Decisions on Bearing Arms

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As artists, no matter what medium we employ, our job is to make the right decision.

Does yellow look best as a highlight on that purple grape? Will adding gold leaf to this acrylic medium enhance it or make a mess? How will this nylon thread react to the encaustic medium?

There is always more than one right answer, but there is usually just one answer that gives you the “eureka shivers“ that it’s the best one. And to get to that, you have to try some different solutions.

Take arms, for example. I am constructing some of my beloved Wanderer figures for an exhibition at Jane Bishop’s Mockingbird Handprints in December. Here’s one in progress – I already love the layered fiber wrapping:

So I have the head ready – but does it need arms? (Decision=Yes) If so, what kind?

First idea – how about plaster wings??

This might work if I sprayed it with terra cotta walnut ink – or rust paste, and added another one on the left side…but the shape and weight just aren’t quite right.

How about something really different?? Shannon Weber gave me these great old vintage faucet taps–

They are cool, but they almost need their own sculpture to be a part of, one that shows them off more. These “arms” compete with the layered and wrapped body.

How about sticks?? Like the ones on the head?

Close, but no cigar – too matchy-matchy.

How about just one curvy stick??

Up? Down?

Not quite there – too spindly in relation to the body. But I got an idea from this experiment – since the body is wrapped in fiber, why not wrap some stick arms in the same way?

This is the result, and it gave me the “eureka shivers“. Just right!

Sorry to say that you won’t see the finished Wanderer yet – I sewed her arms on last night (they look great) and I’m still adding her special touches, but you will see her soon.

Here’s the take-away – when you see  finished artwork that resonates with you, whether it’s a painting or a sculpture or a piece of jewelry, remember that what you see is a process of informed and personal decision making that is hard work and takes a lot of time, love, and experience. The artist thought and experimented and perhaps failed and tried again to get the piece just right for you to see and appreciate.

Try to imagine the back story – put yourself in the artist’s place and see where complex decisions were made to find the “eureka shivers” moment in every step.

Thanks for reading!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scents, Spirit, and Connections

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I’m taking a bit of a shortcut in this post and stealing it from our Inside the Enso blog. It’s a new offering from the online residency program called The Enso Circle that Michelle Belto and I began building together at least ten years ago and is now opening its ninth term in January. You can subscribe to the blog without being a member of The Enso Circle. It’s designed to give you an idea of some of our discussions with the Artists-in-Residents – like this one on Sacred Scents!

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SCENTS FOR CREATIVE PRACTICE AND SACRED SPACES

Scents and aromas have been part of sacred spaces for over 5000 years. Originally, perfumes were used in sacred shrines in conjunction with burnt offerings. People burned precious scents such as frankincense and myrrh on their altars. Soon, people began using these rare perfumes on their own bodies and associating scent with spiritual experiences.

Creating a sacred space with the assistance of essential oils, incense, and natural scents is a personal and customizable practice. The scents you choose, the rituals you incorporate, and the intentions you set all contribute to the unique and sacred atmosphere you want to create.

Here are some cross-cultural versions of sacred scents that have endured:

Copal Incense: Copal incense is a resin incense that has been used in Mesoamerican rituals for centuries. It is known for its strong, earthy, and slightly citrusy scent. Copal incense is typically burned on the altar to purify the space, create a welcoming atmosphere for the spirits, and to help lift the prayers and messages to the spirit world. The aromatic smoke is believed to be a bridge between the two realms, helping the spirits find their way.

Below is a very short video about how to burn Copal resin incense from Quetzalcoatl Music Guillermo Martinez.
Source for Copal

Lavender Essential Oil: Lavender’s name traces back to the Latin verb “lavare,” which means “to wash.” This essential oil provides spiritual protection by metaphorically cleansing your spirit. Lavender essential oil has the potential to dispel feelings of depression and aids in regulating our emotional well-being. It is the go-to choice for meditation due to its calming and soothing properties. Lavender essential oil is a valuable tool for enhancing your meditative focus and achieving a deeper state of inner tranquility. Sprinkle one or two drops on your altar cloth or use a mist of 20 drops of lavender oil to 2 ounces of water as a purifying mist.Source for Lavender Essential Oil

