Bellevue Arts Museum ArtsFair

Hello all, sorry for the radio silence over here.  I've been working on some new pieces to go with the new series and applying for some art fairs for this summer!

I'll be at the Bellevue Arts Museum ArtsFair July 25, 26, and 27 at booth L-02.  All the info about the fair is right here. I'm on a wait list for another fair so I may or may not be there, we'll see!

I've got a new drawing that is finished, too and I wanted to try an encaustic that had a drawing transferred on top to see if it would work.

For unknown reasons the only files that are uploading correctly today are my images that are formatted for the art show application website??  Thanks Blogger! :P  So try to ignore the borders here:

It's a bit terrifying trying to melt in the drawing on the encaustic without messing any of it up…the little triangles are much easier to do.  It worked and I like the result though, so I think I'll do more like this.

new series!

 Deflect, 16x20" mixed media on paper

Pieced, 11x14" mixed media on paper

Stabilize, 11x14" mixed media on paper

These are what I've been trying to figure out for the last couple months.  There's a learning curve for how to incorporate new things and it took quite a while to figure out how I wanted to proceed.

I picked up a book at the local used book emporium about embroidery in various cultures.  The pictures are beautiful but the idea that clothing in some places was embroidered to protect the wearer really stuck with me.  I've been sort of mulling over combining stitching with figure drawings for a while and I was ready to move on from the crafter drawings.

The best way I found to embroider onto the heavy watercolor paper was to pre-punch a hole from the front (so I could see where I wanted it) and then re-poke the hole from the back so it was big enough to put the needle through easier.  I didn't really care for the look of the holes in the paper so that's why I came up with the idea of patching bits of fabric over the holes.  On 300 lb. watercolor paper the holes were sort of overwhelming the stitching.  My transfer paper works great on fabric so I thought that would make an interesting combination.  I like that using bits of fabric also gives a patchwork feel to the drawing.

I worked on all three of these at once and I think I will do them one a time in the future...that's a lot of little holes to embroider and my fingers are hurting!

new minis

That's a lot of images for some very tiny art!  

These are 4x4" minis I made to test out the addition of image transfers on fabric and embroidery thread to attach the fabric bits.

The more opaque pieces of fabric are cotton with image transfers and the sheer pieces are silk.  The silk didn't take the image transfer for some reason but if I decide I just have to have it I could always try those printable silk organza sheets.  I assume the effect would be the same.

I like how this is working on the small scale so next up will be to add it onto a larger piece.

green encaustic collage and a tattoo! (but not on me)

Here's another little encaustic collage...having so much fun making these.  I still feel like I'm getting the hang of the medium somewhat but I love the possibilities with depth and layering.  I do kind of like it not to be too smooth - I think you're supposed to be striving towards smoothness but I like some variation.

I got an email last month from Jesika who wanted to incorporate some of my hellebore drawings into a tattoo.  She designed this herself and very kindly sent me photos because I was very keen to see what she came up with!  And then I promptly forgot they were in my inbox, ha ha.  Jesika does some pretty amazing work of her own and I'm very pleased to have been involved in this amazing tattoo!  Thanks Jesika!

lilac encaustic

These shiny encaustic pieces are turning out to be difficult to scan - the glossy surface seems to confuse the scanner and parts of it get blown out.  But I can't get the level of detail I want with photos.  So here's a combination of both...hopefully that gives an idea of what this actually looks like between the two.

I'm trying to get the layers of papers and lines and image transfers to be a little more transparent so you can see through and under them.  Making the lines onto the gesso a bit darker seems to be helping, and I printed out some image transfer bits that are essentially clear with a floating image (in this case the handwriting) on them.  I think that's giving it a feel that's closer to my digital collages where all the layers are working together.

I also decided to start blogging some of my sewing projects but I wanted to keep this space just for art.  I mean, why neglect one blog when you could neglect two??!?  So here's the sewing blog, if you're curious.

more waxing

Two more encaustic pieces, 8x8".

These turned out oddly much warmer in tone than the last two.  The only thing I did different (I think anyway) was melting the encaustic medium in a different container.  And the medium is a bit thicker although I put on fewer layers.  I guess I wanted to try encaustics to introduce a bit more unpredictability into my work so...success :)

I like that using the TAP transfer paper in and on the wax instead of on paper is that the transfers tend not to dominate the piece so much.  The photos I included in these pieces would have ironed on about 5 times darker than they look here.

feeling fall

In between the encaustic experimenting I was working on a couple of pieces on paper.  This piece had an unexpectedly autumnal sort of pink when I came back and looked at it again.  I meant to just make a toned-down pink but it feels like a fall color to me.

I bought some 300 lb. hot press watercolor paper on sale and I really like that ironing on the image transfers is less likely to warp it.  The other pieces usually came back to being pretty flat but this is even smoother.  And obviously it's less prone to buckling when it's wet since I don't like to have to stretch the paper.

more knitting

Graphite, watercolor, gouache, and image transfers on paper, 11x14".


I think this is the last sheet of this more off-white paper - not sure why it doesn't match the other pieces.  I have a maddening variety of white mats, frames, and drawings...I go to swap something out and I realize that the paper looks icky against the mat or vice versa.  If I wasn't so cheap frugal I would have a mat and frame for every piece but instead I switch them out for shows.


I've discovered that using a gridded ruler works really well for making the lines match up with each other (at least the ones I want to be parallel, anyway).  I already had one for my rotary cutter so now I use it for drawing, too.  Of course, I only have one and I'm too cheap frugal to buy a second one so it's usually in whichever spot I'm not :)

knitting! (drawn)

I finally managed to round up some knitting photos to use as reference thanks to a friend who agreed to model. I think I've been looking at this piece for too long now and it's started to take on that sort of unreal quality.

I'm still doing image transfers over the top and generally trying to loosen things up somewhat. There's nothing like slightly uncooperative transfer paper to add something unpredictable to a piece...mostly it works great, but some of them just sort of crackle up and fail to stick properly. I'm starting to suspect that has more to do with my iron than the transfer paper, though. Anyway, I'm printing out some transfers that I've scanned and altered in Photoshop so that they're basically clear apart from the text or diagram that I want to use. I think this lightens them both literally and metaphorically so the transfers don't tend to dominate the watercolor.

third camera-as-model

This is the last of the three vintage camera drawings...unless I unearth another old camera at my parents' house, I suppose.

In other news, I went to the big Gauguin exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum with Letha! So fun to look at art with another artist and a very thoughtful and thought-provoking show.

first piece of 2012! (finally)

I've had a very hectic last few weeks but it's so good to get back in the studio again! Nothing like multiple out-of-state trips, crazy snowstorms (with power outage), and piles of house guests to throw off your schedule. Anyway.

This is my mom's little Brownie camera again posing for a drawing. Can I just say again how much I love it? It's so adorable.

I wanted to get a little different effect than the last drawing so I tried a more subtle monochromatic wash-y thing with the watercolors and the gouache. I thought I would see how the image transfers worked over the top and I think I like what happened. There's nothing like being able to take the things I use in Photoshop and plop them straight onto a painting. Incidentally, the "Drug Store" stamp is from the back of a photo that my grandpa took and that was where he and my mom got their film developed when she was a kid.