Falcons and Feathers, Oh My!

Hello My Darlings!

Yet another long absence on my part.  School really took it out of me this past semester.  But!  I am done for the term, so it is time to get a few things done that I had been putting off.  Well, more than a few things...mostly art related!


I think that I posted about creating these pieces this past summer, but today, after a visit to Ikea to get the worlds fattest tree (pics to come,) I was able to get frames for these badboys!

 

Wild Turkey 01

 

Wild Turkey 02

 

Wild Turkey 03

 

The Wild Turkey's

I also put some time into creating a new piece of work over the past few days.  It is finally complete....and did I mention that it comes framed?  Well, it does!

This is a Merlin or a Pigeon Hawk, graphite and gouache on baltic birch.

It measures 9x12

I titled it "The Falcon for a Lady" as that is what The Book of St. Albans called the Merlin.

Let me know what you think!

As always, the piece are available at my etsy store - Turn of Phrase

xoxo

Jen

New media!

Well!  After my vacation to Windermere I came home to find a very special delivery for me from my Auntie Ev.  Her and my mom were visiting in Vancouver and they decided to get some presents for my sister and I!  We were given some absolutely gorgeous beads that will be making their debut in earrings shortly, and I was given a set of gouache paints.  I have been wanting to try working with them so badly, so I was overjoyed that she thought of me and picked them up!

Last night in my 90000 degree studio, I decided I wanted to try them out.  I picked a bird that is regularly seen in Calgary and while my drawing is the pits (I will be redoing this one) I wanted to post about just how much I love these paints.  Don't judge the drawing, I know it doesn't work - but look at the pretty colours!

More of these to come, I think!

But for now, its back to work for me.  Thanks again Auntie Ev!!

xo

Jen

It is amazing how just a bit of wax...

can totally change a piece.  While I do really like the work that I did on that poor little juvie bird that failed his first flying lesson - there was something just a bit too brash about all the colours.  I don't really love the plastic nature of acrylics, and they did not lend any of the softness to the bird that they needed to.

So, as all good cakes are better with icing, I slathered some encaustic medium over top of the whole shebang.  It is a nice cold wax formula called Dorland's Wax Medium that I picked up at Mona Lisa.  I love encaustic work, but I am not set up to work in a space with lots of solvents and other such things.  So I decided to try encaustic in a more mixed media capacity.  Using cold wax as opposed to hot, means that I am not heating the damar crystals to make it extra toxic stinky.  As it stands, the cold wax formula just smells a little bit like when you walk by the swimming pool.  I am impressed, and I will use it again.  It went on mega smooth and after two coats, I am really happy with the way this piece looks.

Not sure if the photos will really show how the work has changed, but here they are anyways!!

 Back to the silkscreens I go!

xoxo

Jen