Did you know that Elk Grove Village has an area where they keep elk? It’s at Busse Woods, the Cook County Forest Preserve, at the corner of Higgins and Arlington Heights Road.
A quick story, I’ve started bike riding which I’ve never been that good at! I’m close enough to Busse Woods to ride my bike over the bike bridge and into the forest preserve. There is an area where you pass a fenced-in section in Elk Grove Village where they keep their elk. Since COVID I have not seen the elk but last week, they were back! Just three elks, one male with beautiful antlers!
I had to do a piece dedicated to the elk. I’m not into realism but this piece wanted to be an elk. Now I look forward to seeing them on my bike rides! Hope you’re getting out into nature to see something beautiful in your neck of the woods!
Are you near Woodstock, IL (you know, the place where the movie Groundhog Day was filmed?) This is a diptych that is in the Seeing Double Exhibit at the Woodstock Old County Courthouse. They have 3 rooms with exhibits in them and their hours are Thursday – Sunday from 11am to 5pm. Wear a mask, social distance, and enjoy some unique art by local artists!
A diptych is two works that are very closely related to each other or created together. My pieces are 6×12 and are for sale for $150 each.
The work is done is encaustics, mica powder, and pan pastels.
These hydrangea leaves were taken from my backyard. I don’t know if you have any in your yard, but they sure are finicky! We don’t get any flowers on our plants. We googled it and found out if your soil is off, the flowers won’t grow. So we tested our soil and sure enough, it was too acidic. We added something to the soil that was supposed to help. We have 3 large plants. The smallest one finally had 2 flowers on it!! We were so excited! But why didn’t the other plants have flowers?? Back to google…I came across something that said if your plants are in shade, you might never have flowers. That’s what I have decided is the case for us! Too much shade!
In the meantime, we have these huge, beautiful plants growing these big beautiful leaves!
I never could have imagined that when my parents had to move in with my family right after my Dad’s stroke, that this pandemic would have changed everything! I hope you are all doing well and staying safe.
My parents have just moved out and into an independent living community. Yes, they were allowed to move in during the COVID 19 stay at home orders. The community is not even a year old, at 40% capacity, with no virus anywhere. My parents need to be self-quarantined for 14 days, getting their temperature taken daily to ensure they aren’t carriers of the virus.
I haven’t touched any art supplies for a month and half! I knew I had to step in slowly!
I have been reading up on Eco Printing and I knew this would be a perfect first project! Here are my photos:
Starting the Eco Printing process
First up, I went on a nature scavenger hunt. This was the exact thing I needed to clear my head. My dog, Mocha, and I went on a walk and found interesting plants, leaves, and even a seed pod.
I dipped my watercolor paper in water and arranged each piece of nature on a sheet, separated with a deli sheet. Once they were all sandwiched together, I added a ceramic tile to the top and bottom and closed it shut with large binder clips. I had 4 binder clips but my seed pod was a little too thick for one side!
I then added the mordant to the bottom of an electric skillet and simmered away for 20 minutes. After letting it cool, I carefully unveiled my eco prints!
Eco Prints
Now you might be wondering what I am going to do with these prints that really don’t look like anything! I’m going to cover them with Encaustic besswax, of course! These will definitely look different by the time I am done, but this was a perfect project to get me back into the creative zone.
What do you do when you need to get back to your creative zone?
This past Saturday, I enjoyed Inspiration Corporation’s fundraising Gala so much! I am honored to have found this event and have been able to be a part of it for 2 years now!
“In an atmosphere of dignity and respect, Inspiration Corporation helps people who are affected by homelessness and poverty to improve their lives and increase self-sufficiency through the provision of social services, employment training and placement, and housing.” inspirationcorp.org
Here’s a photograph of me with my piece of art at the Gala, One Inspired Evening. The chefs and servers for the evening are people who have gone through the Inspiration Corporation and have turned their lives around. It is fascinating to meet and greet the people who are benefiting directly from your contributions. The ones I spoke to were so appreciative that we were there supporting them and helping them get back on the right track.
A silent auction is held for the artwork that is donated and quite a few other corporate sponsors, like White Sox, Cubs, or Bulls tickets. Instead of doing it the old fashioned way where you write your name on a piece of paper, you use an app on your phone to do the bidding.
There were five artists from the Artists’ Association of Elk Grove Village displaying a piece at this event. If anyone is interested in attending this event next year, let me know and I can forward you the information when tickets go on sale.
