Coffee and Tree

I am having fun with the sisal coffee bag I found walking from my office to my studio a couple of months ago. This is the second of four in the series that I have completed. I had been thinking of how to utilize fabric from some of the clothing that is strewn all over the streets of San Francisco. This idea is a little scary, but since deciding to recycle, I have found some really cool stuff including a gorgeous scarf in my planter in front of my house that I glued to a panel yesterday. I like letting the City inspire me, even with its sad discarded fabric and clothing. 

Coffee and Tree, 12" x 12", encaustic, carbon transfer, sisal coffee bag, 2013

Red Tipped Rufous

I've begun to play with collage a little. I have so much respect for people who do it successfully - making an interesting composition out of scraps of things is really challenging. In this piece, I dipped my toe in a wee bit just to see how well the additional fabric and paper would adhere just by placing it into the wax. I've prepped a couple of panels but the process has me yearning for acrylics.

Acceptance

I like things tidy. I like glassy surfaces worked to perfection by applying an exact amount of heat over the entire surface. I like my images to transfer evenly, perfectly, with no peeled carbon or broken lines. 

This is a crazy medium for someone who craves this degree of order. Encaustic image transfers are messy, scratchy, broken, and faded. 

For this image, I tried and failed to get the transfer to stay intact and after numerous attempts I discovered that if I did not insist on a perfectly smooth surface, void of any brush strokes, I would be less likely to destroy the image. You may be able to see the brushstrokes even in the photograph. This is my attempt at acceptance. 

Heather's Flock

This has been on exhibit at Secession since the beginning of June - it seems I didn't get around to photographing it before the show went up. Heather Robinson is one of the resident artists there and I think I was channeling her when I drew in the pattern - she does cool stuff with patterns and fabrics. If Trish hadn't pointed it out, I might not have made the connection. I feel pretty lucky to be influenced by so many talented local artists, whether it's conscious or not.

Boreal Sings like Elton John

This may be my favorite incarnation of the Boreal drawing. The owl is sporting some new fabric that I picked up and became so excited about I couldn't wait to start applying the wax once the fabric was adhered to the boards. Working with fabric really makes me cheerful!