New work!

My studio pretty much always looks this crazy these days! 

The internet connecting in our house has decided it wants to live in the stone age, so I'm way behind on anything that happens online. But I'm taking a few moments, while at a coffee shop catching up, to post some pictures of new work completed and in progress.

I'm excited about starting to work more sculpturally again. If I can ever find the time, I have ideas for large pieces along these lines. I've also been obsessively collecting old pieces of wood, as I'm in love with the way it looks against the wax. I sort of want to cover an entire wall of my studio with old wood and wax!

Here is a little peek at what's been going on.....

I've been doing some simple drawings of organic forms to try brainstorm ways that sculptural work can take on similar forms. It's been a great exercise. 

These are all done on watercolor paper that I  used to make mono-prints. I love the smokey, watery colors against the tight and clean drawings. 

The drawing is done with colored pencil and my favorite gold paint pen. 

This one has some red thread sewn into the drawing. 

These are some of the pieces that have come out of the drawing exercise above. I have plans for at least 3 more of these 16x20 pieces. I'm enjoying working with naturally bleached beeswax. The milky skin color is perfect for these piece which are about the body, fragility and containers.

The color in these is made by applying oil paint into places that have been incised. The 3-D elements are cast paper forms that I've been creating using glass medical vials and test tubes as my molds. 

These are two door lintels pulled from an old home. I'm planning on using a little wax in the crevice to attach the paper forms. I'm also thinking of adding some gold leaf to this to play up the rough and decaying texture of the old door frames against the clean and bright gold. My favorite things about this piece are all the rusted nails in the top and bottom. 

This pair of diptychs started me using the old wood without covering it with any wax. I really like how it breathes out the dense color and texture of the wax panel. 

These 6x6 collages are the beginning of a collaborative project that will soon be announced! 

I created this commissioned gold leaf and acrylic piece for a couple who asked me to design/decorate several spaces for their wedding.  It is 20X42 on a wood panel with a 2" cradle. 

Encaustic Workshop April 29th and 30th! *FULL*

* This workshop is now full! The next workshop is in June, please email to be put on the waiting list! Thanks! *

It's time for another Encaustic Workshop! I had a great time sharing my obsession with wax with some eager and creative students when I taught a workshop in January. I was again impressed by how easy it is for people to make beautiful things right off the bat. If you are at all interested in painting with hot wax a workshop is the best way to learn the basic. After you take an initial workshop it's easier to add techniques to your knowledge base from a book or a video. Here's the scoop:

Description:

10 instruction hours with plenty of studio work time to experiment and make completely pieces. Instruction in buying supplies, making encaustic medium and colored waxes. You will learn many of the basic techniques, some color theory basics and composition direction. All supplies provided for your use in the studio: wood panels, heating tools, carving tools, paper, colored wax, encaustic medium, blow torch, brushes, tins for color, oil pastels, string, yarn, found objects.  You will take home multiple pieces from your work time.

Location:


Golden Belt 
Building 3, Studio 103
807 E. Main Street
Durham, N.C.
27701


Schedule:

Friday April 29th         

6-8pm - Introduction to encaustic, and first tries at the technique

Saturday April 30th   

10-12pm - Using color, embedding instruction. Studio work time

12-1pm - Lunch Break

1-6pm - Transfers, oil pastel, carving and incising instruction. Studio work time. 

Cost:

$300

All supplies provided!

Registration:

4 spots available only! !
*Workshop now full! Next one in June! *

To register follow this link:  Encaustic Workshop Registration

You will receive a pay-pal invoice for a $50 non-refundable deposit to hold your spot. The rest of the workshop fee is due Friday when class starts. 

If the class is full the registration link will be closed. Please email me to be put on the waiting list for the next workshop! The email is: phaedrajean at gmail dot com

What to bring:

A great way to add personality to your pieces is to collect collage material that you are drawn to. Paper, found objects, sticks, buttons, cloth, string, ribbon, photographs, flowers etc... You can also bring photocopies of photographs, text or images to transfer into your wax. Please only bring Xeroxed or laser printed images, not ink-jet. Color or black and white both work wonderfully. It's also wonderful to collect and bring old pieces of wood to paint on. Coming with a stash of things you've collected will mean your pieces will be more interesting and more you!

