Busy All the Time and Having Way Too Much Fun

I got major inspiration from reading and re-reading Kate McKinnon's new book on sculptural metal clay.  The techniques she introduced inspired three new pieces, with many more residing in my head and waiting to materialize.

I've been working on bee-themed pieces, both encaustic mixed media and jewelry, for FRANK Gallery's "BEE Show" that opens in June.  Encaustic is eligible, because it is in large part beeswax.  The encaustic technique is one that dates back to ancient Greece where shipbuilders used beeswax to caulk joints and waterproof the hulls of their boats.  Pretty soon, the Greeks were painting the prows of their warships, sealed in wax I must presume, and scaring the beejezuz out of the Trojans. Jasper Johns was the only 20th century artist to use encaustic, but now it's enjoying a resurgence, and I can understand why.  I find it compelling and addictive, because I can layer just about anything in the wax. Multiple images, paints (oil only) and fabric, paper, etc. can be secured in multiple layers.

So, I move between my jewelry and painting/collage studios (both upstairs in my house) as I work on pieces.  It satisfies the ADD (or OCD) in me.  

Today was one of those interesting synchronicity (for lack of a more descriptive term) days.   I've had a necklace, made of sterling, large white freshwater pearls, and rutilated quartz briolettes, languishing in the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts for the past six months.  It's a gorgeous piece, and I couldn't understand why it hadn't sold.  Well, today, two women wanted the same piece.  Alas, the second woman came in after it was already bought by the first.  She had looked at it the day before and went home to think about it.  Any other time she would have had first dibs, but not today.  Interesting, huh?  Anyway, I promised to make a similar piece for her if I can find more of the large briolettes I used in the original.

It's a joy to be doing what I'm doing and to have the freedom to pursue my creative work, which isn't always lucrative but is always satisfying.

It's Been Ages!

Apologies for being absent from these pages for so long.  My only excuse is that I've been busy - healing and making new work.

I was thrilled to be juried into a new art gallery in downtown Chapel Hill, called FRANK (except in the logo, the "A" is red and upside down, cool).  My first check came today, and four major pieces sold in the first month, so I'm happy.  

I have a featured artist show this month at the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts, so I was working toward that show as well.  In addition to jewelry, I included two of my new encaustic collages.  Encaustic involves applying beeswax (mixed with damar resin) to a wooden or paper surface and melting the wax with a torch or heat gun.  I've fallen in love with encaustic, because I can make multiple layers of wax and embed color and images into each layer.  It has so many possibilities I've yet to explore.  You can see some of my collages and my two new encaustic pieces on Fine Art America, Website is www.fineartamerica.com.

Now, about France and my workshop there:  The June workshop is a no-go, because there just weren't enough registrants.  The European economy may have had something to do with it.  But, I am scheduled to teach at Chateau Dumas in September, from the 11th - 18th.  So if you want to learn how to work with precious metal clay (PMC) in a truly unique and gorgeous setting with three French meals a day included, then this is the course for you.  OUI!

Along with the knee rehab and my jewelry and collage work, I took a brief trip to Boston the weekend of April 23rd to attend the memorial service of my dear friend Susan Tifft, who died of cancer on April 1st.  She managed to live two years beyond expectation out of sheer grit and willpower.  Her memorial service, at Harvard's Memorial Chapel, was beautiful and an opportunity for those of us who loved her to mourn together.

So, as you can see, I've been busy with all that life can throw my way, most of it great.  I'm in a happy place with my creative work and fired up with new ideas waiting to find form and expression.  I will not let so much time elapse again between postings.