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I knew it was a matter of time before I wound up needing three areas in which to work! And this was the little guy responsible for it:  This is a typical mop head found in this part of the world. Someone had discarded this mop and I spotted it. Something about the multitude of colors, the threads, the yarns -- it all really talks to me. In fact, it was yelling at me: "Take me! Do something with me! Turn me into art before I wind up in the trash heap!" So I did. I took it, cleaned it, and made it all pretty. And then I did this to it:  I cut a section of the yarn and pinned it to a used "Bounce" dryer sheet. (Another cast off that speaks to me. Dryer sheets say: "Take me and use me! Do not throw me out---and there's many, many more of us. Save us all!". So I did. I've got a butt load of used dryer sheets just waiting for a second use. Here's what it looks like pinned together:  And this is why I needed another room to work in. I used to have a hammock hanging up in this area, but I've converted it to a "sewing room".  You can see where I pinned the mop strands to the dryer sheets -- it's on the table next to the fan in the background. The encaustic section (the next step in this process) is off to the right of the table where I did the pinning. And that makes 3 areas. I'm absolutely amazed I've expanded to use this much space. And to think, a year ago when I found this space, all I wanted was one table to play at. I guess it's true what they say: "We expand (or contract) to fit the rooms in which we find ourselves." By the way, that little room on the left in the above picture? That's actually a kitchen, but a friend is renting it so she can play at mosaics. But when she comes in to work, she hates working alone, so she usually takes one of the areas I've got. She's in for a bit of a surprise if she comes in today, 'cuz I've got all three tables occupied. Anyway, enough of that. Here's the next step in this "let's create a fabulous work of art out of a mop" project. Below is a shot of a longer strip of mop threads. I sewed two dryer sheets together to cover the new dimensions. Then, for fun, I left some of the dryer sheet attached alternatively between the sewn lines. I have no idea how it will look after I dip it in wax.  Here's the first small piece out of the wax. I really like the way it looks actually, But knowing me, I've got to push it...I'll be experimenting with adding more wax, scraping it back, manipulating it. And, oh yes, you see where I cut the dryer sheets away from the sewed columns? Don't think I just tossed them out. I'm saving THEM! I'll do something with them, trust me. (I swear, in another life I must have been a first class hoarder!)  Below is a shot of the first one with more layers of wax on it along with a first dipping of the longer piece. I like the smaller piece in the above shot better, I think. And I'm going to fiddle with what I'm going to do with the bottom one, but for now, I'm still fascinated with the possibilities of this path I'm on.  I hope you'll stay with me on this journey over the next few months. I plan to post lots of progress shots and discussions and I look for your feedback and input! I cannot get this art show ready without your help!
Later, caio!
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Encaustic Workshops, February of 2012 Thinking that others would like to learn about the art of encaustic, I developed a Beginner's Encaustic Workshop at my studio in Boquete, Panama. I wasn't sure just how much interest there would be, and so I limited enrollment to 4 students per workshop and I scheduled four 1-day workshops. Imagine my surprise when almost every spot got filled! I've held two of the four workshops and people seem to be genuinely pleased with both the content, how it's presented, what they've learned and the value received. I'm genuinely pleased with their results. Check out these photos of their paintings and people at work:
And check out these results....
 Library Installation One week ago, the efforts of many years' work by many honorable people in Boquete came to fruition. Boquete's first lending library, in a new, sleek and modern building opened to fanfare. Many speeches were made by local dignitaries -- all in Spanish -- and the folklorico "polleras" ( the gorgeous fancy dresses) were on display. After the typical congratulating of all the hard work by everyone involved, a ribbon was cut, the doors opened and we all filed inside. This is where my involvement began. I had been asked to paint a large encaustic piece as a permanent endowment to the library. In exchange for permanent information about myself displayed next to the 3 ft x 7 ft piece, I agreed. If you want to see pictures of the opening of the library, click here to read about it in my other blog, "thirdworldwife.com". Because RobynColeArtworks is about art, this discussion focusses on the piece itself. For the past 7+ weeks, I have been in my studio full time preparing this piece. Dreaming about it, planning it, designing it, envisioning each panel as it tells the story of Boquete's evolution of art, music and literature. Rather than type on and on about what the piece is all about, I think it's easier to show the painting and the written description next to it. Here goes:  "Art Music, Literature: A Boquete Tapestry" And here is the discussion of the piece:  Here are a couple of more photos, just for funzies:  Showing parts of the painting to friends.  A side view, while patrons explore the piece.  The slightly over-excited artist talking with a patron.
