I’ve got a show coming up in three weeks. THREE WEEKS! Pause here to breathe into a paper bag, in case you’re getting anxious for me. And you might be if you saw what I did in the studio today.

Because today I gave myself permission to get in there and make a mess. Push the envelope. Practice some of the new stuff I’m learning in Judy’s class. I gave myself permission to make nothing. NOTHING. Just experiment.

I took a 6″X6″ board. Covered it with wax one way. Scraped most of it off. Covered it another way. Scraped most of that off. Scribbled on it with chalk pastel, water crayons, charcoal. Cut up an old art history book and made a transfer of a painting I should know the name of. Covered it all with more wax. Scraped a whole bunch of that off.

At the end of the day I figured I should have something to show for the day–besides the bucket of wax scrapings, that is. So I went back into my comfort zone and threw together something I was happy with.

Except I didn’t like the surface. It was too uneven. Not uneven in a deliberate way (part of it was that). Uneven in a sloppy way.

So I decided to try something I never did before…a wax pour.

I constructed a barrier… (fuzzy photo alert!)

and poured the wax. A bit too much. But it was even, oh yes it was. And thick as cream cheese on a bagel. When I left the studio it was still white. We’ll see how it looks tomorrow but I suspect there’ll be more scraping involved. But if it was cream cheese…ahh, I’d be in heaven.

I had another piece similar to this that I made last week. I decided to do another pour, this time with no barrier. Look at this carefully because I want you to compare it with the final product.

I propped it ever so slightly over a spoon so the hot wax would have a direction to flow. Then I poured. This time I did it right–imagine that!

I added just a touch of gold leaf to highlight the depth of the wax. It’s not the best photo but you can see what I mean. This is what I love about encaustic!