Image by BotheredByBees Flickr

Announcements:

1. Spring is Here!

With spring comes new life and rejuvenation, and hopefully, a new source of creativity! How has spring inspired you? Share with us what you’re working on here in the forums.

2.  Let’s Get Buzzing!

A hive of bees can’t function without all its members! Last week our meeting was canceled due to lack of attendance. Let’s get this team back up to speed by buzzing with participation. Hang out in the forums, contribute and article to the blog, brainstorm event ideas, add your buzz to the mix by commenting on the website, or volunteer your time to help out the team. These are just a few ways you can contribute. Email info@beeswaxteam.com if you have any ideas!

Thanks,

Kathryn and Melissa

Sail Boat on a Wavy Sea by Willav

Announcements:

Holiday Art Exchange!

Last year our team exchanged artwork “secret santa” style, and it was a hit! As the holidays approach, it’s time for us to get started on this year’s event. Each participating member will send and receive one encaustic piece as a surprise gift. Here are the guidelines:

• Email info@beeswaxteam.com with name and address by November 30.
• Create a 6″ x 6″ finished encaustic piece by December 10.
• In early December, you will receive the name/address of your “secret” artwork recipient.
• Mail artwork by December 10.
• Receive beautiful art.
• Take photo of yourself with beautiful art. Email photo and short writeup to info@beeswaxteam.com by January 10.

Once all submissions are received, we will post them to the website for everyone to enjoy. If you want to participate, email info@beeswaxteam.com by November 30!

It’s too bad there are only twelves spots available to feature our talented team. Did anyone else get a treasury this week?

Tranquility by Sue Simpson of Earthtonestudios

Announcements:

1. October’s Team Meeting:

As we’ve mentioned recently, we will be starting a monthly team leadership meeting to discuss ideas and direction for our team. This month, the meeting will take place in a group chat October 18 at 4 EST. All are welcome! We’d love your input. Let me know you’d like to join us, and I will send you the info when available!

2. Guest Bloggers Needed!

I’m sure you have noticed Beth’s first blog post as guest blogger on beeswaxteam.com. We’re on the lookout for other members to fill this role in the coming months! It only requires four posts, on each Monday, for a month. Let me know ASAP if you are interested in guest blogging.

Busy bees and waxaholics,

Kathryn and Melissa

And now, I give you a gallery of wonderful etsy items that celebrate our wonderful buzzy friend.

Clarity by TangledSkyStudio

Announcements:

1.  Upcoming podcasts:

We’ve been talking about ways to market yourself and your art online.  Want to join the conversation before our podcasts get launched?  Give us your input here.

2.  New Bees Knees:

Melissa has been posting about beekeeping and artists who work with the theme of bees.  Learn about an upcoming book “Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper” and more here.

Busy bees and waxaholics,

Shannon, Kathryn and Melissa

From Melissa Hronkin:

From Caterina Martinico:

I received a pattern piece and a nylon stocking from Shannon Newby.  At first I was totally at a loss for what to do, but then I began to make some personal connections with the stocking and some old photos of my mother who was quite a looker in her day.  I found several great vintage photos and the inspiration began to brew.  I used the nylon as a textural border around the cradled hardboard and a part of the pattern piece, which happened to be a pantie pattern as the basis of the piece.  From there I covered it all with encaustic medium and paint and did a photo transfer over the entire thing with a copy of the photo.  At first I was completed dis-satisfied but as I got into it I found the nylon a wonderful sculptural element and began to be totally engaged. It became part of my ongoing, developing series of ancestor icons.

