I’m starting a new Vlog called Tea with Tammy! It’s going to happen twice a month and we’re going to explore using our used tea bags in our art! Bear with me as I figure out this whole video world! It’s always good to be learning new things and not only will we learn creative, easy ways to use our tea bags, but I will also be learning about technology!! All videos will also be on YouTube.
There will be a separate page on my website for all episodes and the page will be called Tea with Tammy! The first episode is just explaining how to open up our tea bags so they will be ready to use! Let me know if there are any art supplies you would like to see used with our tea bags and I’ll include it in a video!
Click below to see episode one! Thanks for being a part of my art journey!
Welcome to 2020! A new year with new possibilities! For the last few years, I have chosen a word of the year and I’m continuing that tradition today! (with a spin)
This year I have created a handmade journal out of watercolor paper that is going to give me 12 pages or spreads. The idea is that I want to work on one each month and use it as a tool to remember something that happened each month.
My husband and I usually go through each month and talk about the highlights on New Years and this year, we couldn’t think of anything interesting that happened in February! Now I’m sure something interesting did happen, but we did not document it anywhere. May was also uneventful but Mother’s Day is in May so I’m sure we did something spectacular!
My plan is that this art journal will not let that happen this year! And to keep me accountable, I’m going to post each page that I complete here on my blog.
If you would like to make your own journal, let me know and I can post a video showing how I made mine.
Here’s a couple photos of how it looks when its done.
Front of art journal
Blank art journal showing the binding.
First layers of art journal
Embrace 2020 Art Journal
As you can see, I have written my word of the year on the front page of my art journal with the year. Embrace is a word that came to me after writing about the changes that I wanted to make in 2020.
I also found a bible verse to help guide me throughout the year. Just to put it in context, the word “She” is referring to wisdom. Proverbs 3:18 She is a tree of life for those who embrace her, and whoever clutches her tightly will be joyful.
I hope you plan on choosing a word of the year and let me know in the comments what it is!
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!
It is week 3 and time for another encaustic technique video! This one will explore using pan pastels and mica powders to add color to the encaustic layer. The pan pastels that I used are tints which means that they are all pastels. Pan pastels also come in full saturated colors and metallics.
The mica powders are from USArtquest. They are a small business located in Michigan and online. The mica powders come in a wide variety of colors and have many uses.
Welcome back to week 2 of the Blessings Project! This week I’ll be showing you how to start your encaustic pieces. This video will demonstrate the first 3-4 layers of encaustic medium and fusing but the remainder pieces I will complete offline and then just work on different techniques on each piece.
Collage using music paper and red tissue paper will be shown.
Let me know if you have any questions on any of the techniques!
I am starting a new project called Blessings. I am going to do a video each week documenting my process. This is my first video so please be kind!
The first step in my blessings birthday project…
The cutting with an X-acto knife was much more difficult than I was expecting! I got them all completed (a little wabi sabi) but I love the first marks on each of these.
Just a little background about how I chose black alcohol ink for my lettering. In order to use encaustic medium on a piece, it needs to have an absorbent ground.
The illustration board is absorbent, but if I were to start my lettering with acrylic paint that substrate would no longer be absorbent. Alcohol ink is still absorbent and you could also use india ink, charcoal or even watercolors as an underlayer before you add the encaustic wax.
If you didn’t want to use illustration board, you could use a cradled wood panel or even a piece of raw recycled wood. You could use a piece of watercolor paper but it would need to be adhered to a rigid surface. Wax is heavy and it would weigh down a surface that is not rigid.
Start your own mixed media project! Use the supplies that you have on hand to make your first marks. We’ll start next week with our first technique.
Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods is holding a pollinator exhibit which I am so excited to be an exhibiting artist! The Artist reception is this Sunday, June 16th from 1-3pm if you would like to meet some of the artists.
The address is 21850 N. Riverwoods Rd. in Riverwoods, IL
Keeping the Bees: The Importance of Pollinators
June 16 – August 25, 2019
Did you know that over 75% of the flowering plants on earth rely on animals and insects for pollination, including nearly 75% of our food crops? Without these creatures such as hummingbirds, bats, bees, beetles, butterflies, and flies, these plants would not be able to produce fruits and seeds, which would be devastating to people and the planet. Join Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods in bringing attention to the importance and plight of the pollinator in this group art exhibition.
Participating Artists:
Stephanie Bird · Jessica Brackett · Ben Calvert · Carrie Carlson · Christine Cheney Anna Chicoine · Lan Dang · Joan Game · Evelyn Gardiner · Autumn Rosario Hall Nancy Halliday · Tammy Haman · Karen A. Johnson · Rebecca Ferguson Keays Julia Kemerer · Heeyoung Kim · Kathleen King · Christina Lovering · Janet McDonnell Lyndsay Murphree · Katelyn Patton · Alicja Pulit · Ramiro Prudencio Ananya Ramji · The Reed Turner Botanical Artists · Christian Rentas · Tom Rybarczyk William Soderberg · Cheryl Steiger · Vicky Tesmer · Kay Thomas · Kate Tully Kathleen Warren · Suzanne Wegener · Judy Woznyj
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.
