So ....

 

To Life!

Oil & Cold Wax "LIFE" 16x16

"Life" was a fun abstract to paint, As with most abstracts, I had no pre-conceived idea as to what this would become. 

Adding color here and there, removing a bit, layering more colors playing over the week until what I wanted to say was finally said... 

"This is Life!"

Day Brightener

Here's an update to the post of my first sale of 2020.

It's always a little sad to say goodbye to a painting that I spent time and love on. However one of my favorite joys, is when someone takes the time to leave a review.

Dana received it & was so kind as to not only write a lovely review about this little painting, but also sent me a photo to let me see where she displays it!

"Sweet little landscape painting. Bought to sit on a shelf and it's perfect. You can feel the love Diane puts into the painting and the whole process of the transaction. Thank you!"

And thank you Dana for being so generous and brightening my day!

Wabi-Sabi = "Happy Accidents"

Initially this piece wasn't going the way I had hoped & decided to just take a chance. I splashed Gamsol onto it, letting it drip & flow naturally. After a moment or two I squeegeed it removing a couple of layers. Suddenly my heart laughed loving the color that was revealed! There it was, "Streams in the Desert"! What a Wabi-Sabi happy accident!

Are you wondering what is Wabi-Sabi? Well I first became aware of Wabi-Sabi in art after reading these two books by Serena Barton:

"Wabi-Sabi Art Workshop: Mixed Media Techniques for Embracing Imperfection and Celebrating Happy Accidents" and "Wabi-Sabi Painting with Cold Wax: Adding Body, Texture and Transparency to Your Art" 

available at Amazon

In her introduction Barton describes 
Wabi-Sabi as a Japanese philosophy "that honors the imperfect, the transitory, the handmade...…. It evokes a sense of acceptance of the transitory nature of life. Creating intuitive Wabi-Sabi inspired art...….is like taking a journey, a journey without a map."
Reading both of these books helped me not just to loosen up for abstract painting, but to play and experiment with art and to just go with it. Oil & Cold Wax is the perfect medium for Wabi-Sabi style. 

The medium is so wonderful especially for painting abstracts. It's playable & versatile and allows you try all sorts of tools. It's perfect for "intuitive" painting! If I don' t like some part, it can easily be changed in a number of different ways and almost always I discover a "happy accident" as in this piece.

6x6 "Streams in the Desert" 

1st Sale for January 2020

Hooray! My first sale this year!

A tiny landscape painting of Vermont 

measuring just 2.5 x 3.5 inches done in acrylic 

Thank you Dana in beautiful CA!

Breathing Free

                                            

Breathing Free

Painting "Breathing Free" was pure joy! The of layering colors with my palette knives and scraper seemed to lift my spirits and  set me free from the doldrums.  One of my favorite parts of this piece are the loose grasses. 

                   

         This is done in Cold Wax & Oil on a 

12x12 cradled gesso board

                                     

September Field

September Field 8x8 oil & cold wax

detail

When I first did this little piece, the sky had a much different feel & look as you can see in the picture below.

As often is the case, I decided to rework part of it, 

I changed the sky to the one below

I liked it much better, yet it still didn't please me perfectly. I had another go at the sky &  finally it's done!

September Field is available at etsy

Oil & Cold Wax

Early in 1999 I experimented with a new medium... Oil & Cold Wax. Unlike encaustic in which the wax is melted with resin & gives off toxic fumes, cold wax can be done anytime without toxic properties. All you need is oil paint, cold wax medium (which has the look & consistency of shortening), Gamsol by Gamblin for cleanup plus your tools & surface.

The above pic  shows  my first purchases for this new medium, a set of oil paints, 2 different brands of oil paint sticks (one brand I didn't like working with at all) a small can of ColdWax Medium, small bottle of Gamsol, palette knives & a couple squeegee like tools. 



I immediately discovered that I love painting in Oil & Cold Wax! The process of blending the oil paint and Cold Wax Medium with your palette knife to a creamy texture is relaxing & restorative. You can paint wet into wet, or let the paint dry before adding another layer. You can remove layers with Gamsol or carve into the layers. It's wonderfully versatile. Painting in this medium usually takes me much longer than painting in acrylics, but I find it much more satisfying & enjoyable. 

The above painting was my 2nd attempt, learning and experimenting with this different medium & to see what I can do in Oil & Cold Wax.