Missing Paris– grunge paintings

My wonderful friend –you know who you are- shared with me her techniques for grunging up a painting. This was great fun. They are both very urban. Here is the Paris interior, one of those ‘hotels particuliers’, meaning mansion, not a resting place for tourists…

I”ve seen many walls like this when I lived there.

Don’t you just smell that musty smell of old castles and Paris apartments? It measures 11x14 on stretched canvas.

This next one is “Urban grunge”. Could be any town, really. Paris too.

The textures are really fabulous. I hope Blogger makes the painting justice. It is on stretched canvas, 16x20.

Beeswax paintings

I’m really enjoying the process of these beeswax paintings.

It doesn’t compare with the ‘traditional' encaustic paintings, in that the layers are not fused together, but glued with gel medium and painted. It’s only the last layer of the painting which is sealed with beeswax.

Either way, I love the process, and enjoy not having to breathe the encaustic fumes, nor having to start of new inventory of encaustic products. Here are my latest creations. Of course, there’d had to be a ‘steampunk’, since I delight in t he theme. This one measures 9.5 x 13.5 on hardboard. For some reason, beeswax and steampunk seems made for each other. Great combination.

This painting is available on Etsy.

Loving this painting with wax

I guess it’s more a finish than a way to paint, but I’m enjoying the process tremendously. This one again has collage papers and script, fibers for texture, gel medium to hold things down, modeling paste around the Buddha’s head for the corolla. I used normal Golden paints, but highlighted with gold flakes and Stewart Gill alabaster flakes from ArtistCellar.

It measures 8.5 x 11, on hard board.

I just bought a mini iron to melt the wax, but I find it’s a very slow process that way, so I went back to the normal iron for setting the wax down, then used the mini iron for distributing it in the way I wanted and smoothing it out.

This is fun!

Beeswax painting

Funny about the ‘never say never’. Here I am, having said ‘never’ to covering a painting with beeswax, and I did do that exact thing today after a fantastic tutorial by Cristina Zinner Gallaher.

I’m very happy with the results. The painting is 9x14. I’ve added some details with the lace and the buttons.

My latest lace book

This book is made with all original vintage photos, and old laces I have gathered in my travels.

And if you fall in love with it, not to worry, it is for sale.