Clovers, Birds, Sea Monsters and a Dear Friend

What a perfect way to spend a Sunday!

I took a great workshop today...Encaustic for Beginners.

The workshop was done by Supria Karmakar; a talented high school friend of mine who not only is a fabulous instructor but also a lovely, lovely person in every way.   All in all, it made for a wonderful day.  If you're the least bit interested in "encaustic" and looking to have some creative fun (even if you don't think you're creative), I highly suggest that you sign up and give it a go!

This is the first of two pieces that I did in today's class...unfortunately it does not photograph well at all, but hopefully you get the idea.  I wanted to use some of the four leaf clovers I've found over the past couple of years, and so tried it here with these two little birds that are apparently hoping to get lucky in love...or maybe just lucky.  I like it, but I want to work on it some more.  It needs more contrast/detail, something...

Fortunately Supria offers shared time at her studio in Fergus.  I'll be looking into that for sure. 




"Looking for Love in All the Song Places"
(8 x 12 encaustic/collage on plywood panel)

 

This next one is Sigmund; an accident that happened out of melted blobs of blues, green and purple. 

Part of the encaustic process involves heat guns/irons/blow torches to fuse the medium (a stage that must be completed for each layer of wax added), and...well...this was my first time using a blow torch. 

Yep - I was a little over zealous.

I'm happy to say that no one was harmed, but I did unintentionally melt a big pool of wax on my board, and that's what ended up being the birth of Sigmund's odd little body (tipping the board up and rotating it created his fins/tentacles). 

Sigmund could use a little more work as well, but all in all I like him too...he was good messy fun!   



Sigmund: The Blue Sea Monster
(12 x 12 encaustic/collage on plywood panel)

Looking at this makes me want to play with it again!

Ah, the colours...

The Lovely and Talented Supria!

The most challenging thing about today's workshop was having to let go of preconceived ideas about the outcome.  As a beginner, limited skills/experience meant that the image changed (and changed) beyond my control with every layer that was added, so getting attached to the piece before completion was pointless...I just had to appreciate each stage and hope for the best in the end. 

It was so much fun to let go and enjoy the journey: every turn it took and every surprise around each corner. 

I even ended up liking the surprise destination.

Thank you Supria!