Jaime Lyerly Art : beeswax

Showing posts with label beeswax. Show all posts

Friday, July 30, 2010

Luminous Layers: Exploring Contemporary Encaustic - Video by Linda Womack

Finally! A great video which shows the shows the versatility of encaustic (hot beeswax) painting and sculpture by contemporary artists.

The video below is by Embracing Encaustic author Linda Womack who was also the curator of the Luminous Layers: Exploring Contemporary Encaustic at the Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts in Oregon.

The show is now closed, but you can get a peek at the work in the video below.

I personally love the sculptural encaustic works, and I am dying to find out the name of the artists. Since 3-D encaustic is where I am working, it is great to find more artists who have "mastered" the techniques and are showing them out. When I get the name of the artists, I will be sure to share them!

So how about you? What is your favorite work in this video? Share in the comments below.

Luminous Layers: Exploring Contemporary Encaustic Video

You can read more about the Luminous Layers show on Linda Womack's Embracing Encaustic blog.

I love encaustic! ~ Jaime Lyerly

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Image of the Week - Petah Coyne

Since one of my jobs is to share information, I am going to start an Image of the Week which will include less of my words and more art.

These images will be from artists I have come across during my web searches, readings, classes, artistic research and more.

All of the images have moved me, but I will let them stand on their own without my WHY. I will include the source so that you can check out more.

First Image of the Week - Petah Coyne

Petah Coyne, Untitled #875S-96/7 (Atlanta Gal), 1996–97, mixed media, 67 1/2×55 x 38”.
Courtesy of Galerie Lelong, New York.

More about Petah Coyne's work can be found in this interview by Lynne Tillman from Bomb Magazine.

Moved to share? Please do! I would love to hear your comments.
~Jaime Lyerly

Monday, March 8, 2010

Casting a wide (and waxed) net. Another step in my artistic journey.

One of the pieces that I entered today in the SDSU juried student art exhibition.

I find out tomorrow if it is chosen for the exhibition.

I think am finally earning my assumed title of emerging artist.

One of my goals for this year is to get my art work out of my house and into some local and national art shows.

I make and make and make stuff. Some could be called art. Some is not.
Sometimes I blog about it.
Sometimes I take pictures of it and post them.
Sometimes I bring them to my sculpture critiques.
.... But mostly, I make stuff because I am compelled to do it.

After all this creating, some of it is turns out to be something I want others to see.

Most of them are encaustic, and since that is my niche, that is what I want to show out.

A few weeks ago, I submitted work to: Luminous Layers: Exploring Contemporary Encaustic
which is an special encaustic only show curated by Embracing Encaustic author Linda Womack
and today at the San Diego State University Student Exhibition.

I have also applied for two scholarships: the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts "Encaustic Comprehensive workshop" and the Golden Key Visual Arts Scholarship. I have two more scholarships I am applying for, which are both due within the next two weeks.

Why am I listing this all here?

It is to remind myself (and my readers who may have forgotten) that it takes effort to get art work into the world and to find creative ways to fund our education.

Sure, I would love someone just to throw some money my way, or to come to my house and buy art from me there, but I am not going to hold my breath.

But I am making the effort now. Add this to my regular school, work, family and volunteer activities, my under-eye circles may be a little darker than usual.

Will I get into the shows?
Win the scholarships?
Will more people be interested in my work?
Will I get some solid sleep?

Maybe all of the above. Maybe none of the above.

But I am casting a wide net to try to capture opportunities before they pass.

And that is another step along my journey towards living an artful life. ~Jaime Lyerly

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Back from the San Diego Women's Caucus for Art Retreat!

See my encaustic paintings here.

Just a short note to let you all know that I am back from the San Diego Women's Caucus for Art Annual Retreat, which was last weekend, November 13 - 15, 2009.

I have lots of pictures and stories to tell (don't worry - nothing embarrassing for the wine-drinking ladies,) but this is a super busy week for me with something scheduled everyday and I won't get to them until probably Sunday.

