I held crayons and drew before I could hold a pencil. My formal training began in high school then UC Berkeley, where I graduated with a degree in fine arts. Life happened, After marriage and children, I went to school at UCIrvine and UCLA enjoying working with children. I infused my curriculum with art. Then one day I took an Encaustics class, the smell of beeswax and Damar resin seduced me. The depth I could get by layering and fusing thing layers of silk and handmade papers I had ecodyed. Amazing!
Rust Reborn
Rust Reborn
Mixed Media
I learned so much while working on this piece. I hand Eco dyed habitai silk with natural pigment. When that was set I picked through a junk yard looking for wonderful rusty shapes and bits. The transfer process is achieved using large sheets of plastic layered with my dyed silk, sprayed heavily with vinegar and sett with the rusty bits then covered with leftover silk and plastic. It takes about 4 hours for the transferring to occur depending on the heat and amount of sunlight. Then I simply rinse the vinegar out of the silk and let the shapes Ive created speak to me as to how to integrate them into my encaustic pieces and embellish with oil pigment sticks encaustic paint and wax pencils. All with heat fused layers of wax between. It's magic.
Embrace the Wiggles
Embrace the Wiggles
Mixed Media
Vineyards in Winter
Vineyards in Winter
Mixed Media
A wet winter week in Graton. Exploring Eco dying on habitai silk and steaming color transfers of natural and man made found materials . Painting with natural fiber in ink on mulberry paper. The mulberry leaves only the marks behind when the encaustic medium met the paper on the painting. Magic still!