Waxin' and Milkin'

Boy I sure like encaustics. Since we're actually having like a real Spring this year, it's now warm enough that I can work in my garage without freezing to death! Which will very soon become sweltering heat, and at that point I will probably have to work naked. Sorry in advance, neighbors.

Here's what I finished up last weekend. I call this one Flies 1:

I have no idea how to photograph these. There's a depth with encaustic wax that does not translate in photos. I can honestly say that these look so much better in real life. You know the stupid shit I slap together, and half the time not having to see it in person is a blessing. So I hope you can believe me when I say these do not render well in two dimensions. PLUS this one has gold leaf pressed into the wax, which absolutely never photographs well. (You can tell it's gold leaf because my pink blazer is reflecting on the left. Otherwise? Looks like mud.) So this piece is SOL as far as being any kind of convincing argument. In the future, I aim to figure out how to do better for these. But for now this is all I got.

Keeping in mind the previous caveat, have a gander at Flies 2:

I embedded Alpaca yarn in this one and went in a darker direction with the paint, which doesn't help the photo. Also I feel I should mention that while it may look like I live in a tropical paradise such as Bali or Brazil, the wet jungle where I reside is called "Georgia." The Japanese ferns look amazing, the Flies look like mud puddles. Today I am sad.

And this last piece I cranked out for some friends that I will be visiting tomorrow. Gonna go ahead and post it now, despite the very real risk that my Enormous Internet Fame might blow the surprise:

I take no slack cuz I got the knack, and I'm never dustin out cuz I torch that crack. Somehow I have depleted all of the letters H and T, so I had to fill in the gaps: I punched holes out of black card stock, then wrote on the punched out holes with the amazing white Sakura Gelly Roll pen, you have no idea how much you need this pen, stick it in your Amazon wish list and save it for later because it's an add-on item, or try to brave the wilds at Michael's if you are stout of heart. (If you battle your way to the back wall where they have those bins of tragic markdowns, that's where I found the cherub.) Then I just mashed the paper letters into the final fusing of the wax. I hope my friends will hang it in their kitchen because that's where Chef Boyardee lives.

I have another board prepped and ready for this weekend and basically everything between me and the wax is a COMPLETE WASTE OF MY TIME. Hold it now. Hold it now. HIT IT.