Since this retreat is for women only (because of the close sleeping quarters), it had an abundance of feminine energy, which is similar to my monthly San Diego Women's Drum Circle. However, I have never spent a weekend devoted solely to making art, meeting new people and being out in nature before. Usually, I am trapped inside with my school books (Japanese is killing me....) and spend what little time I have outside of that with my partner Chris and almost 13 year old son, Xen. I couldn't even tell you the last time I had been alone, which is a sad fact in itself. Although I did attend Ellen Benefatti's Healing Family Constellation Workshop on Friday, I have to admit that I left early during Judi Burnett's Portrait Painting Workshop so that I could be alone outside in nature. I sat on a fallen tree branch and wrote in my journal for a hour, before heading off to lunch and then to teach my afternoon workshop. More about these workshops and pictures later.

After a relaxing lunch of mushroom risotto, I came back to set up to teach Encaustic Painting Technique on Saturday afternoon. My workshop went very well, although I am not sure how many people I converted to ways of the wax, yet. We set up the stations outside to keep the smell away from the more sensitive members, and to be outside. What I wasn't counting on was how quickly the sun would go down and how cold it would get! The pictures look like I gave this workshop in Alaska, instead of Julian, California in November. The winter gear and people huddled around the heat guns will give you a hint of the weather change for all of us.

It was an amazing weekend and I look forward to sharing more about the workshops and activities, as well as the stories and general fun we had this weekend. Missing this year's retreat? You can come next year! It is an annual retreat, and while this was my first year going, I know it will not be my last.

Until then, why don't you join us in the WCA/SD Facebook Group page? I am trying to get all the members, prospective members and people who just want to know what we are doing to join this group. You can post your events to our wall, and know that you have an audience that is active in the San Diego Arts community. Share with your friends! They need to be a part of this too.

Happy art-making! ~ Jaime Lyerly

Monday, November 9, 2009

Encaustic Sculpture Experiments - In Progress Wax Works by Jaime Lyerly

Three pounds of beeswax in cold pan. "Warm it up, Jaim!" "I'm about to!"

It has been a busy weekend preparing to teach Encaustic Technique at the San Diego Women's Caucus for Art Retreat this weekend, November 13-15, 2009 at Camp Stevens in Julian, CA.

I admit that I haven't been doing encaustic often within the last month because of my super busy school schedule and the fact that it has been 90+ degrees during the day! But now that it has finally cooled off here in San Diego, I couldn't resist doing some wax experiments even though I was supposed to be preparing medium for the retreat.

Preparing about 7 lbs of encaustic wax medium was one of my goals this weekend. This should have been the final result. Pretty cakes of clear medium cooling. This image was taken when I was making encaustic medium for the Escondido Municipal Gallery Workshop in July 2009.

Saturday started off just fine with me melting 4 lbs of wax in my pan. It seems so good! (We need smell-a-vision screens for this blog post!)

However as it melted, and I added the damar resin to harden it, the urge to USE the wax instead letting it melt overcame me. I thought about all I had been doing recently without my wax. I have been knitting and knotting fabric and rope pieces to be dipped in wax for my Art Actions. I won some fabrics from artist Carolyn Brown Sadowski. I have some vintage books pages that needed to be waxed, and some more books that my friend Starry just gave me. I rationalized that I haven't turned on my wax in a month and that I NEEDED to wax just a few things to get back into the swing of working with wax to teach at the retreat...

It was a lie.

I WANTED to use the wax for myself. So I did.

I ripped up a vintage book and tossed the pages in the beeswax bath. The damar that I put in was melting and sticky. I soaked these papers. I also dipped individual pieces of paper and shaped them. It was fun to experiment and get messy with the wax.

After experimenting with the paper, I took out the fabric pieces. Dipping materials, especially things like fabric uses A LOT of wax. As I was dipping the fabric pieces, some of them made a sizzling noise. This tells me that there was probably a synthetic material in the fabric that had a lower burning temperature than my wax does. But these are all experiments; so I share my knowledge with you. If it sizzles, it is too hot! You knew that right?