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Hand-gathered Smudging Bundles for Purification of Spaces

Smudging with sage or cedar is a centuries-old ritual deeply rooted in Native American and Indigenous cultures. It involves burning bundles of dried sage or cedar leaves and using the fragrant smoke to cleanse and purify a space, object, or person. Sage is often associated with purification, clarity, and wisdom, while cedar is believed to offer protection and grounding energy. The ritual is typically performed by lighting the bundle and waving it gently, allowing the smoke to waft through the area while setting intentions for cleansing negative energy and promoting positive vibes. Smudging is not only a practical act but a spiritual one, fostering a sense of balance and reverence for the natural world.

You can make this even more meaningful by gathering your own plants for smudging bundles. You become part of the sacred process from beginning to end.  Here are directions that we wrote for you about how to make your own Smudge Bundles. They take about two weeks to dry, so practice mindfulness and patience.

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More subtle than music, ephemeral in nature, scents enhance, inspire, cleanse and renew on the deepest level of human consciousness. We’d love to read your comments and observations about how you use scents as a creative enhancement in your own  work.
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One last note: If you think you might be interested in applying for a 12-week Enso Circle residency, please take this link and we will get right back to you – applications for the new term open on December 1.

Brown Paper Packages

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I’ve never been to Moab, Utah, but Moab came to me in a brown paper package a couple of days ago! My long-time online friend Wilma Sliger who lives there sent me a big assortment of sticks and stones and sand and beads and cheesecloth and petrified wood – a Moab sampler! Who doesn’t love getting an unexpected package in the mail??

Even better, there were handwritten, funny notes attached to the objects.

There is a small container of red sand include in the stash – just the thought of that red sand and the monumental land that it comes from gives me shivers. Maybe some prehistoric artist used that sand as a colorant on some of Moab’s magnificent petroglyphs.

I learned that when the iron molecules in the sand come into contact with the oxygen in the air, they oxidize – basically, they rust – turning into iron oxide, which has a reddish color. And you could mix them in acrylic medium or beeswax for a faux rust finish, I’ll bet.

Obviously, Wilma feels the magic of the land in her own work – I did a post on her cat shamans a couple of years ago. This one has an glass evil-eye protection charm and looks pretty scary-clever to me.

Two things to take away from this – one, wherever you live and create, that area has its own resonance, quiet or dramatic, powerful or gentle. If you are ever in need of inspiration, go outside and look around you at the big things and the small ones.

And secondly, put some special treasures in a brown paper package and send it to a friend in another part of the country or world – it will make their day!!

PS . Here’s a little checklist of ways to connect with the land no mater where you live. Some you may be doing, some may be obvious, some may not work for you, but all are good practices:

Seeking inspiration and magic from nature in one’s local environment can be a deeply rewarding and sustainable source of creativity for artists. Here are five ways artists can connect with nature for inspiration:

  1. Daily Observations: Take time to regularly observe the natural world around you. Pay attention to the changing seasons, the behavior of wildlife, and the nuances of the landscape. Bring a notebook or sketchbook to jot down ideas, sketch, or make notes about what you observe. These small, daily observations can lead to significant creative insights.
  2. Nature Walks and Hikes: Explore your local parks, forests, trails, and green spaces. Spend time immersed in nature, and take long walks or hikes to connect with the environment. The sights, sounds, and smells of the natural world can trigger new ideas and emotions that can be channeled into your art.
  3. Natural Materials: Use natural materials as part of your creative process. This can include using leaves, flowers, twigs, stones, or other found objects in your artwork. Consider making natural dyes or pigments from plants for painting or using natural textures in your sculptures or installations.
  4. Photography and Sketching: Bring a camera or sketchbook with you on your outdoor adventures. Capture the beauty of nature through photography or create on-the-spot sketches. These visual records can serve as references for your artwork and help you better understand the details and patterns in the environment.
  5. Community Involvement: Join local environmental organizations, conservation groups, or community gardening projects. Volunteering or actively participating in these activities can provide a sense of purpose and connection with the environment. It can also expose you to like-minded individuals who share your passion for nature and creativity.

