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 Above is my recently completed encaustic and mixed medium painting

"Japonais" ... 20 x 24

I had purchased some vintage Japanese accounting books (below ... from a Japanese website) and other vintage Japanese books, and these were embedded into the wax. I have also rubbed oil stick into the wax. As oil sticks also have wax, they are easier to rub into the surface in a controlled way.

This one is an older painting that I added . . guess what? . . circles!

"Semiotic Series, #3", 12 x 24

encaustic & mixed medium

This one has a lot of book pages embedded in the wax first, but as I worked, adding layers of wax, they became muted. This also has oil stick rubbed into the surface. The circles are pastel that are burnished into the wax with paper. The other two pieces in this series are sold, and another artist/facebook friend is interested in this one. It was also juried into an upcoming show, but Japonaise, above, was not. 

I'm noticing that I'm becoming more and more drawn to adding orange to my more neutral palette . . hence . . the first one.

I've had some life challenges since I last posted and just haven't felt like posting . . and haven't even been following others' blog posts! Facebook, Tumblr, and Pinterest have been enough for me. So much art to look at.

I'm still painting, but I have a lot of unfinished pieces.

Now I'm working on a large piece with oil and cold wax. It's for an upcoming show I may enter, however, because it's titled . . "Blooms, Bugs, & Beasts" . .

and I don't do those, I'm contemplating what kind of flower outline to position on the abstract surface composition.

I came across this sentence somewhere on the internet. I copied it along with it's author, because it spoke to me about the inner dance I'm feeling now about whether or not to return to combining realism with abstraction.  

"The artist should have the perfection

of a surgeon and the spontaneity of a child"

. . . Guillermo Foures

Collages of Dennis Parlante

I'm finding that I'm becoming more and more interested in, and being inspired by, the many different styles of collage art. Dennis Parlante's collages is one of the artists, whose work I am drawn to. Below is some of his work, and a video that I found in researching his work, in which he explains his some of his influences.

I like his term "interesting pieces of paper that no one wants anymore".

I have a lot of those! He also speaks of being influenced by Japanese calligraphy, which I LOVE!

Dennis Parlante

This one uses Asian script, and the center line suggests calligraphy.

Dennis Parlante, "Any other son"

. . the composition and neutral color palette . . and . . script

This composition is what I call "symmetrical composition" on perhaps could be said that it is based on a grid.  

Dennis Parlante, "O"

Dennis Parlante, "V"

Dennis Parlante, "Horizontal 20", collage

Dennis Parlante, "Black and Tan #5"

Dennis Parlante, "Eller"

Dennis Parlante, "Changing Thoughts"

Visit Dennis's website. He has many many more. 

Right now I am planning an encaustic collage painting using vintage Asian note books and accounting books, that I was delighted to find online. 

Black and Tan and Symmetry

One of my favorite palette colors are black and tan.

As I was making them, I realized how much these small collages 
have been influenced by my attraction to:

. . the black and tan of some African Kuba cloth

. . Asian symbols and script

. . grid composition

. . vertical symmetry

. . circles, squares, rectangles, and lines that overlap
. . the range in shades of vintage paper
. . the surface of printmaking
. . some graphic designs

I have been collecting natural wood frames from the $1 store

The first page of an old bible . . Genesis

All are paper and stamps

They are the beginning of a grouping
that will be in my home.

My father's confirmation certificate . . 1934

With Pinterest I can organize art into various categories. I now have a Pinterest board called "graphically", as well as a board of "art . grid composition", and another named "with symmetry". It's kind of amazing to me how my eye draws me into areas I would not have thought my mind was aware of; and how my eye informs my hand as I create. There's something about symmetry for me. Perhaps it is that part of me, within, that longs for balance in my life.

This blog is my journey in making art, and it suprises me all the time!