Even though I burns some of the fabrics, they turned out more interesting than I expected after only one trip to the wax bath. They look like leather and I think they are so cool. The images are not the best, but they give you a taste of what they are like. Check them out below.

The last image I only covered partially in wax, which kept some of the original coloring while shaping the piece. I am not in love with these pieces, yet, but I am intrigued enough with them to ask for a second date.

One thing I know about them is that they need a place to hang out and lots more friends! I plan to do more experiments soon, but this time without any guilt of what I SHOULD be doing.

Warning: for all of you ready to start dipping object in wax - it "taints" or "dirties" your wax. The wax that I used for these items was clear refined beeswax. Now it is brownish yellow. Not a big loss, since now it has been labeled "collage wax."

After pouring my collage wax into the muffin pans, I cleaned out the pan and put in fresh pounds of beeswax and made some medium. Here they are cooling in their mini muffin pan.

So I ended up making about 3 lbs of encaustic medium for the retreat and will finish making the medium later this week.

I am so excited to teach this weekend! It will be a full house, but I hope each student will get a taste of working in this exciting medium. I never tire about explaining, showing and working in encaustic.

For those of you not coming to the retreat, I will have some pictures up for you to experience it online. Let me know what you want me to post on my blog. I aim to please!

Until then, happy experimenting! Enjoy the journey! ~ Jaime Lyerly

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Art Marketing tip - Facebook fan pages: what, why, and how

Facebook Fan Pages got you confused? You are not alone. Get all the details about Facebook Fan pages by Artist Lisa Call forwarded from the Art Biz Coach in this informative and easy to read article.

Facebook fan pages: what, why, and how

Posted using ShareThis

I have a Facebook Fan page for my own art, but as the article states, it doesn't show the notifications if anyone posts on the fan page. Therefore, I have to remember to check and see if anyone commented on my work. I have been promising pictures of my wood project as a work in progress, and now it is almost complete. I just need to add some hardware to the back of the piece, and finally call it done. So you may not get a work in progress, but you will get to see start to finish on it via pictures. I also post more pictures of studio working shots on my fan page than I do on my blog or personal Facebook page.

There are not clear and distinct lines drawn for my personal Facebook page and my Fan page. I post lots of calls to artists and art marketing tips on my personal page. My blog feeds to both pages. The reason to have a Fan page for me is that it is the only place on Facebook that is ONLY about my art and art related activities. I also run a Fan follower drawing just like I do on this blog.

I do complaining about my schedule, talking about life, silly quizzes and general chit-chatting on my personal page. I talk about my art and interact with people interested in my art on both pages. But only on my fan page to I do fan drawings and post more studio pictures. So to paraphrase the article, become my fan to learn more about my art; friend me on my personal page to see the whole me.

Your Turn:
Do you already have a Facebook Fan page? If so, how do you distinguish it from a personal page? Drawings? Special for fans only drawings? More pictures? Video? I would love to hear your ideas on what makes a Fan page special. When you have created a Facebook Fan page, send me a request to become your fan!

Until then, Happy art and Fan page making! ~ Jaime Lyerly

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Encaustic Sculpture & Art Marketing Action: Get your art out of the studio

3-D encaustic sculpture, detail view, © 2009 Jaime Lyerly
To see more of these encaustic sculptures, click on the link.

As I face another busy day today of work, classes, art and family, I have to share this article from the Art Biz Coach that, again, reminds me to get those pieces collecting dust out of the house.

As for putting this action tip into practice, I am working on it! I just submitted to the Women Made Gallery last week for a encaustic show in November. I also am going to submit to the Conrad Wilde Gallery for their 12 X 12 inch painting show (deadline is October 1, 2009). Locally, I am working on getting a space in one of the galleries at SDSU with two fantastic and innovative artists, Debra London and Julie Kitterman, for at least a few days. We are submitting a proposal, images and a group artist statement, which will go through a committee to decide if we are gallery-worthy. Wish me luck!

