Encaustics Raven Project

Here is another encaustic project. This one is an Edgar Allen Poe / Raven inspired theme. It features a raven transparency in the lower left corner, a section of the poem in the upper right, an image of a Poe novel in the near-center. It also has a raven charm and a tatting shuttle featured for additional embellishment. Gold Pearl-Ex covers inscribed circles in the lower right. The piece is 12" by 12" on wood.

My son, Jason, shares my love of all things Poe and this piece is dedicated to him.

Encaustic Experimentation

I took a class in Encaustics at Mystic Paper, a scrapbooking store in Mesa, and here is my finished project. We started with bare wood (a cheap 99 cent unfinished wood board from Walmart), put a light coating of encaustic (which in this case was plain melted beeswax) over the board with a paint brush and then added a transparency of the lady on the left. We then put on another layer of wax before adding the harlequin style stamping. the Paris and the crown are also transparencies that we put on as additional layers with the wax covering the images. On the lower right, you can see a heavier layer of the wax put on through punchinella (also known as sequin waste). Another relayer of the melted wax and then Pearl-Ex in a gold color has been brushed on the surface. Pearl Ex is the final topcoat and then once the piece has dried, you can buff with pantyhose to bring out the sheen.

www.mysticpaper.com

Grand Canyon Revisited

Another weekend at the Canyon. Beautiful Fall weather for photography and for walking the trails. What could be more peaceful or inspiring? First, lunch at El Tovar, the gourmet dining room, and next standing out in the air and admiring the strength and the stability of the ageless rocky formations... simply breathtaking.


Recovering from my heart event, I wasn't able to do the stairs to the top of the 70' structure called the Desert View Watchtower, but I did get hubby to go up and take a photo for me as I rested on a nearby picnic table. This photo from the upper ceilng inside was amazing. It's located on the South Rim. I'll need to go back and see it myself. I'm a fool for petroglyph-style decorations. Meanwhile, I'll have to do a small quilt about it and share it with all of you. It begs for quilting and with spoonflower.com, I can use this actual photo.

Meteor Crater Trip

We took a weekend excursion to see Meteor Crater, the site of the meteor crash near Flagstaff, AZ. Can you imagine that 20 football games can take place at the same time on the floor of the crater? Did you know that NASA has used this site as a training ground for their Apollo program? Meteor Crate is the first proven and best preserved impact site on Earth and has been designated a Natural Landmark by the Department of the Interior. It's like standing on the edge of the world peering at history. A worthwhile trip, I must say.  www.meteorcrater.com

Mixed Media Birthday Gift

Today is my birthday and I was presented with this stunning imagery piece created by my very creative friend, Ingrid.

Musical Instrument Museum

The Musical Instrument Museum provides an opportunity to learn about the music and musical instruments of many different cultures across the world. One of the brightest spots is The Experience Gallery, where visitors of all ages get to play many of the types of instruments on display elsewhere in the museum. The Artist Gallery is also a visual treat where photographs and memorabilia from world-renowned musicians are available for viewing. Also of note is the Cafe with it's own chef and staff who offer extraordinary global culinary delights and international and child-friendly options. The gift shop offers a wide variety of musical opportunities. A thumb piano similar to this board piano went home with me for met granddaughter, Zoe. It was wonderful to be surrounded by music in its many forms for the afternoon. I highly recommend  spending time at the Musical Instrument Museum in Scottsdale.  www.theMIM.org

A Visit to Mayo Clinic--Unplanned

Today was a day to be remembered...I had a heart attack and had to be rushed to Mayo Clinic-Scottsdale in the middle of the night. My many thanks to my "Angel in White", Dr. Chandra, who appeared at just the right moment and steered me through the rough waters and Dr. Alegria, cardiologists at Mayo for their life-saving efforts. They were truly heroic and me being here to write this blog is proof of that. Words cannot convey my gratitude for their personal attention.

Ken's Magazine Challenge

Our most recent challenge at Prickly Piecers, the local quilt guild, is based on a photo selected from a magazine. My envelope contained this image and the resulting small quilt I made was done with dupioni silk and sari silks. It is shown here.

Here is the exact wording of the Challenge, if you are interested in sharing it with your guild...

Choose an envelope. Make a quilted item (quilt, wall hanging, bag, runner; your choice; big or small as you'd like) using the colors in your photo from the magazine. You may use 2 colors, 3 colors, or all of them, your choice. Have fun and play with it. Bring your completed item and the photo you chose to the ___ meeting to show it off.  

Thanks to Ken Casey for providing this and many other challenges for our group.

Alicia's Kaleidoscope Quilt

Here is a photo of Alicia's quilt top from the Kool Kaleidoscope class I brought to her group.

Waxing ATC's

We took a class at Art Unraveled here in Phoenix on Encaustics and made ATC's. Artist's Trading Cards are wonderful little projects to work on. Look at the wax pots in this palette.