Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Holiday?



Handbuilt plaster bowl, 13.5"
Shellac, Panpastel, encaustic medium
~~~~~

Happy 4th of July!
I should be taking the day off,
but...
I'm picking up my studio.
What a mess!
Crap Art supplies, boards, canvases all over the floor.
Tripping hazard for a klutz like me.
Why am I saving all this stuff I don't use?
You've done that right?
Bought stuff thinking this was it, the "thing",
the "thing" that was going to make a difference in your art practice.
Only to find out is was only 'eh...
For over 20 years, I've been trying different medium.
It's been interesting, fun, exhilarating, eye opening
learning how to do.  Mostly, once you learn basic techniques,
you find out quickly that while it's interesting to learn,
sometimes it just doesn't click.
Do you get overwhelmed by too many art supplies,
too many choices?
Yeah, me too.
I'm narrowing my focus.
I will still probably take me a long time to get down to basic materials,
but I know I'm getting closer.

~~~
A few Shellac, pastel and encaustic medium pieces in the works.
Photos to come.

~~~

A memory came flooding back out of no where.
Of a row boat I had when I was in 4th grade.
Long time ago.
I made one out of heavy paper,
tacked it together with linen thread,
covered it in encaustic medium.


Paper, linen thread, encaustic medium
15 x 6

 Love my little row boat.

4 comments:

Jeane Myers said...

wow, it must be in the air, purging that is!! your little boat is magical - just wonderful xo

Judy Shreve said...

Chris - I love your pieces - the plaster bowl is fabulous and the little boat does seem magical -
I agree about buying too many art supplies and getting side-tracked by so many ideas to try. Packing up my studio these last few weeks really pointed that out for me! Plus my new studio is about a fourth of the size. It feels good to purge! YAY - clean studios unite!

Chris said...

Hi Jeane, Besides the tripping issue, you were an inspiration for purging. Nice to have room to walk! Thank you, I'm enjoying the boat!

Hello Judy, Thank you so much, I seem to be painting less and making things more. I just loaded up on oil paint! Go figure. Hope you move goes smoothly and everything fits into your new digs!

jgr said...

Hi Chris,
I know what you mean, it's hard to resist the next great art supply and then . . . at the end of the day-I only have so much time to pursue things and (hopefully) become good at a few. I love the bowl and especially the scrumptious colors, and what a cool memory of your little boat.