Remember that inspiration from nature can come from the smallest details, so stay open to the subtleties of your surroundings. The magic and inspiration are often found in the intricacies of the natural world, and by immersing yourself in your local environment, you can develop a deep and personal connection to your surroundings that will infuse your art with a unique sense of place and meaning.

Studio as Media Fusion Lab

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My artwork typically deals with combining, curating, collecting, and composing different elements for collage and assemblage. To make all of that work together requires a bit of engineering trial and error .

I’ve been posting a few photographs of experimental transfer processes that I’m trying with various combinations of beeswax, solvent, paper, and fiber just to see what works, what sticks, what is worth further experimentation to get the look I am striving for. The idea is not to make pieces of finished art just yet. It’s to put in some time and thought on combinations that might eventually suggest a way to express a meaningful concept in a different way.

For the first series of experiments, I’ve used a toner print on plain paper with four different substrates as image transfer receivers. I used the same image on all of them – here she is!

The first step is to transform the image to black and white and print it on a laser (toner) printer – mine is a very old Brother L2320D B&W laser printer, cheap, about $100.

Here are the initial transfer results on four different surfaces – muslin, canvas, rice paper, and mulberry paper. Notice how the toner ink works differently on each surface.

I liked the one on the upper right – it’s smooth cotton muslin. Here it is, below, next to another version on rough canvas drop cloth that used to live on my studio floor.

Both have a coat of beeswax added, then the beeswax is fused into the fabric with a heat gun.

The beeswax acts as a bonding agent between the muslin and the rice paper backing that it’s fused to. The transfer solvent doesn’t seem to affect the beeswax. That was one of my questions and concerns, but it all seems to work together the way I had hoped.

After everything was fused, I wanted to see how it would stitch with waxed linen. This is another way of ensuring the layers are completely bonded together. It worked great.

The picture below looks strange, but it is actually the backside of the layered paper and muslin piece. It’s interesting to see how the image has come through the back because the beeswax has made it translucent. So much to discover!

So far, this effect below is what I have been working toward – an image transfer on fabric that is compatible with beeswax and remains supple without cracking. Most importantly, I wanted a mysterious translucency. The fine white wax spatters add another layer of illusion.

We shall see where all of this goes! Hands-on research is always fun.

What have you been doing in YOUR studio lab lately?? Do it safely!

Fiber Art Reconsidered

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At least half a dozen friends have sent me the eye-opening article from the New York Times called “ A Tangled Web“ and its premise that Fiber Art is finally, again, being reconsidered as a true art form.Julia Halperin, the author, writes, “. . . . in an age when we spend much of our time touching the flat surfaces of screens, this tactile art form feels newly seductive to makers and viewers alike as both a contrast with and a culmination of modern sensory experience.”

I hope you will read the article and discover the same reverence that I did for artists like Sheila Hicks and Lenore Tawney, innovators in fiber art.

For a look a an eclectic survey of contemporary fiber art closer to home (for San Antonians), visit TEXtiles: A Celebration of Texas Fiber Art, the annual juried Fiber Artists of San Antonio Art Exhibition will be held September 10 through October 20, 2023, at the Kelso Art Center, University of Incarnate Word, San Antonio, TX.

Kim Paxon, Name Your Fear, 1st Place, FASA TEXtiles exhibit

 

The theme of the exhibition showcases the innovation and diversity of Texas artists who create and communicate with fiber. Through art quilts, framed fiber art, sculptural pieces, vessels/basketry, paper art forms, art-to-wear garments or accessories, art dolls, woven textiles, mixed media work, jewelry and adornment, and conceptual work that defies categorization, Texas fiber artists are bringing textiles and fibers of every definition into new contexts and exploring social and conceptual implications of their usage.

My piece called Ghost Factory, won the Third Place award, which surprised me because I don’t consider myself in same category of fiber excellence as many of the others in the show, but I worked the fiber like a collage, which is my natural approach to almost any medium. This piece is based on photos taken by Lewis Hine in the 1920’s of child laborers in the textile industry.

You can see a video of the works in the exhibit by visiting the FASA Website.

If you have not used fiber and fabric as a collage medium, it may surprise you! Just collect fabric and ribbon scraps and tear, cur, and arrange them as you might with paper. If you use a glue stick, you can iron over your finished piece to fuse the whole thing together (put some parchment paper over the top first). then add stitching!!

