I’m happy to be the first in a series of guest bloggers here on The Bee Team Blog!  I’m so impressed by the amount of energy and talent that has shown itself here over the past year and look forward to seeing what everyone else has to share in the coming months (if you haven’t blogged before here is your chance to give it a whirl!).

I recently received an inquiry from a client in Alaska.  She wanted to know if the encaustic piece she purchased would survive if she were to leave it hanging on the wall of her house if she left for a few weeks and turned off the heat.  She mentioned that when she does this she drains the pipes etc…as the temperature in the house goes well below zero but mentioned that no one would be touching the piece.  As an experiment I took a small piece and put it in my freezer for a week and then took it out and hung it on the wall. What I found was that the piece was totally fine (no bloom, cracking or changes).  If anyone out there has any experience with extreme cold and encaustics I’d love to hear from you….

Next I’d like to share a bit of work by Patricia Seggebruch (author of Embracing Encaustics).  I found this blog entry inspiring, amusing and intriguing.  The idea of using found and household items and coating the wax in such a luscious way over them has led me down a whole new path with one of my larger pieces….hmmm.  What are you layering into your pieces lately?  

And lastly,  I want to share the joy of the documentary “Herb and Dorothy” which is being screened around the country.  I’m trying to figure out how I can make it to one of the screenings ( I’ve read many stories about this couple in the paper but hearing their story in their own voices would be awesome. Their story is so facinating and speaks to my belief that original art is accesible to us all…it’s knowing what you like and making it a priority.

Oh and- a special thanks to Melissa for my extra special package ( I love, love, love all three)!

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next monday to share some new works in progress…

Beth