From Shannon Newby:

Suitcase Heart, 10 x 10 x 3″ encaustic, mixed media on panel

I got a letter in the mail from my “secret BEE” with a cute note and my object challenge: a photocopy of a heart drawing.  I was intrigued and also relieved!   I have been doing a lot with hearts lately (anatomy drawings much like the one I received in the mail) so I was both overjoyed and excited to delve into the object challenge.  I started out with a chunky box painting I had done several weeks ago, but didn’t like the look of.  I kept the layers of green, black and milky white on the painting to give it depth, but fully intended to paint over it and give it an extreme makeover.  The heart drawing did just the trick!  After adding a few more layers of sea-foam green and an orange / pinkish color, I was ready to try the image transfer.  I wanted the transfer to be light and to really only give a starting point to the rest of the piece.  So I gently transferred parts of the heart (on the top part) of the piece.  Next, I took a sharpie and went to town adding lines, arrows, paper airplanes and a suitcase.  For my final layer, I added tissue paper dress patterns.  This softened the whole look of the piece.

I’m happy with the way this one turned out.  It was invigorating to get something in the mail and to be pushed to incorporate it into my work.  Lucky for me – hearts are popping up everywhere in my work – so this was a great fit for my current subject matter!

Thanks to my secret BEE for the inspiration for this new work, “Suitcase Heart.”  And thanks, Kathryn – for organizing this!  Sign me up to do this kind of challenge over and over again!  I feel like I grew a lot as an artist!  :)

From Veronique Latimer:

These two pieces, Wired (left) and Watchful Owl (right), were made collaging papers from Kathryn Dart.

From Kathryn Dart:

A Good Woman, 8 x 8

I received a nice collection of items from Deanna Wood: a vintage advertisement, two paper flowers, and some cards from a library card catalogue. The return address sticker on the envelope said “because equality is still an issue,” which is most likely what got me thinking in the direction this piece eventually took. It started with this 1930s Vogue ad for underwear. The text quoted a dialogue between a mother and a daughter, with the daughter exclaiming how her mother looked so slim, like “one of the girls.” I created the dotted pattern to emphasize the message of the ad, that a good woman looks (and acts) just like all the rest.

I’m so glad I did the object challenge, because I created a piece that surprised me. If you’ve seen my other work, you will notice that this looks nothing like it! The process definitely stretched me by challenging me to work outside my norms. Thanks, Deanna, for sending me some great items!

From Deanna Wood:

Melissa Hronkin sent me a lovely little red doily and some contact sheets from someone’s wedding photos, probably from the 50’s. This is what I was inspired to create:

To Have, To Hold
collage, foil transfer, and encaustic
12″ x 12″

I couldn’t bring myself to mess up the contact sheets, so I made copies and glued them to the board. Then I covered the board with clear medium and embedded the doily in the wax. Then I used some gold embossing foil (that a student gave me) – writing on it to transfer the foil to the wax.

Thanks again to everyone for participating! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Beautiful by LVHDesigns

Summer heat and melted beeswax,

Shannon, Kathryn and Melissa

Bella Bird by SoulArteEclectica

Announcements:  

2.  New features on our team site:  

Believe it or not, we are still giving out secrets and tips from our time spent at the June Encaustic Conference!  Be sure to look for Kathryn’s articles on workshops, presentations, tips, etc now posted weekly on our website! And you may have noticed our newly added page “The Bees Knees!”  Co-leader Melissa Hronkin will keep us informed on all things bee-related!

Summer heat and melted beeswax,

Shannon, Kathryn and Melissa

This workshop was a wonderful overload of visual stimulation and inspiration (we were shown the work of 40+ artists), so I have decided to do this post in parts. For Part 1, I want to share a few artists who incorporate actual textiles into their work in some way (click on artist’s name for images on individual website).

Daniella Woolf incorporates textiles into encaustic by sewing objects together and coating or embedding them with the wax medium. A piece I find particularly stunning is Beauty at My Feet, which features eucalyptus leaves sewn together.

Cari Hernandez mixes encaustic with silk in this beautiful piece, Four Channel.

Lorrie Fredette combines encaustic, sculpture and textiles in this installation called A Pattern of Connections.

In Part 2, I’ll share artists from Daniella’s talk whose encaustic works allude to textiles. Click here for Daniella’s online version of the talk.

Have you tried including fabrics in your encaustic works? Any other artists who do this that you’d like to share?

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