My new workshop called The Composed Collage: Sisters shows and example of that technique, but you don’t need to get the workshop to give it a try.

Have fun with it – fiber is good for you!

“Gold—what can it not do, and undo?” – William Shakespeare

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Need a little glitz in your art practice?

I’ve been experimenting with Gold Sumi Ink since the first of this year and still have a lot to learn about its properties and how to use it in my own work.

I’ve used the more common Black Sumi Ink for decades – it’s a delightful medium.

But the Gold Sumi Ink is a curious creature.

It’s apparently made of a binder with gold particles suspended in it, and it is both water soluble and also water resistant once it has dried.The description from the  purchase link is not much help, although I like the fact that is has “Chinese herbal medicine and precious ingredients” in it.

Gold Sumi Ink

  • Golden calligraphy ink is made from all-natural ingredients. Its high quality and concentration ensure a smooth dense texture.
  • While golden liquid ink is made specifically for traditional Chinese and Japanese brush calligraphy and painting it can still be used for any art form. The ink’s bright luster results in a deep earthy tone when used on Xuan paper.
  • Made with all-natural materials, including a variety of Chinese herbal medicine ingredients and precious minerals.

When you brush it on paper, it has an amazing metallic quality. It can be thinned with water to make a glaze.

You can dip a stick into the bottle and make cool marks.

Gold Sumi Ink behaves differently on different surfaces. On an encaustic waxed panel, it sits on the top like India ink but when it’s fused, you can’t rub it off.

On of my best discoveries recently was using this gold ink on bare wood panels and on the sides of those panels. It creates a lovely “gold leaf” finish and bonds well with the raw wood.

You can mix it with Black Sumi Ink and get a very dark bronze color.

But if the Gold Ink dries, the Black Ink just sits on top and won’t dissolve into the bottom layer. That must be the Gum Arabic in the binder?

There are several brands available. They cost between $15-$20 a bottle and a bottle last a very long time. I’ve used two different brands and they both seem identical in pigmentation and viscosity. My current brand is CA Society Gold Calligraphy Ink and I did get it through Amazon, but it’s made by a small Chinese Calligraphy art business called CA Society.

I gave some of the gold ink to my friend Barbara who is going to play with it, and if you decide to get some, let me know what you discover. Even if I just used it to paint the sides of my wood cradle board, I’d still like the stuff . . .maybe not as much as I like Walnut Ink, but it’s a most interesting addition to your studio materials.

By the way, if you want to learn more about the relaxing practice of Sumi-e Painting, sign up for my FREE workshop, right here.

Lyn

 

 

 

 

 

Ephemera/Ephemeral

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I am thrilled to have had three works accepted for this exhibition — Ephemeral/Ephemera: A special exhibition of small encaustic and cold wax works on paper at Mulranny Arts in Mulranny, Ireland. October 10- November 15, 2023

Mulranny is where I taught this summer and it is such a special place. This is how the Call for Entries described the theme:

Ephemerality is a state that is deeply integral to the human experience. Moments, objects, and beings; all exist for a brief time and then disappear or transition to another state. We consider that which is ephemeral to be particularly fleeting, and a poignancy resides there. Closely related, ephemera are the bits and pieces of our lives (typically paper items) that were not intended to be preserved yet become the memorabilia that we keep to memorialize those meaningful but passing moments.

This is my first piece (above) and its description:

“This small work comes from a lifelong ephemeral dream of seeing my mother walking ahead of me in the fog when we lived in London when I was a child trying to catch up with her. I’m not sure where this dream came from because my mother was kind and caring and would never have walked away from me, but the dream persists.”

More about the Ephemeral Exhibition: Ephemeral/Ephemera will showcase works on paper that illuminate the concept of the ephemeral from an artist’s perspective, using wax as a primary medium. We invite national and international artists to consider how we experience ephemerality. Dreams, memories, chance encounters, nature, time, seasons, and even the nature of wax and paper itself are potential areas of exploration. What do we wish to hold on to, and what do we wish to let go of?