You may also want to bring a lunch on Saturday. There are not many places to eat near by, but there is a microwave that you can use to heat food if you wish.

Do you know someone who would  be interested in learning how to paint with wax? Please share this information so we can be sure to have a full class! 

Hope you can join us!

Adult Encaustic Workshop in January

Exciting news! I'm offering an Encaustic Workshop January 28th & 29th at my Golden Belt studio (studio 103). Come learn how to paint with hot wax. It's sure to be great fun. Here's the scoop:

Description:

10 instruction hours with optional open studio time on Sunday. Instruction in making encaustic medium and colored waxes, and basic techniques, color theory basics and composition direction. All supplies provided for working in the studio: wood panels, heating tools, carving tools, paper, colored wax, encaustic medium, blow torch, brushes, tins for color, oil pastels, string, yarn, found objects.  You will take home multiple pieces from your work time.

Schedule:

Friday January 28th         

6-9pm - Introduction to encaustic, and first tries at the technique

Saturday January 29th   

10-12pm - Using color, embedding instruction, studio work time

12-1pm - Lunch Break

1-5pm - Studio work time, transfers, oil pastel, carving and incising instruction

Sunday January 30th       

 2-5pm - OPTIONAL open studio time (additional $50 fee)

Cost:

$275

$50 fee for additional Sunday open studio time

Registration:

6 spots available only! 

To register follow this link:  Encaustic Workshop Registration

You will receive a pay-pal invoice for a $50 non-refundable deposit to hold your spot. The rest of the workshop fee is due Friday the 28th when class starts. 

If the class is full the registration link will be closed. Please email me to be put on the waiting list for the next workshop! The email is: artmachinestudios at gmail dot com

What to bring:

A great way to add personality to your pieces is to collect collage material that you are drawn to. Paper, found objects, sticks, buttons, cloth, string, ribbon, photographs, flowers etc... You can also bring photocopies of photographs, text or images to transfer into your wax. Please only bring Xeroxed or laser printed images, not ink-jet. Color or black and white both work wonderfully. Coming with a stash of things you've collected will mean your pieces will be more interesting and more you!

You may also want to bring a lunch on Saturday. There are not many places to eat near by, but there is a microwave that you can use to heat food if you wish.

Do you know someone who would  be interested in learning how to paint with wax? Please share this information so we can be sure to have a full class! 

Thank you!

The Strange Things that Christ Holds Together

 Below is today's entry from an Advent devotional put out by our church here in Durham, All Saints Church. Advent devotional guides are such a great way for me to slow down and to pay attention during this season. I especially appreciate that All Saints had invited artists to create visual works to accompany the entries.  I hope you enjoy this short reflection I wrote and a new piece I created for this Advent season. You can find the entire booklet online here.

"The Strange Things that Christ Holds Together" 

 This art piece is made from a strange family of elements: beeswax, sticks, string, a book page, some pieces of a dress pattern and gold oil pastel.  In much the same way that strange events and characters combine to form the story of Christ’s birth, so these art materials form a cast of “characters.” 

Layers of hot wax have been painted onto a board. Embedded in between these layers are bits and pieces of a dress pattern. Together they allude to the mysterious pattern that God lays out for us. His Word, symbolized by the beeswax, secretly but certainly holds all things together inside that pattern.

Sticks appear as a reminder of Jesus the Vine Dresser and the Root of Jesse. From both this Vine and this Root we receive our real sustenance. String is tied and stretched in a cruciform pattern.  Pages from an old Bible re-tell four narratives. John leaping inside of Elizabeth’s womb. An account of the Ascension. The wild birth of John the Baptist. The incarnation of God in Bethlehem. These stories remind us of the fantastical elements in the events surrounding Christ’s comings and goings. All these events are incredible and, across the board, un-expected. Surely we can only expect God to enter into our lives in a similar way—mysteriously entering when we least expect him, appearing, then disappearing, leaving us open-mouthed but always disclosing his everlasting love for us. God uses such strange and wild ways to accomplish his purposes. He fills people long empty. He astonishes us, as the Gospel writers might say.

