Follow me to my new Waxing Rural blog site

Well it happened! I finally changed my blog site from the long and often mistaken url for Waxing Rural to the much easier to remember url www.waxingrural.blogspot.com
This should be a live link so just hit it and let it take you to my new blogspot then replace my link and subscription on my new site.

Looking forward to seeing you there......I will be posting all of my new work there as well as my 2012 workshop schedule and I'll even be re-posting some of my stuff from here. Already gearing up for a great 2012 with cool pictures and paintings in both encaustic and oils, plus inspirations, poetry, sayings, links to sites with wonderful content, and daily life here on the peninsula.

I am also in the process of changing my web site and web host though my domain name will stay the same at www.barbaramallon.com so you can check back regularly to see when I get it up again - probably April 2012 or so.

Catch up

Lot's of work has happened between last posting and now and lot's of classes as well. Here are some of them. Several were bought before I could get them up and posted. That's a good thing! :-) I've used several techniques in these and in one of them I've recently decided to rework it into a color palette that is more similar to the series. I'll put that up shortly so you can see how effective rubbing into the surface is as well as scraping back. I like the new one even better.

Also part of the Journey series

This painting started out ok with a good idea and some interesting texture, but in the middle turned hopeless. I took an "easy" cliched way out and hated the result. So the next morning I began scraping back, inscribing in, rubbing oil into the incised areas and turned out loving the combinations. Guess it goes that way sometimes.

This one is 18 X 18 and as always, as I learn to paint larger in a medium there is a learning curve for scaling up and minimizing small details so the painting will "show" from across the room. This one does now and I love the warm colors. I've entered this and the last 2 on the blog in the IEA show scheduled for September-October to coincide with their annual conference. Haven't heard yet if any of these have juried in.

As I previewed this before hitting the publish post button, I noticed how this painting (maybe all paintings) seems drabber than it is in real life. The burnt sienna color against the rich creamy wax background just doesn't show that well.

And Another

This painting changed a number of times over the course of the work. I like it now because it contains a lot of pattern in it and the symbols have meaning to me. Also for the first time I tried carving the encaustic wax and really like the effect of it - exposing the other color underneath.

I recently went to an Art Fair and while I was walking around, one of the artists called out to me to come and get a free Rune reading which I did. Remarkably scary for being right on.

I also entered this in the IEA call for artists for September exhibit - hope I get juried in. I've now got 3 more I need to paint by August 12th.

Just as well the weather has been cold and overcast. The forecast is for a bit sunnier weather on the coast here now that the big high pressure over the midwest appears to moving east and taking the wet and cold with it.

Power of discipline

Here's one of my latest encaustic paintings. This one is 18" X 18". I've been working larger because I'm entering for shows and so there is some learning curve in scaling up the patterns and designs so they will read well large.

I'm nearly every day in my studio and the ideas seem to be flowing. Sometimes they don't work out and I have to scrape back but this one seemed to come easier. I paint to music and there are about 5 CD's that I like and play over and over. I recently tried some different music that I used to just love but the painting didn't slip into place so I've gone back to my 5 tried and true. I'll have to add more by these artists because I've found it really helps condition my mind to creative ideas and stay on a roll.

I've got 3 shows I'm entering and this one is for a fall IEA show. I'll add at least 2 others to this blog in the next several days and hopefully 3 more by the end of the month.

Latest creation

I got a commission in June to paint a little rocking chair for a new baby boy by his young grandmother who wanted some vintage aircraft and that sort of theme so I painted the patterning of propellers and flight insignias from that era. I did take some license in colors which were the colors from an already picked out mobile, wall colors and crib liners. It came out cute and hope she'll like it. I'm putting the last coat of varnish on now.

In other news, I've got an International Encaustic artist Call for Entries due on July 15th that I'm painting several pictures for, another Call for Entries for a show at Trails End Art Association in August and then another Call for Entries for a themed Icon show -August deadline -at a Seattle gallery which I'm hoping might lead to representation . Lot's of painting coming up, some of which I'll post here.

There are also a few spaces left in my beginning encaustic class to be held at Trails End Art Association on August 20th so if you know anyone interested in a great painting and relaxing weekend on the Coast, send them to Trails End website www.trailsendart.org for more information and to register. Trails End is in Gearhart which is oh so very close to Seaside and Cannon Beach and the weather is typically very nice.

Looks like the weather is going to be beautiful for the weekend and 4th of July down here.

From the studio

Here's another 8" X 8" little gem using the plaster and a more brilliant white background with black and mars teracotta theme. It actually came about because I wasn't happy with my original design so I began to scrape back certain areas and voila, I liked the reduction. As you can see I'm enjoying using the cross hatch motifs and I know I'll be using the reduction of black squares. I've got to be ordering more wax pellets for mixing up new medium in the near future and anticipate ordering in bulk.

The last 2 days have found me outside planting spring-time plants from the nursery. Honestly the weather has been too cold and rainy here until the last week and now I'm worried we'll go from cold to hot like the rest of the nation. But I did my planting and transplanting with just a few left to go tomorrow and then I'll be done. And finished before the onslaught of the mosquito pestilence that happens here every year. Still in all, even with the aches and pains of overtaxing muscles I'm enjoying being outside. It feels like I am finally breathing full lung-fulls of breath.