Redo, Reuse, Recycle

While looking for my prismacolor set...you'd be surprised at what other things I've found during the search...I came across this calendar from 2008 that was filled with high quality full page prints of notable Arkansas artists. It was a project of the Govenor's office and was signed by Ginger Beebe, former first lady.

Storage is a premium, and everything has to have a reason for taking up space, but this was too good to pitch. I brought it into the studio for some creative thinking. Fifty-Two weeks/pages, and my art could be in there along with the others who only got one page.

I did a video talking about my process, although basically I painted over the calendar pages and picked up a brush for the first exploration. There are some current images below because I add one or two a day to the book. Enjoy!

How I took a very nice printed calendar with 52+ pages of full color art and turned it into a journal for play. Too good to throw away, and signed by Ginger Beebe to boot (former first lady Arkansas). www.VickiRossArt.com blog post:

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xxoo

A few notes on Encaustic

Some of my mixed media artists are beginning to explore new media, including encaustic. I offered to share a few tips about working with it.

RULES:

1. Industrial ventilation: I guess if you had 10 work stations going, or didn't monitor your temperatures and keep the wax 200° or lower, it might be advisable. Modern recipes aren't as toxic as those experimentations in the 1950's. My studio is 14' x 10' and haven't had any breathing issues. I faithfully use a flat temperature gauge on the griddle and make sure it is working. A window fan blowing to the outside will help. Any shellac burning or regular size butane torch is done outside. BUT, if you are the type to wear gloves when working in other media, you might feel you must have 3000 BTU exhaust.
2. I use a pancake griddle with flat bottomed tin cans. I also keep soy wax in an Oatmeal Tin to toss my brushes in. When ready to use them, I pull them out and wipe off excess with paper towel. They stay in the can between sessions and that is all the cleaning they get. Once an encaustic brush, always an encaustic brush. I also use synthetic brushes that are worn from oil painting. Haven't had any issue with them melting...and it is a good way to recycle them.
3. I use a heat gun (already in my craft stash) and some small propane torches from Freight Salvage that were under $10. Any heating tool is handy (like those meant for woodturning and other crafts)
4. I make my own medium with supplies from Swans Candles, refined beeswax and damar resin. It does take the better part of a day waiting for the resin to melt. Swans pre-made medium is good and reasonably priced. I've used several more expensive brands and really can't tell the difference. As with all art supplies prices and qualities range all over the place.
5. Colors: I've got some blocks of colors, but prefer to make my own for several reasons. It costs less, and I don't have a storage issue with 50-100 color blocks. I keep a cup or so of melted medium on my griddle, with 6-10 smaller tins for colors. In the smaller tins I mix a limited palette (similar to my oil paint palette) with oil paint. NO ACRYLICS with encaustic! Warm/cool reds, yellows, blues, and white. From those I can mix most colors I use frequently. The brand oil paint I like best is Lukas (Jerry's Artarama) because it is milled with a bit of beeswax and seems to melt quicker. Just make sure your paint doesn't have an excess of oil (doesn't play nice with wax medium). If it does, squeeze it out on a paper towel, then put it in your tin. I also have a Ranger Melting Pot and a smaller warming tray (from thrift store) that I use for mixing as needed. 
6. I sometimes work on watercolor paper mounted on mat board or cradled panels. Even Luan 1/4" panels from Lowes work great. American Easel has good quality and pricing and are made in USA. Wax needs strong support to keep it from cracking.

Some of my encaustic art can be viewed here: 

I've written several blog posts about processes. 

http://axully.com/axully-blog/2014/8/27/soft-pastel-collage-and-encaustic

http://axully.com/axully-blog/2014/9/11/origami-and-encaustic

http://axully.com/axully-blog/2014/8/27/delft-encaustic-and-collage

xxoo

Art Journaling is the bomb!

My evolution as an artist has brought me full circle. Almost every painting I did for 13 years was suitable for framing and competitions. When I figured out this mindset was doing me no favors, I drifted into mixed media. That art community was having so much fun...and the products designed for them were fascinating.

I had to completely change my direction, it seemed at the time. Playing? Not in my vocabulary. Turns out that was exactly what I needed to add. I've had a ball, and now have four+ journals going...when one dries, pick up another, turn the page and keep on going. I've been studying techniques learned in workshops and from tutors I always meant to delve into. 

Attendance in a class or workshop is great, but you cannot learn in a few hours what a particular tutor has taken a lifetime to perfect. You have to go back to your own studio and practice until the something different becomes part of your vocabulary. I did so much study I never took the time to do the real work.