The image above is for a particular set of 3-D encaustic sculptures that I would love to get out into the public eye. Unfortunately, the fact that they should be viewed in a darkened room with a strong spot light where you can see the cast shadows limits where they can be viewed. If I can get the group show that we are proposing, then they will be shown there because we will be curating the show ourselves. Other than that, I would need a solo show - which is not yet going to happen. So, these will have to collect dust for a little while longer. How about your art?

Here is the article that you need to read:

Art Marketing Action: Get your art out of the studio

Posted using ShareThis

Your Turn:
How about you? Any shows that you are applying for or places that you are arranging to show your art? Anything unconventional counts too - coffee shops, doctor's offices or friends' houses. I would love to hear it and celebrate your successes!

Happy Art-making! ~ Jaime Lyerly

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Embedding String in Beeswax Video

"Stories -1," Encaustic, beeswax, string and collage on 12 x 12 x 1.5 in panel
© 2009 Jaime Lyerly

I am working on making my own tutorial videos on sculptural encaustic painting. However, I do not want to repeat what is already out there. So rather than fill up YouTube with stuff that already exists, I have been searching to find out what is already on there in the way of encaustic painting and sculpture. I have been amazed by some of the videos I have found and need to share them here with you. Once I know where the information gap is in encaustic, I will eventually fill it with my own videos. But until then, here is a gem from my diligent research!

This video is from Patricia Baldwin Seggebruch, author of Encaustic Workshop: Artistic Techniques for Working in Wax. Her book is a great way to get step by step directions on how to start in encaustic. My favorite parts of her book are the sections called "Lay it on" and "Break the Rules." "Lay it on" is about collage and embedding, and "Break the Rules" is about using other mediums than you would not expect with to be compatible with encaustic (such as watercolor and shellac burns).

The video below is about embedding fibers into encaustic. This is one of my favorite things to do in encaustic. If you have been checking out my blog, you see that I don't often "just paint" in encaustic (you can see my "just painting" in encaustics here). I usually collage, embedded, texturize and sculpt my encaustic and beeswax. String and fibers are amazing to work with and if you haven't tried to add them to your encaustic beeswax paintings, now is the time!

After watching the video, you can check out my own work that is related. Here is a link to a blog post that I did of Mixed Media Encaustic Sculptural Paintings a few months ago. These were obviously done way before I found this video, but the general idea of creating depth through embedding of string is the same. I love this particular variegated, maroonish-red fiber so much that I used it to create my free-hanging 3-D encaustic sculptures. I hope these inspire you to add some fiber to your own work. Enjoy!

Happy Art-making! ~ Jaime Lyerly

Thursday, August 6, 2009

More Encaustic Paintings by Jaime Lyerly - In Progress

Encaustic Paintings in Progress, 6x6x1.5in board, © 2009 Jaime Lyerly

Since I enjoyed showing my encaustic paintings that I did this Friday, I decided to share some more today. Not much time to work on these today; but they will give you an idea of how time consuming it is to layer the encaustic wax. I started these paintings on Sunday. There are only about 2-3 layers on each one.

Here is today's progress:

As you can see, I only added a few more layers to each one of the paintings. They will need to cool before I can add more to them.

Finally, here is a painting that I just started today with adding a few more layers of clear medium to the pre-waxed board. After fusing the extra layers, I used a tool to push circles into the warm (not hot) wax. Once it cools, I will fill in the circles with a light glaze of oil stick.

I hope you enjoyed my work in progress. To see more of my encaustic paintings and sculpture and encaustic process click on the links.