Here is my second piece, called “Wednesday’s Child” which is based on the photographs that Lewis Hine took of child labors in the US in the 1920’s. His photos ultimately changed the laws about allowing young children to work in fields and factories. I have been fascinated with these images for over a decade and return to them again and again.

More about Ephemeral Art: It is a transient form of artistic expression that exists briefly, often changing or disappearing over time. It encompasses various mediums, including street art, sand sculptures, and performance art. Ephemeral artists embrace impermanence, challenging traditional notions of art’s durability, and provoking viewers to appreciate the beauty and significance of the fleeting moment.

This third piece is called “Caged Memories,” and it expresses how difficult it is to hold onto the ephemeral beauty of lost moments, even if we try to bind them to our hearts.

All of this has me thinking about the whole idea of ephemeral impermanence and its influence on me and so many other artists. It is a first cousin to the idea of Wabi Sabi, which as you know is the Japanese aesthetic emphasizing beauty in imperfection, transience, and simplicity, finding elegance in natural flaws and the passage of time.

I suspect as we get older we both identify with and grapple with the idea of impermanence. Seeing the beauty in it is one way to come to terms and be a peace with it, to “find elegance in the passage of time.”

Here’s a good quote related to the complex idea of ephemerality and impermanence:

“If we don’t insist on defining impermanence as unsatisfactory, then it’s natural to celebrate. Just a moment’s pause to consider the passing of the seasons is enough to convince anyone that not only is impermanence the source of all possible joy in this life but it’s the movement of life itself.” ― Lin Jensen, Bad Dog!: A Memoir of Love, Beauty, and Redemption in Dark Places

It’s is a good topic for this Monday – a day of loss and memories. And this week will be gone before we know it! Quick, make some ephemeral art – it won’t last forever but it will shine in its moment!

Thanks, as always, for reading SHARDS.

The Composed Collage – and more!

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Last night I sent out a notice to all the people who have signed up for workshop updates on my website telling them about this new class. Perhaps you got it – if so, thanks for being on the list.

As a teacher, when I put something out there as an art lesson, I want it to be perfect. But Perfect is the enemy of Done, so here it is, a new finished workshop, warts and all. It’s kind of like what most of us do in our studio practice – start with an idea of perfection, then listen to our intuition as we work and realize that perfect would actually be kind of boring. At least that’s what I tell myself!

Actually there are two new workshops, one is a mini-free-one. Both use images from a series of illustrations I’m developing for mixed-media artists called The Composed Collage Collection. It’s amazing to me how illustration has changed since I worked as an illustrator in the 80’s for our newspaper. More fun, less drudgery, thanks to technology! I thank my lucky stars that fate took me to the Computer Science Department at Trinity University in 2004 where I got to teach and learn all about this newfangled stuff.

Anyway, these ramblings are just for SHARDS readers who know me, warts and all. Onward!

New Workshop: The Composed Collage – SISTERS

This workshop teaches composition through collage with curated content. You’ll create collages in two ways – one, starting from scratch building great bones for your work, and the other, more random way, by making a “content map” and finding the best compositions on that map. As a bonus, you’ll also learn now to create a fabric banner collage.

New Free Mini-Workshop: Connected Collage – An Art Journal Page

This little freebie takes you through a 30-minute collage on a journal page – it’s a great way to start your day in the studio.

New Image Collection for composed Collages:

SISTERS

SAVANNAH

CHILD FRIDA

CHEYENNE

These are truly gorgeous collections, if I do say so myself. They are designed to be components that you tear, glue, rearrange, combine and otherwise claim for your own. Each set is just $14 and you can print them out on almost any surface that will go through your printer – Lutrador, tissue, transfer film, or my favorite, plain old printer paper. The sets come with a free composition how-to booklet.

Here is a video that tells you about all three of these new adventures and how they are interrelated:

This video shows each of the collections for the Composed Collages – all are available on my website for just $14 a set and each collection includes a booklet on the AB3sof composition.

 

That’s it for today – I hope you have a safe end-of-summer holiday!

Thanks for reading SHARDS!

