No Fear

No Fear is my submission for the Group of Eight's quarterly challenge...Street Art

The textured bricks are made with left over quilt batting. Using gel medium and paints left a beautiful textured effect.

 

It's my opinion on freedom of speech. Where has it gone & why can't we say what we feel without the possibility of reprisal. Words can cut so we need to be mindful but that doesn't mean we shouldn't speak our mind & be given common respect that it's our opinion & not everyone need to agree with it.

The essence of Street Art is the freedom of expression...of course this is just my opinion.

Rocks & Rain

In 2014 my husband & I went on a trip to Ireland with friends. This was the first time we had ever been to Ireland as well as it being the first time we've ever taken holidays with friends. What a fantastic trip we had. Ireland is the place to go for "R & R"...rocks and rain. I've never seen so many rocks in all my life. Newfoundland doesn't even come close. I've also never seen so much rain. It rained every day. It didn't bother us at all, we just kept going & it just added to the wonderful ambience of the landscape.

Along our travels I would do my normal collecting of anything I thought was interesting. This is better than any shop if you ask me. Beautiful, free and just sitting there offering up it's glory. The feather was actually collected on the first day we arrived. Guinness...what a fantastic facility inside Dublin. The feather was along side the road sitting in water with dirt & gravel stuck to it. Well...I just love that sort of thing.

 

The dried thistle was collected on the Aran Islands. Miles & miles of rock made into pens for grazing livestock & farmland. It was so windy that sometimes I just had to sit down to wait for the gust to pass so I could gain my footing. The dried thistle was so perfect in this landscape and I had Chris cut of one of the heads & I carried it in my hand until we got back to the bed and breakfast that evening. It was so delicate I was afraid that it would crush if I put it in my bag.
Chris saw the rust piece & instantly I just had to have it.

Rocks & Rain is rough and a perfect fitting for my Irish piece. Everything except the rust has been encased in encaustic wax. It was the first time I had been in the studio in about seven weeks. I was completely in a zone & afraid to leave even to eat for fear that the moment would end.

Acceptance

My Istanbul piece has been accepted into this years Fibrations show in Burlington, Ontario. I actually thought it was bad luck when my submission came back as #001. That meant that I was the very first person to enter a piece. For once in my life I wasn't waiting until the last minute & it worked out for me.

I finally finished this piece on my bench & had enough time to clean up the studio. It's time to get into some fabric....

I haven't named it & not sure a name will be coming. I fell in love with this piece of bark with its wonderful moss & orange speckling. I actually think I collected it over the winter snow shoeing on Many-Hues badlands.
The cicada was given to me by a co-worker who actually doesn't like bugs at all. The wax worked wonderful & didn't damage the delicate wings when dipped.  A very impressive bug indeed.

Encaustic over Plaster

Plaster all started because of a new book I purchased called "Plaster Studio" by Stephanie Lee and Judy Wise. My husband sent me the link thinking that I would enjoy it and he was right. If you're interested, take a look at this YouTube video.

I still have not discovered a way to get good photos of my encaustic work. There is always a shine spot & no matter how hard I try I can't seem to figure it out. I guess I need some photography lessons.
 

I was hooked as soon as I saw that they were showing techniques in the book using encaustic medium. This is my first piece exploring with plaster. I really love the texture but its damn messy stuff. I haven't been able to bring out fabric in my studio while any plaster is in the works. Oh...if only I had a studio conducive to my eclectic ways....with work stations to fix my artistic appetite.