Nothing is Truly Lost

"Nothing is Truly Lost" - 6x6 inch encaustic painting on 1 3/4 inch wood panel. Prints for sale here. (The original will be available on November 1st. )

This is my new encaustic piece. I woke up a few mornings ago before dawn, thinking about the leaves blowing on the wind. Then I had this image of a tree cut through with missing leaves while one leaf was being squired away by a resourceful bird for his new nest. The word "HOPE" in the tree was an added bonus. I just found this piece of paper lying around with the word on it and thought, perfect! It was meant to be. But I do like the sentiment of this piece very much. It makes me think about our emotional history that falls away like dying leaves in autumn. And sometimes we mourn these losses. But it's important to remember that they are never truly lost or gone from the world. Even a brown leaf, withered and faded from its former brilliance, can be used to build something new: a blanket for the frozen ground, a plaything for children... a nest.

Till the Stars Fall Down

"Till the Stars Fall Down" - Encaustic and mixed media on 1 3/4 inch panel. Prints for sale here.

This is my brand new encaustic piece -- it features the Brooklyn Bridge with a view of Manhattan. It took me about a million years to paint the sky and stars just right with wax. Plus I dripped clear wax downward onto the painting for a 'falling star' feeling. I really love this one... not sure about my favorite part, but it may just be the groovy water that I added at the last minute.

Happy Found Art Friday: CHANGE

This is a BIG change for me! This is my first foray into JEWELRY! These two pendants are created from my paintings: "When One Door Closes, Another Opens," and "Pretty Lady." Each piece is set in a silver square and coated with glossy resin. And, at the suggestion of my friend, Lisa, at Caffe Portofino, I've dangled them on simple leather cords. Buy one here!

Gorgeous drawing for "Change" by Claire -- who is in the oppostite time zone from us here in the United States. For Claire, the season change is Spring, not Autumn, and she has fittingly rendered a floral tree!

Beautiful "Change" painting by Esther. And I love her blog post about this process of creation. So cool. Thank you, Esther, for contributing this lovely piece.

Autumn Lullaby

"Autumn Lullaby" 8x10 Encaustic & Mixed Media on Cradled Wood Panel

Prints for sale here.

This is a new painting I finished today (the children are back in school!). It was inspired by thinking about our "change" theme for this month's Found Art Friday. I was thinking, of course, about the change of seasons and the word "Fall" in particular. I started thinking that Autumn was like the earth falling asleep for the cold hiberation of winter. So I incorporated music into the painting to convey a lullaby for this restful slumber.

Please join us for FAF this Friday. This may be my entry, though I do have another "change" I might be able to share as well!! Send me your blog link or jpeg, and I will post your creative interpretation of "change" at the end of the week.

ETA 8 Opens Tonight!

The wonderful Enormous Tiny Art Show opens tonight at the Nahcotta Gallery in Portsmouth, NH. I have 7 pieces in the show, and 4 are still available for sale! If you are uable to get to Nahcotta, you can still purchase any of the great paintings online at the Enormous Tiny Art website.

Happy FAF & Sea Green Creative Color Challenge

"Lazy Days" by Megan Woodward Johnson

'To the Sea" Digital Photo of Jupiter Beach, the Atlantic Ocean by Cathy.

"Lura" Acrylic on Wood by Melissa Moss.

"Thank You" Oil On Canvas by James Johansen.

Big Mermaid by Mazarine.

"To the Sea" by Jeanette House.

"To the Sea" by Jenny Blair.

Sea Green/To the Sea by Louise Gale (our lovely co-host!).

"To the Sea" by Claire Ishino

"Sea Ya Later" by Kristin Dudish.

Digital Art "Crystal Wave" by Nutty.

Black Marker and Colored Pencil on Background from Hand-Painted Fabric by Sheila.

Mixed Media painting: "To the Sea-Green" by Esther

"Under the Sea" by Pippin.

"To the Sea" video by Christophe. (Our fist trip together to Robert Moses State Park - Long Island)

WOW. What can I say? Look at all the fabulous entries or this month's "To the Sea" and "Sea-Green" Found Art Friday and Creative Color Challenge (courtesy of Louise Gale)! I had the most fun reading through all of your blog posts about creating these pieces. There were so many techniques used! I am so impressed by everyone's work, and it was heartwarming to meet so many new blogger artists due to my collaboration with Louise.

I do want to add a little note about my own process here, too. As you can see, I submitted a digital photo this time. This was actually a last minute choice after throwing out not 1 but 2 encaustic pieces based on the same image. I thought I would try out using encaustic wax on top of a digital photo, but, honestly, I hated the result. I like to think that I can fix any piece of art with enough effort, but this was the exception. And it got me thinking about a few things. First of all, there are some things we simply cannot fix (in paintings and in life). Not everything is meant to be. And, secondly, I am a much better artist when I use my imagination or try to tell a story than when I just go with pure aesthetics. So this Friday, I "found" not only a lot of new artwork & artists to admire, but an important lesson about my own voice. Truly a useful exercise!!

Thank you all so very much for participating. If you would like to join us again next month, our theme here for FAF is CHANGE.

24x24 Large Giclees on Canvas now for Sale

24x24 inch giclees of "Spun" and "Aloft" are now for sale at my Etsy shop.

I am SO excited that I have been able to reproduce my paintings onto giclee canvases! And I have to say that "Aloft" looked so cool in my living room for the photo shoot that I was tempted to order one for myself (this one is sold). You can order any print in my collection!