Okay, readers, my heart is in my throat these day, my eyes are at half mast and my body is weak and tired. Why? I'm showing my new encaustic paintings for the first time here in Panama in 3 days and it's exciting, thrilling, scary, and all that. I took a photo of the body of work. I've got twelve small paintings I'm putting on display and they are available for purchase, as well.The show is a "Holiday Bazaar" at the local community center, called BCP. Other Boquete artists, vendors, crafts people, etc will be showing as the idea is to kick off the Holiday Shopping Season with us! So, while technically, it's not a formal art show (that will come in February), it IS the first time anyone here sees my work. And there's a good chance it will raise some eyebrows. From what I've seen here to date, the art here is very traditional: landscapes, flowers, local indigenous children -- representational stuff. Mine is not. I paint concepts, not people, places and things. So, like a said, I don't know if there's a local market for my type of art or not, but either way, we'll get a good idea of it one Friday, right? I'm really taking a risk, but what is life without a few risks and multiple shots of adrenalin that keep you up at night, eh? Anyway, after the show I'll update y'all, and in the meantime, here's the photo of the 10 x 10" encaustic paintings I'll be showing:  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. Condo Decorating I have another blog, as you know. And occasionally I publish something on that blog that really and truly is relevant here, from a creative point of view. So, if you want to see how I got from this monstrosity:  To this, AND to find out how much it costs, then look at my most recent post on www.thirdworldwife.com  Today was a great day! I did everything I love: I started this morning doing 60 laps in the pool at Valle Escondido followed by a 20-minute steam bath:  Love swimming in this beautiful pool. Tell me: is a lap from here to there, or is a lap from here to there AND back again? After that, I headed over to my art studio in downtown Boquete where I was anxious to get going on a new project. I was able to set up a second work station at the other end of the room. It will serve as my "Jewelry'd Sculpture" work area, so I quickly transferred all supplies and tools from the first work station. THAT station will stay solely dedicated to encaustics. So, here's a photo of the new work station with some of the jewelry supplies strewn about because I'm starting a new art piece:  The 2nd Work Station, which will be dedicated to "Jewelry'd Sculptures"  Plus, I want to show off my newest "little friend", my new hammock! You can see it there in the background. Bought at a local garage sale for $4, I'm temporarily hanging it in my future sewing room. That room won't turn into anything for quite a few months, but there are already hammock embedded hooks into the corners of the room, so I've got me a nice little area to relax and create posts on this blog! Check it out!
The added bonus about today? The third thing I love to do besides working out and creating art in my studio is watching golf on TV (through my computer when I'm in the studio). Today was the final day of the PGA Championship, the last major of the year. I was pulling for my guy, Steve Stricker, and my new guy - Adam Scott - and neither of them did much. THEN, I was pulling for Brendan Steele because he's from Irvine, California, a community near and dear to my heart. But then he did nothing. So, I stopped rooting for anyone, because the minute I did they tanked. So I just enjoyed the shot making. I don't know about you, but this is one of my ideas of a perfect day. (The other ideas involve kids and grandkids.) In my next post, maybe tomorrow if I get the time, I will introduce you into what's going on in the foreground. You will be the first to preview my new trademark-pending "BLING BOWLS". I've got photos of "before" and "after", so you'll really get a sense of what they're about. I belong to an art group in Boquete, Panama. Its name is Boquete Artworks and we meet once a month. We are just getting our feet set underneath as we try to help art and culture in Boquete really take off. We have officers of the club and are finding our way through who and what we are becoming. There are some awesome women who are devoting lots of time and energy to this fledgling effort and I admire them tremendously. (Side note: because this article deals with local sights of Boquete, I am also posting it in my other blog, ThirdWorldWife.) We're in our fourth or fifth month of meeting and a couple of months ago, we began creating Artist Trading Cards (ATCs). Small business size type cards that are artistic in nature with pertinent contact information on the reverse. They're like baseball trading cards, for you sports minded readers. You trade them. You can only receive one if you've given one. It's fun! So we had the assignment of a theme for one month's ATC session: BRIDGE. Somehow, the theme of a bridge had to be incorporated into the cards. Maybe it's literal, maybe it's metaphori...er, ...metaphysica.... er, ... maybe it's woo woo weird. Whatever. So, as hubby and I went on our various walks, I took pictures of bridges as inspiration. Our first walk was on the Bajo Mono road, out past the climbing rock. Here's the first bridge leading to the road:  No biggie, right? It's just a bridge. Until I saw this detail:  Looks to me like part of the bridge support has collapsed. Should I cross? I'm looking at John. He's almost already on the other side!  Man, this bridge looks like it goes on forever! I watch cars come and go while I decide about crossing. "They're fine, see?" I tell myself. "Quit being such a baby." So I grab my courage and cross the damn bridge. After I crossed it safely (sheesh, such a DRAMA QUEEN), I looked back at it. The bridge didn't see quite so imposing from a different point of view:  Not such a big bridge now, are ya?? So, as we walked the long, long way to this waterfall we've heard so much about, I saw a tremendous variety of bridges:  There are small bridges.....  ... that lead to a gorgeous estate....  ...there are longer bridges....  .... that lead to very "modest" homes  There are bridges that look like they're suspended.....  ... and others that look like their columns are made from oil drums. Either way, it was a long, enjoyable walk. We finally made it to the waterfall everyone was talking about. At least we think it was THE waterfall, mainly because it was the first one we found and we were tired by the time we found it. It wasn't as large as my grandiose imagination pictured it, but here's a shot with Good Hubby in the foreground:  John at the waterfall..... I got back home and began creating my ATC trading cards with the theme of bridge. I decided to make it like a Buddhist Mandala. The briefest and best description of the creation and destruction of a Mandala, with a great photo, can be seen here. I decided to create 9 ATC cards for trading. At the beginning, it was done on one sheet of paper. After the design and artwork was finished, I cut them into ATC card size and attached each corner to it's corresponding neighbor with thread. When we artists were scheduled to meet and pick a card from the other artists I wanted them to participate in the destruction of this piece by picking which part of the image they wanted and literally having to untie four threads to free it. Destruction of a mandala is important to the ritual. The destruction symbolizes the impermanence of all things in this life, as well as blessing all those who partook in the destruction ceremony. Here is a photo I took of my ATC trading card mandala before it was destroyed. Can you see how I incorporated "bridge" into my work? If you spot it, note it in your comments below.  |