Slowly, I picked up watermedia again. Always liked doing faces, and now have a journal devoted to watercolor figurative works. Here are a few:

xxoo

Life Book 2015 Beacon of Light Week 1

What fun Wicki is having! This process is a more illustrative one, and requires much more time than I originally thought. BUT, it is very enjoyable and the mixed media materials are like being a kid again! 

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Gold, Glitter, Magic, Oh My! And somewhere between the worktable and photo she gained an angel kiss on her forehead. hmmm. curious.

You know, funny thing is...many subscribers have left this blog since I've started exploring mixed media, bookbinding, journaling, etc. Too bad cause they are missing out on a lot of fun. I can already see how learning whimsy is going to help with my regular painting. Besides, just another stop on my art journey. Life Book 2015 by Tamara Laporte

I've found such warm, PARTICIPATING artists on Google+ who are a delight to interact with. You don't feel like you are preaching to the choir as with 'fine art'. Join us! I'm Vicki Ross, (on google+) and will steer you to some of the groups.

xxoo

End of an Era

I've not been able to play with my colors in a week or so. Ran-DEE's dad moved to an assisted living facility, and he had to clean out their apartment. Whew.

That took him over a week, even after his sister cleared what she wanted, and our auctioneer moved the big stuff. Left Randy with all the toilet paper, laundry soap, magazines, etc., over 20 picture albums from 1940's to present, his dad's tour of duty in Korea (many pics of barracks...2x3" b/w faded images). Over 100 small framed family pics that had not been unpacked since they moved from their house in Little Rock five years or so ago.

We are both guilty of hoarding to a certain degree, so our place can't hold their hoarding too. However, it was a pleasure going through most of it since they lived in Japan when Ran-DEE was 7-10...and Teiko still had family there. The Japanese cards and papers! Even the envelopes were saved (stamps already cut out). A huge box of odds and ends from her sewing room in Little Rock. I've got enough elastic to last a lifetime. Teiko worked at Hancock Fabrics several years and must have bought ends and pieces of stock. I'll be looking for an innovative way to use those, for sure.

Big sacks of embroidery thread and spools of sewing thread. Postcards, 1920's b/w images from Japanese descendants, tchotzkes, genealogy files, medical files from 2000 detailing every letter, empty envelope, surgery and doctor visit Wesley had. THOSE were easy to recycle!

Anyway, I got some treasures! Have removed every picture from every little frame, all ready for donation to our Helping Hands. 

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The answer to GUESS? Waterproof pads. They measure 24" x 24" -ish, and are GREAT for studio work. The bookcase was made by Wesley, and will give us some much needed vertical storage for books we have, as well as all those scrapbooks of Teiko's. Insluded in those was a book of pictures of our house that isn't with us anymore...and some pictures of Sarah we didn't have. 

That was the toughest part of the going through, for me anyway. I'll share more of the Japan ephemera later...great fodder for art. I will digitize the images and use those, passing on the originals to Betsy Ross Noble.

I'm ready for color and my studio! Bring it!

xxoo

Beautiful...Bouguereau...Venustas

This was easy. What is more beautiful than a William Bouguereau painting. No blood and guts or anguish. Useful? Maybe not. Solid, definitely. And Beautiful.

This word became more difficult as I started to write about it, probably because it is so obvious to me. I have no words to describe Bougeureau's paintings. In my opinion, his work is never "out of drawing", and his compositions well thought out and delivered to tell a story. Skin tones: luscious. 

This little babe was watching the parade, part of the Carnaval de Sergines in France (March 2007). 

Click on her image to see a brief clip of the event.
Such a beautiful example of childhood innocence...reminded me of a Bouguereau painting.

She is doing what countless others have done for over 100 years: watching the parade, all dressed up in her costume.

Carnaval de Sergines, 1912

SO, why not experiment with those skin tones, just for fun! Very thin glazes of oil, dry, wet-sand, over and over. She attained a good glow, I think. Do I want to paint like this all the time? Probably not.

"Sergine Princess" 18x12" Oil on Panel, © Vicki Ross

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Attitude

24" x 18", pastel

V.N.Ross

Some art trends seem to focus on shock value, making you think, or draw your own conclusions about why the artist chose his subject and how he presented it. To me, making me think, is not always beautiful and I don't understand living with some of those concepts. I can barely look at them in museums and galleries!

 
I lean to realism, and paintings that tell stories. With Attitude, what on earth is she focused on? Angry? Curious? You decide.

So, now you have the full explanation at how I arrived at the Vetruvius Triad: Firmatasis, Utilitas, Venustas. Axully's slogan is: Solid, Useful, Beautiful. Long way to get there, but there it is!

xxoo