Gold marks the center of the panel. This symbolizes the kingship of Christ. It is a kingship that appears at every point that we allow him to assume a place of preeminence in our lives.

Why did I make this piece? I did it to remind myself, despite my sometimes feeble faith, that all these things are true. His mother, for example, was a young woman like me, like many, who did not expect God to come in that way and at that time.  While I wait for Jesus to answer my prayers—and to answer prayers that I have yet to even pray—he is at work in all kinds of unexpected ways. If I only look for him to come in the way that I want him to, then I miss all the mysterious, beautiful ways that he is already present. I need to remember to wait for him. I need to trust that, like the string threading itself throughout this art, he holds all the strange, often puzzling parts of my life together, and the frustrating parts too. When I do trust him, I find that my heart is filled with gratitude. Some days it is filled with wonder.

Three Announcements!

ONE: The Shop!

The Etsy shop is officially open for business. Acknowledging that my goal to post hundreds of items for sale before I announce it is just plain silly, I'm opening it with only a few items. But the promise is that there'll be more to come. The shop is called The Ambrosium in honor of St. Ambrose, the patron saint of wax workers, and it can be found here. I'll be concentrating on filling it with more things after this weekend when we have....

TWO: "3rd Friday Open Studio" 
and 
"Durham Art Walk and Holiday Market"!

Friday from 6-9 PM the Golden Belt Studios will open its doors to the public, and there'll be plenty of artists working away and selling their wares. Food trucks are likely to be hanging out and there should be a new show in the gallery. It's bound to be a great time. 

Saturday from 10 AM - 5 PM and Sunday from 1-5 PM the Durham Art Walk will be happening all over town. The Golden Belt artists will participate in the walk by offering art and christmas gifts and ornaments galore. It's a great place to do your Christmas shopping and to find unique--and, yes, affordable--things for all your special people. I'll be selling....

THREE: Prints!

For the first time I will have available prints of my watercolor series. They'll come in two sizes. This is a perfect gift for someone looking to spend $20-$35 dollars on an art print. You can find images of the series here.  The prints will be smaller in size than the originals, either 8.5 X 11 or 11 X 13. They will be printed on heavy weight paper with white border perfect for framing. The printer uses archival inks so they're sure to last for a long time. 

If you email me a pre-order form before Friday, then you can have a print for $15 or $30 instead of the full price I'll be offering over the weekend. If you live in another state and would like to pre-order, I can send you your prints next week for a small shipping fee. To pre-order: look at the images here and email me the titles of the ones that you would like to purchase. I'll send you a pay-pal link with your order so you can pay remotely if you live outside of Durham-Chapel Hill. 

So, to recap:

1. Etsy shop now officially open.

2. Studio open with fun things for sale: Friday 19th 6-9, Saturday 20th 10-5, Sunday 21st 1-5.

3. Prints available--first time ever. Pre-order by Friday for discounts. 

Week One in a Working Studio

Dried lichen from last spring that hangs above my work table. It's still neon green!

Last week was pure craziness. I had so much work to do. I'm glad I was able to squeeze some art making in between everything else. Until I have time for a real post, here are some shots from things I'm working on right now:

Ink dried in the bottom of a glass dish. 

I'm making small paper forms and experimenting with sewing on them in different ways. My plan is to sink the paper forms into wax in clusters. Sort of like a 3-D version of my cellular pieces I've been working on.  

I've been using all kinds of glass vials, test tubes, and small beakers to mold my forms onto.

This is one of my favorites. I love the red thread underneath one layer of thin paper. 

I'm trying some sewing with my own hair. It's pretty tricky to get it knotted, but I bought some cheap magnifying glasses to help me see the tiny ends. This takes total focus and good music in my i-pod.

