Encaustics!

 

Sunflower

Encaustic and Oils  6x6

©2014 Deb Kirkeeide

Is it spring yet?

It's been a rough couple months. Between dealing with the emotional roller coaster of my dad's health and getting him the care he needs and this damnable Polar Vortex we've been held hostage in, I'm ready for springtime.

Consequently, my inspiration has been in hiding. 

In spite of all that's going on, there have been some bright spots. My daughters both came home for a visit. I got to spend time with my granddaughter and my parents got to meet her for the first time.

She charmed us all with her demure little smiles and attempts at crawling and I applaud her for her resilience in braving the long flights, the bitter cold and the many new faces she was surrounded with!

In January I attended an Encaustic workshop with Jeff Hirst. Jeff is a great teacher and taught us enough to go out in the world and conquer! I learned a lot and it sparked a lot of ideas.

 It was a good diversion from what was going on and a chance to just play with no end results in mind! For those of you unfamiliar with encaustic painting it is painting with hot beeswax and pigment. I've long been fascinated with it's translucent layers and textures. I loved it and am now in the process of getting set up to do more.

The sunflower piece was an experiment with an existing oil piece I had and adding wax and more pigment to it.

Below are some results from the workshop trying various techniques of carving into the wax, using transfers and just playing!

The dove is a transfer of a graphic illustration I had previously created. I then added layers of pigment and wax to add color. 

These next two are more abstract and playing with carving and layering. Abstract is something I don't attempt much but this was fun. The one below reminds me of a prairie field with wild flowers.

The other? Well, not really sure what that is! 

Stayed tuned for more to come as I get my mojo back!

If by chance you are interested in any of these let me know I'm sure they would be just as happy in your home as they are in mine!