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Untitled, 6 x 6 in. encaustic, pigment stick, paper on board

I'm continuing my explorations in encaustic in an attempt to find my voice in this medium. Red and its variations and symbolism seems to be a constant theme in my work lately. I'm thinking about that.

In process

I'm still thinking about a new work I began during my encaustic marathon last weekend. I am pleased with many parts of it but it won't declare itself finished. It was begun with great enthusiasm but waned as I proceeded. Sometimes the work that is fully conceived before you begin, peters out as you work. This is such a work.

If you follow my blog you know that I've returned repeatedly to the poppy in many of my explorations. It is loaded with symbolism and beauty. They have long been used as a symbol of sleep and death. The opium extracted from poppies has a sedative effect on the body and their red colour is connected to blood and death. It is difficult to image medicine with codeine or morphine. In many Greco - Roman myths, poppies were a favourite offering to the dead. If you are an explorer of cemeteries you will find poppies adorning tombstones to symbolize eternal sleep.

Ancient Greeks thought that poppies were a sign of fertility. Poppy seeds were thought to bring health and strength so Greek athletes were given mixtures of poppy seeds, honey, and wine.

Poppies.ws describes the use of Godfrey's Cordial during the Industrial Revolution. It was cheaper than food and kept hungry children quiet. By the beginning of the nineteenth century the tincture of opium called laudanum was as casually bought and used as aspirin is today. A large number of poets and writers of this era were opium addicts. It is hard to believe that these concoction were still in use in 1910 and it took food and drug laws to remove this dangerous narcotic from patent medicines.

In more recent times we use the The red Corn Poppy (Papaver rhoeas), a common weed in Europe, to commemorate the war dead.

The poppy in this work is dreamlike and emerges from a pattern of past centuries.

The beginning stage of "Rising"

The design at the bottom is created using a sheer and flocked fabric fused into encaustic and then brushed with more red encaustic to pick up the highs and lows of the material.

After several layers of cadmium red encaustic is added and fused I applied a layer of Egyptian purple...

and then Iridescent gold metallic - all R and F Paints

Then the hard work began as I used a large blade to scrape back all the excess encaustic colours to reveal the highs and lows of the original pattern.

The shadow of the poppy in the upper right is an image transfer of a drawing I created this summer. I'm still trying to integrate the dream like quality of the poppy with the heavy patterning at the bottom. No solutions are occurring yet. I always seem to set up these dichotomies that are difficult to marry.

What I did on the weekend

The title of this post is bringing back memories of the yearly What I Did On My Summer Vacation essay we were subjected to in school! This weekend I set aside two days to devote exclusively to encaustic painting. My friend Carol had an Open Studio and there were four artists working side by side to create encaustic work. We shared ideas and inspirations.

This is Carol's studio in Torbay just outside St. John's . It's a very conducive spot to paint because it is perched on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. You can hear the ocean in the background. Luckily the wind was gentle and blowing in the right direction for the fans in the windows. Four hot palettes need lots of ventilation.


It was a beautiful day (16 degrees) and we had lunch on the patio. That's hard to believe for November in Newfoundland. From left to right Carol Bajen-Gahm, Anita Singh and Carolyn Morgan. I am represented by my plate.

As I noted in my last post I'm going through a dry spell and this was a way to kick start my painting focus again. It worked. I was rearing to go and kept up an energetic for the two days. I arrived with everything but the kitchen sink.


The work I created took several different routes and it isn't all finished yet. I find encaustic a great process material that encourages you to experiment and go where the materials lead. If you are stuck in a rut it is the perfect way to break free.

I began with several warm up pieces that were small 6 x 6 inch squares that I will display in a set of four. Fragments of Beauty II continues an ongoing exploration of what I find beautiful in the world. The rose petals and other organic materials in the pieces were given to me by Anita who is the best collector and sharer of materials I know.

Here's an idea of how the first of four pieces was developed:


Stage 1 -- Apply two coats of encaustic medium ( clarified beeswax and damar resin), then gold embossed paper& another coat of medium, fusing between each layer.
Stage 2-- Dip dried rose petals and stem (from a pineapple actually) in encaustic medium and apply quickly to heated wax on surface. Fuse.
Stage 3-- Add torn bits of gold embossed papers around the petals. Apply one coat of medium with a brush. Fuse.
Stage 4 -- Pour wax around the petals to further embed them. Fuse.

Step 5-- Brush several coats of clear encaustic medium to further embed the petals. Fuse.

Step 6-- Use R & F Pigment Stick (Gold) to scribble over the surface and rub off with a cloth. Fuse again.
Step 7- Shine when cooled.

The remaining pieces in this series include:

Still fiddling with a way to organize them.... not happy yet!

More to come...

Revisiting

There are so many ways to travel to different places. Sometimes you go yourself, sometimes you read about a place or view friends' photos or video. Perhaps you've been there before or perhaps not.

Although I have never met Sherwood Harrington, I consider him a good friend because we share one experience - spending time exploring Birr Castle Demesne in County Offaly, Ireland and we've share various aspects of that special place. Before I went to Ireland in 2008 I found Sherwood's site presenting his views of The Demesne. It was these photos that prompted me to write a proposal to obtain funding to produce a series of works about my interpretation of the gardens.

Sherwoord and Diane went back there this summer and his recent post details a special project he undertook while there. I am very honoured to have a small part in it. The photos are quite spectacular.

Home again

My four day trip to CARFAC meetings in Ottawa gave me lots of time to think about my art practice. I waded through the meetings with a sinus infection, cough and heavens knows what other germs lurking in my body. Needless to say I spent a lot of time in my room trying to sleep.

All that time away from the meeting table in the quietness of my room gave me pause to consider where I was in my own art practice. I feel renewed and ready to go back to creating. It has been a very dry spell for me. I haven't painted in almost two months. Sometimes life gets in the way and your mind is preoccupied with family matters, jobs etc. I've set aside this weekend to work on encaustic pieces. Hopefully I'll have something to post after my weekend immersion.

The yearly Christmas show opens at the Leyton Gallery soon and tomorrow I'm putting the finishing touches on a piece I created over the summer. It has to reach the gallery by this weekend.

And the next stop is

My life is just too exciting! Today I fly to Ottawa for the yearly face to face meeting of the CARFAC Board of Directors. I've served on this board first as the Newfoundland and Labrador representative and recently as an elected representative . It has opened my eyes to many issues that affect the lives of professional artists.

These trips are very busy with committee meetings and full board meetings that all revolve around arts advocacy on a national level. The biggest issue on the table this time is Artist Resale Right. Many countries have this benefit for artists and we are advocating for it to be included in the new changes to Canadian Copyright Law. Having Resale right would enable artists or their estates to benefit from the resale of work by a commercial gallery. The latest countries to implement this right are Australia, Republic of Ireland and the UK. In the United States only the state of California has written this right into law.

Haiku Simple

I love haiku. Brevity and the selection of perfect words create beautifully crafted gems. Haiku invites meditation through repetition- a slow reading, a pause and then several other readings at a leisurely pace.

Reading haiku calms me down and gives me an opportunity to consider how someone else views the natural world. If you're feeling frantic read haiku.

One of my favourite blogs is Kelly Marszycki's Haiku Simple. It's interesting how apt the haiku she writes seems to be just the perfect one for where my mind is at that point in time. Perhaps I'm just interpreting based on my background and mood. Whatever is happening, Haiku Simple is a pleasure and provides a moment of pause in a hectic life. The evocative images Kelly includes with some of the haiku adds to the overall appeal of the her blog. Check it out.