The rest of you gather ’round. I’ve got something to show you. Check this sucker out.
Wheeeeew… that’s one BIG honkin’ spider! Found him on my front porch this evening. Told him it was too early for Trick or Treat. And I ate all the candy anyway. He said he’d take cash. Told him I had no cash. He said he’d take plastic.
So I gave it to him.
I woke up in the middle of the night, dog must’ve woofed or sumthin’. Not a totally unheard of event, living in the country. A lot of distractions going on outside in the big woods. Four legged distractions. Sophie in particular fancies herself a watchdog. Twelve pounds of Maltipoo vs. the wild beasts.
Bean tends to sleep through it all. Most nights I roll over, stuff a pillow over my head and go back to sleep.
But last night was different. I was in the middle of a dream. And there was a blowtorch involved. Which meant I was making art, doing the encaustic dance in my sleep.
I lay there thinking about that. About sleep as a means of recharging and refreshing and yet here I was carrying on the activities of the day on a whole ‘nother level.
As I write this many hours later, I have no memory of the the dream itself, of the content. But I still see the image I woke up with, the torch in my hand, the flame on the wax.
And I’m thinking it’s a good thing I don’t sleepwalk. And if I ever did, there’s a couple of locked doors and a gauntlet of wild beasties between me and that torch.
Time to sit back and take a deep breath. In….Out…. Oh, that’s so much better.
Between building three websites, preparing for an upcoming show, working a day job AND taking an on-line encaustics class taught by the fantabulous Judy Wise, I’d say I’m stretched a bit thin–except my pants would say that’s a lie. They would say, “Umm, Susan? There ain’t nuthin’ thin about your butt.” And I would say, “STOOPID PANTS!!!” I hate being bossed around by denim, don’t you? So, on top of everything else, I’m exercising. Hard. Yoga. Pilates. Running absolutely nowhere on the eliptical. Every day something.
AND I’M LOVING IT!!!
I’m writing this post at 9 PM. And I’m tired. No, no–beyond tired. I’m exhausted, ready to crawl into bed and konk out. And it feels SO GOOD!
Because before I got back into exercising, I was busy from the time I got up in the morning–and I’m talking early AM, to the time I went to bed ALWAYS after midnight. Sometimes hours after midnight. And when I finally went to bed I couldn’t sleep. I was tired-wired.
Exercise. Movin’ my body. It’s a good thing.
Or, as the French would say….
Another prep day in Studio Grande, making encaustic wax medium. Which is basically beeswax and damar resin crystals magically melted together with much hocus pocus and chanting of spells. Bats flying around the room and everything.
Oh, sorry…Halloween. That time of year, you know, and I’ve been pretesting the candy. Mini-Reeses. Oh yum…. Now back to encaustic medium.
I learned how to make my own today in Judy Wise’s Hot Wax on-line class.
It’s killer expensive when you buy it ready made in stores. Roughly about the same price per ounce as gold. Which is why encaustic artists are all independently wealthy, every one of ’em. Don’t believe me? Well, you shouldn’t because I’m lying to make a point exaggerating a little. But just a little. Check out the photo.
See that thing in the middle, that little bitty microscopic tin of wax—that’s commercially prepared encaustic medium. And that little thing cost as much as all those other BIG, FAT. ROBUST cakes of homemade medium combined. And mine were made with love. Because I loves me my wax. Seriously, do you think wax factories do ruffles?
Here are some others I added oil paint or powdered pigment to, although it looks like there are still three virgins in the crowd, right there in the middle.
The four in the front, the ones that look kind of boring, are anything but. Those are magic shimmer and shine interference colors. The ones that look white–one is shimmery gold. The other is shimmery, just shimmery.
Here’s a close up. This one is red/blue. I can’t wait to see what it does in a painting.
Heavy on the carbs tonight and now I’m nodding off to Z-Land. Or maybe it was the yoga with weights DVD I did this evening, which happens to be my new favorite workout. Comes with cool little weights and a foam prop and it’s even on sale. No one is paying me to say this either, just my thighs. Which are screaming, by the way.
Or maybe I’m tired because I was in cleaning mode all day. Got half the studio done, the room where I make my boards and paint. Thought that was the most logical place to start since I had boards to make. And plaster. And/or gesso. The boring-but-gots-to-be-done prep work before painting.
Normal people reading this are probably thinking what the —? It’ just a bunch of unArt. There’s nothing there but white stuff. Please, don’t think of it that way. Think of it as…possibilities. As masterpieces waiting to happen. And then raise your hand, jump up and down and say, “Oh! Oh! I WANT one of those when it’s done!!!”
And FYI, Art Peeps? There’s MORE of these in the wax room! But I’m not going to show you the wax room right now because it’s such a mess. It will be cleaned tomorrow, so I can get down to business with Judy Wise’s new encaustic class.
One more photo before I trundle off to bed.
More magic waiting to happen.