I used gold in the backiground...very interesting...it behaves differently..the other waxes melt at 180 degrees...gold needs 200

so this is sometimes how I decide to create a composition...I did not crop this photo ---see the gray? well, I think this would make an interesting painting later ...maybe with circles in that gray?

Isn't this interesting shape-wise? I had a teacher once...carla O'Connor...a really wonderful teacher and friend...who taught that you must divide the edges of the
canvas with different shapes..works here I think

This was my first in the series and actually I was so excited with her that I decided to do the whole series

needed some blue flowers...used to not like blue flowers (I thought) now I can't get enough of them in my garden..delphenium/plumbago/larkspur

so down the road from our home in North Carolina is a guy who grows dahlias...lots and lots...and he has red dahlias that are just so very exciting...I like doing the flowers close up mostly...but then do some multiples for the overall piece

gives me chills

so...every painting I am thinking about the whole piece of 64 (or 36 if I get too tired of flowers) and so keep switching colors/backgrounds/shapes

I love the lavender!

the other good thing about doing a series and working small is that I can experiement freely...I mean, who really gets worried about a 1'x1' painting? But I am going to make this into a larger painting..I have a 30"x30" cradled encaustic board that I think I* will try...will keep you posted...when I first started encaustics I was taught with crayons...do you know how many white crayons this would take? and you have to buy a box of 8 for one....soooo..this is with R&F encaustics...way more expensive but easier

what I love about flowers is they give you a chance to go wild!!! ever think about a flower? they are so abstract in their very nature..and so very different

hmmmmmmm.

YUP it really is this beautiful...thought I'd do a green piece...those are curled up ferns

delicious WAX

I love the green in this!

I love this one...it has lots of movement! allof these are very different from what I have been doing in encaustics...I did a whole previous series with lots of texture...these are smooth as a baby's cheek

so I wish I knew how to rotate this baby...but I guess you can figure it out

two lips

a purple hibiscus!!

this is really upside down but I think it is still interesting..use your imagination

so much fun

soo what kind of flower is this? that is the point!...it is WAX!!! not a flower..just teasing...

oooo a bit blurry...sorry

now I am really excited about this new series I have been working on...each of these pieces are on 12"x12" cradled encaustic board...my vision is to do 64...so to be hung together on an 8 foot x 8 foot wall...so far I have done 36...I am gettin a little petered out...I have them laying on my garage floor so that is why this is from a strange angle..but they are pretty fresh and exciting...it is great working on a series...I know what I am going to paint when I wake up!! so the following 36 pictures are each of these...buckle down

so what happened to the origial 2'x2' encaustic painting that I truly loved? well, I put her outside to photograph and LEFT HER OUT! this is a no-no in the Florida Sun...she is a lot like me in direct heat and sunlight...wrinkles and melting! so a HUGE lesson in encaustic care....DO NOT PUT IN DIRECT SUNLIGHT EVER!!! Encaustics melt at 200 degrees so must never be put in a window or left outside in say like a box or a car...I was able to 'repair' but not back to the original...maybe she is better!