An Artistic Weekend (of sorts)


BrownPotsNo2, originally uploaded by carolsLittleWorld.

Spent a good chunk of today in the studio over at Bay 6 dipping odd things in hot wax. Yes, yes, I know, seems strange, but there you have it. I’ll maybe try to post some of the results here (or, you know, not) in the coming days (weeks?) depending upon the TOS rules to Flickr. (For some reason, when I first joined Flickr, they did not take too kindly to painters posting items made with paint in their photo streams. Fast forward to current trends and, it would appear, they don’t seem to care, though it is technically still in our TOS rules, so I might try to sort of “bury” my recent painting work in the middle of a stream of “straight” photos and hope the good folks at Flickr don’t notice, don’t care, or just don’t TOS me for one reason or another. *Fingers crossed*)

Working with wax was different for me. It was a bit difficult for me at first to wrap my head around how to work with the medium but then, I suspect, it’s always that way when you try out something new, right? The first blends of wax with pigment that I made were mostly cadmium-based and these tend to be heavier (for those of you who don’t paint. *Waves*) then their non-cadmium based counterparts. It just took a little “getting used to” in terms of working with the medium, and layering the paint, and fusing it with the heat. Once I got the hang of it though, I started to produce better results. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve just started with this medium, so it’s going to take me (probably) the better part of a year until I feel comfortable working in it, still I could see a lot of applications for this. I wound up doing one piece with leaves and a very heavy pigment (thanks to my friend, Mr. Cadmium) and two partially photo-based pieces, one done with natural bits (tree burs, peppercorns, and cumin) and another a tribute to my doll head series, done with mostly hand-mixed pigment (lighter and more wax-based than the cadmium.)

Speaking of all things new, I would also like to point out that I’ve been inspired enough to start the ball rolling on a new Austin Night Photography group. For now, the group is just on Flickr (LOL-here’s hoping I don’t get TOS-d over the encaustic stuff, right?) but expect it to maybe take the form of some field trips and (perhaps?) maybe even venture into a meeting space if there’s enough interest (so far, it would appear that’s the case, though it’s hard to tell how many folks are committed to shooting at night.)

Finally, in “New Beginnings” news, this is shaping up to be a busy week. We’re slated to go over to University on Friday to frame and possibly hang the show and the reception is scheduled for October 29th after 6 pm on University grounds. That should keep me busy matting, framing, printing and, well, I guess, complaining to you about this all, until then, right?

Provided I don’t get my head stuck in wax between now and Friday, that is.

Until next time…

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2 Comments

  1. Janice / Dancing with Sunflowers
    Author
    October 19, 2009 / 6:18 pm

    Hi Carol, I hope you don't get your head stuck in wax. I don't see why Flickr should have a problem with you posting photos of your encaustic work on your general photostream. I see lots of photos of other art / craft work on there that comes from craft bloggers.
    Janice.

  2. Carol
    Author
    October 20, 2009 / 12:05 am

    Hi Janice!

    Yes, I think they have relaxed the rules a bit. Thank goodness. They used to TOS-out people who posted any kind of art (other than photography) but I think they have since relaxed those rules. Phew!

    Hope you had a great weekend.

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