Encaustic HouseOfLove....Its About Time.

This one was begging for the wax.  It started out as an old piece of wood with a bit of character.  I added collage papers quite some time ago then it just sat in the studio.  Well, today it was peeking out of the beer box it was stored in and this started happening...

I drew right on the wax with a ball-point pen and that was therapeutic as all-get-out.  Did I use that saying correctly?  All-get-out.  I think this might be the first time I've ever used that.  Anywho, it was beautifully therapeutic.

ball-point pen right on the wax.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                    

"eventually, everything..."

I started another photo encaustic but the wax got so foggy I had to let it sit and just be.   We'll see what happens today once I get back in the studio...

HouseOfLove's in Full Production in theDreamery.

At last count there's 14 or 15 new ones getting very close to being finished.  I looked around me and this place is in shambles.  Good shambles.  Wonderful shambles.  Glorious shambles.

The ones at Home...

This one is for all those working mothers!

This one is sweet as honey.

Snippets.

Love.

Somehow this paper mache' pumpkin got in the mix.  I put it on a coffee can for the next layer to dry and drip.

Dwell.

In the next few days Jessica and I will do finishing touches.  We'll give them all a clear coating and sign them and put the poems on the backs and maybe add buttons and beads and more and more ephemera and some kitchen sinks too.


Paintings lined up under the work table to make more space on top.

I snapped a quick pic of the newest j page.  For fun.

Live a little be a gypsy get around.  Get around.

J page.  Its a bit uninspired.  I must have made this after 5:00.  I'm no good after 5.

A beautiful glorious mess everywhere I looked.

Well-used equipment.

Every day lately is shinier than the one before.  If I look out the windows at the right time, I get a reward.

He just needs a unicorn horn.  Maybe I'll attach one for Halloween.           Its so easy to look out those big ol' windows and just daydream.

Drink 'N Draw at the New Winery.

I was rather blown away by how pretty it is here.  I only snapped a couple photos on the way out, but next time I'm taking a ton of pictures.  This place is right outside town, mere seconds on the new highway.  Boom, you're there. 

They must be doing something right because the place was packed.  My wine was delicious.  And the view was stunning but you'll have to take my word for it since I didn't snap even one photo of it.  I failed miserably but hey, that gives me a good reason to go back very soon.  Very soon.
And, this place is a mere stone's throw away from home.  I kind of love everything about it.

Happening Soon In Jerseyville...

The signs look sort of cute out there in the hay field, if I do say so myself.

Two sets of signs, these are at the entrance.  I'm glad that job's done!  Painting signs is not easy.  First off, they're like 800 feet tall.  And second, there's a lot of letters in "Jerseyville" and it was tough to make it fit.  I got it after about the 75th try with my stencils.   

Now we just need a cow with nice long eyelashes to represent.

If The Wollie Worm Is Correct...

...then we're in for a very mild winter because this bad boy has no fur what-so-ever.

Festival Season, they're everywhere.

Everybody got soaked the first night of the PawPaw Festival but finally late Saturday afternoon the sun made its appearance while Bright At Night was playing.

It put a smile on these teen's faces.

Meanwhile back in Lodi, preparations are being made for the Jerseyville Festival, a sweet and very tiny festival held every October.  They even bring in a Jersey cow

I'm painting signs.  They're tall and skinny so what works better than a long tall sunflower?

A good time was had by all at PawPaw.

Flow/wolF Triptych.

An oldie but a goodie.  This mixed media piece is from several years ago.  Its a collaboration I made with two other people, titled Flow/wolF.  If you click and get up close, there's a lot to look at.  This piece is full of detail.

Flow/wolF.  Mixed Media Triptych.

These panels are 3/4 inch Birch and each one is 24x24. 

Flow/wolF.  Mixed Media Triptych.

Each panel flows right into the next, hence the name.

Flow/wolF.  1st panel of 3.

detail, panel 1, Flow/wolF.

An even closer detail...

detail, panel #1, Flow/wolF.

detail, panel #1, Flow/wolF.

There's glare, sorry.  Its a shiny surface.

detail, panel #1, Flow/wolF.

This is the second panel.

detail, panel #2, Flow/wolF.

I love what Jessica did in this area, love it.

detail, Flow/wolF, panel #2.

Third panel, a wolf looking in, detail.

A reflection in the water, panel 1.

detail, Flow/wolF, panel #1.

Lots to find when you look close.  "If you spend the time, you get the reward"...jah

detail, Flow/wolF.  1st panel.

Lusciousness.

Close up of the swirl action.

detail, Flow/wolF.

There's lots of collage underneath the layers, and they show through here on the third panel.

detail, panel #3, Flow/wolF.

Third panel close-up.

panel#3, detail, Flow/wolF.

Is it the moon?

detail, panel #2, Flow/wolF.

The wolves are partyin' down as only they do.

A Visit From A Golden Beetle.

It was the most exciting day, I had a visitor.  I saw this little guy on my counter when I was cleaning the leeks.  I thought he (she?, who knows!) was a piece of jewelry.  She was pure gold.  A golden beetle.  When I looked real close, it was ALIVE.  So I put it in the canning jar for a time, so we could all admire him appropriately.  He crawled around in there while I made the soup, and we listened to the teen's music, Alabama Shakes, in the background.  It was nice.  We bonded.

Can I just fess up, this is a miserable-quality blog post due to the piss-poor photos.  I'm lucky to get these because she flew out and was gone.  G.O.N.E. gone.  I'm still looking for her and I keep whining "where's my golden beetle" and my husband keeps saying she'll come back when I least expect it.  He's very supportive, I'm  lucky that way.
  I googled her and she is a Golden Tortoise Beetle, common in North America.  Common!?!  I've never seen one before.  Supposedly they can change color for the seasons, sort of like I do with fashion, and, get this, they can also change colors according to their mood.  Like the ring.

This last shot is extra blurry, but look closely and you can see her eye.  According to a beetle curator at the California Academy of Sciences, Dave Kavanaugh, they're good when they are golden (as in not stressed or disturbed).  Well this one was so gold I swore she was an earring.  She obviously had a happy afternoon in the kitchen with me.

And now I can't vaccum.  Darn.