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Stacked Medium

9/25/2011

It's been a few days since my last post. You saw the video for my first encaustic medium pour. Well, ALMOST saw my first pour, if my right arm hadn't been in the way the whole time! Hey, like I said, I'm a painter, not Steven Spielberg!

The 8 ozs. of medium went well, so I just jumped right into making two pounds. I have two muffin tins: one small and one large, so I poured all of the two pounds into the muffin tins. The next day I popped them out and stacked them. This is two pounds (less one of the larger spheres) of my stacked medium. Hey, this in and of itself could be an art installation, don'tcha think?

I've already used one of the blocks of medium and I think it's pretty good. What I'm learning, though, is if I put too much oil point in the heated tin, it will cause the wax to resist hardening. It will always feel sticky. I've got to pull back on the amount of paint I use. Which is could, because it's less costly, right?

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Christmas Arrives!

9/14/2011

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I am such an immature little kid when it comes to trying new things. I woke up at 4:30 am this morning, thinking with excitement out the day ahead. Finally! I get to play with wax that is not in teensy tiny tins and trial sized! I couldn't wait to get errands out of the way and get into the studio.

As much as I love the refined, rich colors of manufacturers such as Enkausticos (shown below) and
R & F, my budget and my plan of painting are not in sync. These small amounts are fine if you're doing the European style method of encaustic painting, but the way I plan to paint is to use much larger amounts of paint in a much more freehand style.

Once in the studio, I quickly cleaned up my studio and made my encaustic work area ready for making medium. I gathered all the players together for a little family portrait. Shown clockwise, starting at the top is: a heat source. In this case, an electric griddle; pharmaceutical grade white filtered beeswax from Swans Candle Supplies in Washington; Damar Resin Crystals from the same source; aluminum tins from the store to hold mixed medium, oil paints from Gran Morrison in Panama City, a weight watcher's scale I brought with me from the states and a large pot. The pot will go one the griddle, 8 oz of wax will get melted followed by the addition of 1.5 ozs of damar resin. All will be mixed together until all is melted. Then it will be poured in the metal cups.

Or, better than that, just watch this video. Remember, I'm a painter, not Steven Spielberg! Enjoy:

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Like a Kid on Christmas Eve

9/11/2011

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I'm Like a Kid on Christmas Eve!

You know that feeling you had as a kid on Christmas Eve? When all of life's wondrous gifts were still possibilities? When the puppy you'd been praying for could STILL be on Santa's agenda? When that guitar you'd begged and begged for just might be hidden in the house somewhere?

That's how I fee right now. I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve. Because starting tomorrow, I will be able to roll up my sleeves and get into making encaustic art BIG TIME!!

I haven't been able to truly begin experimentation because: A) the encaustic set of medium and paints I originally had were only a starter set and B) I've been researching the best way to get the best grade wax imported into Panama.

But now that all comes together: My 10 pounds of wax and 2 lbs of damar resin (for hardening) have arrived at Airbox Express in downtown Boquete. I found a set of pots for melting large amounts of wax at a patio sale at The Zapadora in Potrerillos today. My neighbors gave me a hot plate they're no longer using. I've bought 5 tubes of oil paint I will use as pigments after I dry some of it out. And, through the generous loaning of a miter saw by my friend Kelly Collier and the access to a free wood pile by Michelle Brewer of Bajareque Wood in Volcancito, I have been making my own substrate wood panels for next-to-nothing in cost.

Tomorrow I plan to lay out oil paint to dry, I plan on melting 6 to 7 parts wax with 1 part resin to create my medium. Normally I would use an 8 to 1 ratio, but encaustic expert Joanne Mattera suggested I use a little bit more resin because of the additional oils from my oil paints I'm using as pigments. Normally one would use dry pigments to mix with the wax medium, but I'm starting with oil paints as they are more accessible here in Panama.

I don't have any photos to show you, but I would like to begin referencing some of my favorites in this industry. I love love love the work of Gilda Snowden. She is a Detroit artist my age and loves to upload videos. I've watched almost every one and this recent one has really captivated me. I plan on painting in the pouring style she shows in this studio tour. Enjoy, and I'll post pictures of work in progress tomorrow!

I had troubles embedding her video, so just click on this link to watch it.

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Stacked Medium

Christmas Arrives!

Like a Kid on Christmas Eve

I'm Like a Kid on Christmas Eve!

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