A look into the hive…

Meet Amy Keller fromBumble Belly Designs………….

Tell us a bit about yourself.

 
I am a professional photographer by trade.  My husband and I have
been a team for close to 13 years.  However, with
the birth of our 2 children (now 6 and 2)  I have found that I am not
as free to travel to shoots and be there for the kids.  So I started
Bumble Belly Designs. 

How did you begin working in encaustics?

My husband and I were on a photo shoot and I was absolutely captivated
by some encaustic landscapes they had hanging on the wall.  I went
home and started researching painting with wax and discovered
encaustics. About 2 years later we were doing a shoot at a stylist
house and I saw she had a setup.  She shared her info and resources
and my wonderful hubby purchased a beginner set-up for me that
Christmas (2 years ago this Christmas).  It took a while, what with a
newborn and all but eventually I started to play with it.  My stylist
friend contacted me that summer to go to a workshop at Tracy Spadafora’s Studio
and that answered a lot of my early questions.

What do you find most rewarding about working in encaustics?

Encaustic has been a new lease for me.  I am drawn in by how light
plays through the wax.  I love it’s texture or how it can be made to
have a glass finish.  I love that it can be sculpted and that it is
responsive.  I tend to have an impatient streak and I like that I can
work quickly and have some tangible accomplishment at the end of a day
or two. 

Where do you find your inspiration for your work?

This is a loaded question for me right now.  This past year my
inspiration has been drawn from my children and my love of children’s
literature and illustration.  I continue to be inspired by these but
would like to start expressing myself and experimenting more with the
medium.  I have lived by the shore, in coastal New England, my whole
life and find such comfort in nature.  I love to travel and take
pictures.  My personal goal for this coming year is to bring these
more personal inspirations into my work. 

Do you plan your pieces before you start?

Almost always.  I sometime wish I  could just start to paint and let
whatever come out, but I am not as confident in the medium yet.  I
have started pieces and reached a point where I wish I had added a
layer earlier in the painting.  That’s not to say I am rigid in the
entire construction of a piece, I do find happy accidents and
discoveries. 

Explain a bit about your process of creating with encaustic.

Well, I do plan my pieces – sometimes using my computer to play with
layout ideas and sometimes by just physically laying things out on a
surface.  After pouring through my reams of ephemera, I will play with
elements as a sort of dry run and to help get the juices flowing.  I
use braced pine panels or claybord as my supports.  It depends on the
piece, but I may lay paper down first and then begin to paint over or
I may imbed pieces into the wax as I paint.  I do a  lot of transfers
as well, both laser print and ink-jet transfers.  Sometimes I’ll just
hit a block and not know how to finish a piece, so I’ll set it aside
and wait until it comes to me.

What types of supports do you use? Have you tried other supports
and/or substrates and if so, how did they work for you?

I do mainly work on braced pine panels and claybord.  I have collected
some beautiful driftwood, shells and rocks and have aspirations of
using them in my work.  I also hope to try plexiglas.  On our summer
camping trip (4 nights in a tent with the kiddos)  I brought along
some air dry clay for the kids to mess with if the weather was bad.  I
have plans to try incorporating small sculptures into some new pieces
as well. 

What is your favorite technique and why?

I’m not sure I know enough techniques to answer this question.  I have
some oil-bars on order and I can’t wait to start to play with those.
I suppose the one technique I rely on is laser transfers and somewhat
on ink-jet transfers (although these are much more tricky).  I will
also use my hot air gun for moving medium and an iron at times.  My
new toy is a batik writer that I will begin to incorporate into some
new pieces.

Earlier you mention that you enjoy sculpting with encaustic. Tell us a bit more about that.

Well, by “sculpted” I am talking about how the wax can be built up in areas and/or carved with tools.  Page 63 in Joanne Mattera’s book has a picture of a piece by Martin Kline called Green Bloom.  It illustrates how you can build up the wax and use its fast hardening quality as a sculpting technique.  One of my other “things to try” (and the list grows daily!)  is to try using silicon moulds to mould 3 dimensional wax pieces and add them to a piece.  I would love to know if anyone has tried this.

 

And transfers?

All of the black lines of the children illustrations are transfers (the girl with the balloon and the two children looking skyward).  The red balloon and the girls coat, hair, face, rosy cheek, are all painted with pigmented wax.These are laser  transfers.  I have found that vellum is the best transfer medium for me.  I’m not sure if there is a wax component to the paper or some kind of

 

Tell us a bit about your studio and the atmosphere when you create.
Do you have a ritual or something you do before you begin or while you
are creating?

I have commandeered the sun room.  It’s just off the living room so if
I need to, I can keep a watch on the kids.  I can see the backyard
from there as well.  There is a ton of light and my waxes can be right
next to a fan in the window for great ventilation.  It is full to the
brim with odds and ends that I have collected – either as inspiration
or to eventually incorporate into my work.  I wish I could be more
organized – I try but I tend to work right up until the very minute my
son gets off the bus or I need to pick my daughter up.
My ritual is to make lunches in the morning and get the kids off to
school and then it is gangbusters until they get home.  My computer is
in the basement so I may be down there while my waxes melt and then
I’ll come up to paint.  I use my dining room for any sewing projects
(my Old Macdonald Pillows) so basically my house is often in a “state
of craft”:) 

Do you have a favorite artist?  If so, who and what do you like about them?

This is a difficult question.  I’m not sure I have one favorite
artist.  I am drawn in by color and form, strong narrative and
emotion.  When I first started to investigate encaustics I came across
Fawn Potash. I love her use of encaustics and photography and would love to attend
one of her workshops some day. 

Do you have any advice for an artist that is just starting to use
encaustic medium?

Beware it is addictive!   The internet is a great resource for
finding supplies and proper handling of the medium.  I’m a stickler
about safety, especially because of the kids.  There is also a series
of videos that Kathryn Bevier has produce and put on youtube.  I love any
chance I get to watch other artists work.  My early bible was Joanne
Mattera’s “The Art of Encaustic Painting”.  It is loaded with
information and inspiration. 

Do you have some advice you can give us on having a successful Etsy Store?

First, I will say that success is different for everyone.  I have done
some reading in the forums to try to figure this out and what I have
found is that you have to promote yourself.  Now, I’m not that good at
it.   I will re-list items to keep something from my shop fresh in the
lists but I need to start a blog and website this year.  I really
don’t know much about the blogosphere but I figure slowly I will catch
on.  I am trying to educate myself on the web communities that are out
there.  I’m hoping to learn all I can from my fellow bees   Go Go
Bee Team!!

Amy’s Etsy Store Bumble Belly Design

A peak into Amy’s studio.