuqUBZstB5orUB1DGsWR2li7qIs8RLbEejcKYbtyqU8/s400/anotherpincushionring.jpg)
With all of these cool ideas, how can you (or I) ever waste another bottlecap?!
Posted by
Bridget
at
9:21 PM
1 comments
Labels: Jewelry, Plastic Bottle Caps, Recycling