I've been doing tons of simple cellular type drawings that I am going to turn into either watercolor/drawing pieces or encuastics. So far it has been too difficult to get really clean and simple details using the encuastic process. But, I'm going to keep trying different things to try and see if I can't figure it out. I'd love to have these drawings translated into wax somehow. 

My many to-do lists. It's great to have a whole wall that I can use for lists.

Wrapping up and sending off my first (trial run) etsy sale. I'll announce the etsy shop opening soon. This sale was to a friend who kindly agreed to be my guinea pig. This way I could walk myself through the whole process and make sure I'd gotten everything right. As soon as I finish filling the shop I'll have it open to everyone.

Making hundreds of business cards for the various events I have coming up. I love the process of tearing down and stamping each card. I'd never change to machine made cards, I just love these deckled edges too much!

House Show, Prints, Cake!

If you live in the triangle area, here's some information on a fun thing happening this weekend. This house is for sale and it's super cute. Anyone you know that is looking for a house, likes to eat free cake or enjoys art should come and be with us Sunday afternoon. Also there will be Prosecco to sweeten the deal.

The really exciting news is: I'll be pre-selling prints of my watercolor series for the first time! The prints will be ready by November 19th, but you can pre-purchase the prints at the open house to ensure you get some before the holidays. I'll also be selling the prints at a holiday sale happening on the 19th but if you pre-purchase at the open house, you will get a discounted price and you won't have to fight the masses to get one, or five. :) Hope to see you Sunday!

Cartographers and Carriers

Microscopic eye candy!

During the home residency I conducted in June, I worked on some pieces in the new Cellular Series. Below is the finished version of one of those pieces. I have titled it Cartographers because it is mostly about the cells of our body and their ability to follow a map to do their particular work. I imagine our bodies as a busy hive of perpetually moving pieces. We walk around carrying all that activity and we don't even have to think about it most of the time. It's quite incredible to think that I will never really see the inside of my body; I'll never see with my own eyes what my cells look like; I can never hear the noise that must be made when everything is pumping and pulsing and moving around in there. It's a whole internal world that makes me into me, but it's also a complete mystery. I have absolutely no control over what happens, or does not happen, on any given day inside my body. But I have to trust it to make me walk and see and eat and think. It boggles my mind a bit, and I like how small it makes me feel.

Cartographers: Cellular Series 2

Below is the other piece I worked on during that concentrated studio time. It's still giving me some problems, but I think I know how to fix it. "Simple, simple" is what I keep telling myself. I'm still mulling over some ideas for titles, so I don't have one nailed down yet. These pieces have proven to be very hard to photograph because they are so subtle and foggy in spots that the camera just wants to blur everything together. Any thoughts on how to get some sharpness?? 

Cellular Series: 3

I've been hatching an idea that includes tiny paper-mache forms embedded in to wax. I can't wait to have some space and time to finish the next pieces in this series. Hopefully this week and next will provide a little more time than the last few weeks and I will have some new things to show! 

Cellular inspiration!

Home Residency: Day 5 (belated)

Well, I am finally posting the pictures from the last day of the home residency! I have not worked on the pieces much since then as I have been teaching art camps for young artists. In the little moments I can grab I have been experimenting with more carving in and trying to simplify, simplify, simplify. I'll post more pictures at the end of the week when I  (hopefully) finish. I am so ready to be done.

A.M. - Piece No. 1

P.M. - Piece No. 2

Lunch

P.M. - Piece No. 1 (I know it looks almost the same but trust me, a lot happened) 

P.M. - Piece No. 2

A few things I learned during my five days of concentrated working:

1. Art takes a lot of time and a fierce concentration. 

2. Working every day gave me a better idea of just how many tiny decisions you have to make to create one thing. 

3. Being immersed in your work for hours each day does not make you a very good conversationalist during the off times. 

4. I need to make sure I am protecting more of my weekly hours to art making if I'm going to make any progress. 

5. I have to be ruthless about cutting out, covering over, and scraping down the things that are not really working with the whole piece. No matter how lovely the are by themselves. 

I am sure I will have more thoughts later. Now I'm off to make dinner.