Happy Art making! ~ Jaime Lyerly

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Encaustic Paintings by Jaime Lyerly - Process

It was a productive weekend! I spent many hours on Friday in 90+ degree weather working on encaustic (hot wax) paintings. In the beginning, each time I turned on the heat gun to fuse my layers of wax, I thought "wow, I must be crazy to do this in the summer." But the wax would flow so nicely and beg me to put more layers and I quieted that inner voice with a steady stream of music on my mp3 player. Thus these 6x6" paintings came into existence despite the heat of the day.

So I am here to share the process of how they were made. The weekend of the 25th, I spent a Saturday teaching a Basic Encaustic Painting Workshop at the Escondido Municipal Gallery. It was an amazing experience for me. I love to be able to share my knowledge of encaustic and to show people the versatility and potential of this medium. Watching people who have never worked in hot wax tentatively layer on their first coats and fuse it reminded me of my own first explorations with the medium.

So this weekend, I challenged myself to just paint. Not carve, not embed, not collage - just paint. These little paintings are the results. Some are more finished than others, but they are all purely encaustic paintings. I have documented the process of a few of the paintings to show their progress, and images of other paintings done on the same day are included.

I started with 6 x 6 x1.5" Studio Gallery Panel cradled Blick Studio Artists' Boards, that I had already pre-waxed with two layers of refined beeswax. Some of the wax on the boards were applied roughly but thoroughly, which leads to an inherit texture to start the painting. I like to begin with texture and work color into it. The layers of wax need time to cool if they are applied thickly, so I work on multiple paintings at the time (see the set up shot above).

Here is the first one, with its' progress numbered.

1. Paint was dropped into dots and flicked from the brush onto a pre-waxed panel, and fused lightly with a heat gun

2. More layers of encaustic paint are added, fusing in between each layer. Drops of Indian Yellow highlight the texture of the piece. The texture is also muted and emphasized by the layers of encaustic medium brushed and fused on top.

3. More layers of encaustic wax medium are added and left to cool. A red spiral is added and fused. Other colors are mixed on the hot griddle and are added to the stripe. Here is the finished painting.

4. Here is a detail of the brushwork, texture and dots.

Onto the second one, with its' progress numbered. I did not take a photo of the first few strokes of color.

1. Dots of color (blues and greens) are dripped onto the board, fused and allowed to cool. The entire surface is covered with Indian Yellow encaustic paint, applied with a dry brush.

2. Blue is added and fused. Clear encaustic medium is added in layers to subdue the colors.

3. The board is flipped to put the yellow on the bottom. Ultramarine blue and a cool red are applied in layers and fused until they move the Indian Yellow into swirls. The texture is emphasized by application of red only to highest ridges of the texture. Fusing it again moves the wax into the hollows. Here is the finished painting.

Here are two more paintings which show in progress shots and the finished work.

These next two painting were made by pouring the wax onto the board, fusing it and painting on top when it cooled. Of all the paintings, I think these two are the most "unfinished." They do have an interesting look.

Finally, the last five paintings done on Friday, all with varying textures and colors.

Your Turn:
I would love to hear your opinions about these works and the telling of the process. Too much description? Not enough pictures? It is all about the journey of making art, so I am open to suggestions on how to share my journey. Artists, Do you post in progress pictures? If so, let me know! I would love to see your process.

Happy Art making! Enjoy the journey! ~ Jaime Lyerly

Monday, August 3, 2009

Encaustic Painting Workshop by Jaime Lyerly Photos

As promised, here are some photos from my Encaustic Painting Workshop by Jaime Lyerly on July 25, 2009 at the Escondido Municipal Gallery in Escondido, California.

Overall, the workshop went great! Thanks to all the participates who braved the heat (hot wax and heat guns in July!) to try out this new medium. They were fearlessly applying hot wax, carving, collaging and embedding items the entire time. Thanks to Escondido Municipal Gallery for hosting this event. It was an unique learning experience for all involved.

Here are photographs of the participates working at the three different stations - painting, collage and medium station.

Next time, why don't you join me? I am always looking for new places to teach my love of encaustic wax working and find new people who want to try out this "hot" new way of working!

Happy Art Making! ~ Jaime Lyerly