encaustics – Page 2 – RAK Fluid Art

April 22, 2019April 22, 2019

Local Trees Exhibit

There is a new exhibit at the Elk Grove Village Public Library! If you are local, please stop in to see the fabulous pieces all portraying trees! There are so many unique styles, sure to excite every personal preference. This is a juried show so there are 1st, 2nd, 3rd place ribbons and 5 honorable mentions.

All pieces are for sale and if you see something you are interested in, you can contact our exhibit chairman. P.S. that’s me!!

I have a piece in the show that is called Swirling Magic pictured here. It is a mixed media piece made with encaustic wax. I am really enjoying learning and experimenting with this process.

I begin on a cradled wood panel so framing is not necessary. After adding 3 layers of wax, fusing in between each layer, I then start with the base of the tree. Through melting and layering, adding and subtracting, I get a texture that I just love! The smaller branches are then incised in the wax with oil sticks.

The colors that you see are either oil pastels or pigmented wax buried to create an abstract background.

Encaustics is an ancient art form used to preserve mummies in Egyptian times. It is nothing new but has certainly become much more popular in recent years. I hope you can stop by the library to see the exhibit first hand.

The Elk Grove Village Public Library is located at 1001 Wellington Avenue, Elk Grove Village, IL and the exhibit is in the large meeting room and is open to the public whenever the library is open.

March 24, 2019March 24, 2019

One Inspired Evening 2019

Giving to a worthy cause feels great!

One Inspired Evening is our annual fundraising gala that includes an art auction, silent auction, raffle, and live music. All proceeds from the event go directly to supporting Inspiration Corporation’s mission of helping 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 in an atmosphere of dignity and respect. (visit inspirationcorporation.org for more info)

Last night I was one of the artists accepted into the juried art show as part of a Gala to raise money for this wonderful organization! One Inspired Evening is an annual Gala that was so much fun!! All of the cooks and servers were people who have benefited from employment training so not only did we get to eat their wonderful food, but we also were able to interact with them and hear their story.

My husband and I enjoying taking silly pictures!

We were at Venue West in Chicago and to my naive suburban upbringing, I was a little concerned when we pulled up. But inside was a wonderful Gala like nothing I have ever been to before!

Here I am with some of the other artists from our local Artists’ Association of Elk Grove Village plus spouses. Each of us had a piece accepted into the show and were sold to the highest bidder! I was so humbled when my piece went just over the value at the last second before the bidding closed! It was such a beautiful and exciting night! I can’t wait for next year!!

The piece I submitted is on the right and is from my FloraVine series. The medium is encaustics with alcohol inks and shellac. I plan on making more in this series!

January 21, 2019January 21, 2019

Wine and Flowers Make Art

Lately I have been working in a series without realizing it. I have been loving working in encaustics and alcohol inks to create these floral pieces. I was showing my son and daughter-in-law my latest piece, and they immediately said it looks like a glass of wine sloshing about.

What do you think? Does it remind you of a glass of wine? We were drinking wine at the time, so I’m not sure if that helps persuade you or not! Now that I think of it, all of my floral pieces look like a glass of delicious wine! I am going to name this series FloraVine. I didn’t want it to be too obvious by calling it wine flowers, but I wanted it to have the same feeling that I get when I make one of these pieces.

My husband and I go to Christkindlemarkt every year and they have an abundance of Gluhwein (pronounced glu – vine) which brought me to my series name “FloraVine”. Maybe this will only make sense to me!!

This piece called Tranquility is going to be submitted to a juried show called One Inspired Evening in Chicago. A non-profit organization called Inspiration Corporation is having a Gala to raise money for people who are affected by homelessness and poverty to improve their lives through employment training and placement, social services, and housing. 100% of the proceeds will go to this organization!

I hope this piece gets accepted and will find a new home while giving back to a worthwhile charity that is really making a difference in the Chicagoland area. Stay tuned for more pieces in the FloraVine series!