I do have a few personal family situations that will take away some of my time and attention away from my art, but hopefully I will be able to get back to my normal routine in a month! Stay creative!
You are invited to attend the Artist Reception & Poetry Event on February 15th, 2020 from 2-5pm. It is a free public event. The Artists’ Association of Elk Grove Village and the Illinois State Poet Society have collaborated in this cultural event.
The art was created then a digital image was given to a poet who wrote an ekphrastic poem. An ekphrastic poem is a vivid description of a scene or work of art. Through the imaginative act of narrating and reflecting on the “action” of a painting or sculpture, the poet may amplify and expand its meaning.
I am honored to have a piece of artwork in this exhibit entitled, “Sitting in Sunshine.” Stop by the Addison Center for the Arts during the exhibit, February 12, – March 14, 2020 to read the poems that were written especially for each piece.
Sitting In Sunshine
Sitting in Sunshine is a Mixed Media painting consisting of Encaustics, Pan Pastels and pigment sticks. On our way to Door County last year, we stopped at the beach at Lake Michigan. There were these 2 chairs all by themselves on the beach. We stopped at a local winery, picked up a bottle of wine, and found a smokehouse where we got some smoked salmon.
It was a beautiful afternoon Sitting in Sunshine, drinking a bottle of wine, and enjoying our favorite, smoked salmon!
The Addison Center for the Arts is located at 213 N. Lombard Road, Addison, IL 60101 in the back of the Addison Trail High School. The gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 1 – 4 pm. All artwork is for sale. Hope you can stop in!
Have you been interested in making your own encaustic medium? Are you wondering why you can’t just use any wax and melt away? Here’s some answers!
Have you tried melting wax on a piece of canvas? It looks cool! But then you move it to a different room, and BAM, some of it chips off! Why does that happen?
Wax is not strong enough to adhere to something on its own. You need to take some precautionary measures to make sure your work stands the test of time.
Use a hard, absorbent substrate: cradled panel, MDF board, raw wood are all very good surfaces to work on. Wood is naturally absorbent and the hard surface makes it easy to melt wax onto, scrape back, and there’s no warping.
Use a white ground: white encaustic gesso, white chalk paint, venetian plaster or joint compound are all perfect grounds to use on your wooden surface to get a clean, white background. That helps to brighten up your colors without having to use so much white pigmented wax.
Fusing with a heat gun, craft iron or torch: Fusing is a must! Fusing is the process of heat setting each layer of color or wax that you lay down. When you fuse that first layer of wax, I prefer a torch. I like to start with a smooth surface and make sure the wax really melts into my substrate. If I’m laying down collage, I’ll use the craft iron. If I’m adding pan pastels, I might just heat lightly with the heat gun. Whatever you decide, keep it moving but experiment with the different techniques achieved.
EVERY LAYER MUST BE FUSED TO THE LAYER BEFORE: I’m not yelling at you, it’s just that this is that important. If you do not fuse every layer, there will be air bubbles trapped or moisture could appear. Sometimes you don’t notice it until a couple days later, and then you will have to scrape back and fuse again.
Use encaustic medium: Encaustic medium is made from beeswax and demar resin. Different companies all have different ratios of besswax to demar resin. Watch my video to learn how I make my own:
Hope that helps to answer any questions you might have, but feel free to ask more questions! Have fun creating!
Looking for unique gifts this Christmas for those hard to buy people of your list? Look no further! Stop in at the Brushwood Center at Ryerson in Riverwoods, IL this weekend!
I was accepted as a contributing artist this year! I will be selling notecards of my work. After this weekend, I will be posting more notecards for sale on my website. Here are a couple of examples:
They are perfect for any occasion and they are blank inside ready and waiting for your personalization!
If you’re in the Riverwoods area this weekend, December 7th & 8th, stop in to see all the goodies!
NATURE-INSPIRED HOLIDAY ART MARKET December 7th & 8th Shop local for all your holiday gifts this year at our third Annual Nature-Inspired Holiday Art Market! Enjoy some hot cocoa and listen to carols in the welcoming historic Brushwood home while you shop for unique art, handmade gifts, cards and prints from over 50 local artists and makers. Come support local artists this holiday shopping season, and be sure to check out the full schedule of events below:
Onto our next week with the Birthday Blessings Project! This video shows how to add layers of wax, how to scrape away layers, and how to make indentions in the wax and then fill it with R&F pigment sticks. So fun!
