Experiments, Experiments!

Today was a day for experimentation. I tried two different things today. First, electrochemical etching. I need a bigger battery. And possibly some larger diameter copper wire to carry the larger current.
That should work...
The second experiment is cooling as I type.
This one is for a wax painting medium that is supposed to have the same handling qualities as a water media. It was an old recipe; it called for beeswax, water and ammonia.
I have a ton of this made. Now it's cooling. It's supposed to cool, then be able to mix with dry pigments and water to use like watercolor, yet it's wax...
I can't wait for it to cool. I'm dying to try it!

New Work in Progress

Here's the new nude. She's floating in a dream state, in an altered consciousness.

Encaustic, 12' x 24"

New Piece

I'm hooked these encaustic nudes! I just love them! The wax gives them a depth that fascinates me.
Here's a picture of the latest,
12" x 24"
Encaustic on panel,
"Pregnant with Possibilities!"

I'm disappointed with American culture.
We are more than happy to show next to nude in some pretty vulgar displays on prime time TV, but it's not too easy to find a place to show the nude in my area.
Family friendly is wonderful, to a point, but there also needs to be places that can show the nude in a nonsexual way. I remember seeing nudes in art galleries, exhibitions and museums just 10 short years ago.
With the Bush administration, we not only lost a lot of our civil rights, but we also lost a lot of culture, and the education of culture, in our schools. It has not been a happy circumstance.
We as a nation, have suffered for it.
I had hoped with a new administration, the overly vocal Right Wing Christian minority would have lost their bullying power, but sadly people remain afraid of these zealots.
I hope someday, to see the recovery of the nude as a respected art form. Once , Christians did not disdain the human form and moderates do not, still.
I do find it sad that we lionize the Kardashians yet see a centuries old tradition hidden in back rooms like pornography.
Sad, our national priorities.