♥Lyn

 

 

 

Broken Shards repaired — and Ireland Paper

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For longer than I care to remember, SHARDS has been down for a technical glitch that I could not, for the life of me, figure out. But I finally dug out some rusty old tech-brain solutions and found the broken setting. Whew! Like Kintsugi (金継ぎ, “golden joinery”), the cracks are finally stuck back together . . . after several frustrating months.

So many cool things happened during SHARDS’ down time – major things, like Shannon Weber‘s workshop, the Wax & Wildflowers Exhibit with the IEA here in San Antonio, and the amazing experience of teaching in Ireland with Michelle Belto. I will eventually work backwards to talk about all this good stuff, starting with Ireland. Today I’m giving you a link to a video showing a technique that I taught in Mulranny – read on.

The amazing Lora Murphy of Painting with Fire had invited us to teach at an Art Retreat at the Essence of Mulranny., on the wild West Coast of Ireland during the last week in July. The place is indescribably beautiful – sky, sea, cliffs, sheep – Celtic fairy tale stuff.

My part of the workshop involved creating a figurative representation of the Irish Goddess Aine. We collected objects and made collage paper as part of the preparation.

I called this collage paper “Ireland Paper” because it reflected the beautiful colors of the Irish countryside which you can see, below, out the studio window..

Lots of people have asked about how we created this effect, so I made a video for you yesterday on how we did this Ireland Paper. And this will be a reminder for those of you who went along with us to Ireland. The technique does involve hot wax, so if you haven’t worked with encaustic before, do your homework on encaustic safety if you decide to try it.

How to make Ireland Paper

But wait – there’s more! Below is a link to a video showing more of the creative things we did in the workshop to construct our figurative sculptures – wish you could have been there!:

VIDEO: Offerings to Aine: a Workshop in Mulranny, Ireland (Lyn Belisle)

It’s nice to be back – thanks for reading SHARDS!!

 

Wax, wax, wax

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Many of you are on my email list for workshop notification, and thanks so much for that!If you are, you know that there is a new year of Painting with Fire beginning soon.

This has been the most phenomenal program to hit the Encaustic arts community in —- well, forever! It’s the brainchild of Lora Murphy, and it has widened the appeal and exposure of painting with wax exponentially. You can read more about how Lora won a coveted award from the International Encaustic Artists for her amazing work in this article.

I am so excited to be back for my third year with Lora Murphy and Painting With Fire. Please consider enrolling – I honestly didn’t realize that you can access the previous two years of lessons when you sign up for this one! But it’s true!  Here is information on this year’s spectacular line-up.

PAINTING WITH FIRE 2023-24

I’ll be teaching two classes for Painting with Fire this year. One is called The Birds and the Beads, and the other is called Unfolding Stories. Classes start April 26th, 2023, and right now there is an Early Bird price of $249.

If you go to this link on my website, you can see a short preview video of one of my classes called The Birds and the Beads. Actually, this video is from the very end of video when I am amazing myself that everything turned our so well – sometimes it doesn’t!

Click here to see the Birds and Beads video and also to register if you decide you’d like to join Painting with Fire for the Early Bird rate.

Here are some more birds and beads done with encaustic medium and beeswax and other stuff:

So NOW for the next WAX Feature – (and enrolling in Painting with Fire might help you with this one).

There is an open CALL FOR ENTRY by the International Encaustic Artists that invites you to show how you interpret the lovely, lowly wildflower. It’s called Wax and Wildflowers:

IEA and SAALM (San Antonio Artists League & Museum)
are co-hosting a collaborative juried exhibition –
“Wax and Wildflowers”

June 11 through August 11, 2023.

DEADLINE TO SUBMIT:  April 15, 2023

Click HERE for details

The coolest thing is that the exhibition will be held here in San Antonio at the SA Art League & Museum in June. Encaustic artists from all over the world will submit work about wildflowers. The whole place will be abloom!

You can read the story about the inspiration for this show as well as find our who the jurors are by clicking this link.

If you are interested in Painting with Fire or the Wax and Wildflower show, here’s a prompt to get you started. The first five people who send me an email before noon today (CDT) with Wax as the subject will get a copy of my eBook called Behind the Veil: Beeswax and Collage. You don’t have to enroll in anything or enter the show to get a copy – just be one of the first five. I’ll send you the download link.

Thanks for reading SHARDS!! Wax on!