Thursday, October 15, 2015

Encaustic Painting, Practicing for Something Bigger and Blue Flight



Blue Flight
encaustic mixed media on birch 10x10
I'm practicing for something bigger.  I wanted to see what it would be like to carve in feather detail in and encaustic painting.  I keep thinking of a painting of a really large feathered something in the future.  I've always hesitated to paint a big bird painting for a couple of reasons - the first is the wonder if a really large bird painting is a bit scary, meaning is it creepy to have a really big bird hanging on your wall?  And secondly, painting small means I can cheat a bit on detail, but on a large painting I'd have to step up and really get the detail right - no fudging.  So maybe the answer is like Blue Flight here, where there is no actual bird, but just a feathered something.  Each of these feathers is carved in with an exacto knife which in itself is very meditative.  And, I'm finding that I really love French Café Radio on Pandora.  Its really nice background music and I learned of it from a good friend and her lovely French dinner that she made for a small group of friends.  It played in the background as we dined on marvelous food and visited over candlelight.  Now as it plays in the background in my studio,  I can dream of going to Paris again whilst carving bird feathers.  Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

I'm also wondering about putting words into paintings.  For me there is a fine line between looking good and being a bit kitschy.  I like the idea, but pulling it off I think is difficult.  Maybe its the choice of words? 

Au revoir all, back to work - and happy Friday! 

17 comments:

  1. Wonderful feathers! Happy PPF, hugs, Valerie

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  2. I love to see you experimenting, Marji. I think a peacock done in large format might not be scary. But ,of course, it has been done. A large painting with a group of small birds eating seed might be very pleasing also...but a lot of work.

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  3. experimenting can lead to new and wonderful things. Love your encaustic! I love looking for the details and all the nuances of colors peeking through the layers. I listen to the French Café radio from time to time. And when I make a special french dinner I def. have French music playing in the background:)

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  4. That's a very detailed work indeed. Greetings and best wishes!

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  5. a lot of work, in this detailing;

    have a happy Friday

    much love...

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  6. Gorgeous feathers.. and as far as scary bird paintings it never stopped Robert Bateman...as much as its not my thing because I do love whimsy I have known many people to have his large paintings of birds in their homes...a lot of offices also have Bateman paintings.. so I think you need to stick with what ever your heart likes to create...with or without words...scary or not! I am amazed at the feathers...they almost look like a stamp into clay...just wonderful! Do what you love!!

    Hugs Giggles

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  7. This painting is just WONDERFUL... I love all about it..absolutely fantastic!
    oxo
    Susi

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  8. I love the soft look of your painting--the feathers are wonderful!

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  9. I really love the feathers. There is an artists here who paints huge bird paintings. I mean like 5'x7' They are gorgeous. Don't know if you want to go that big but I would love to see what you come up with.
    Nicole/Beadwright

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  10. I don't think you could make anything look creepy. This is amazing... And the word thing is a tight line to walk, but I would love to see what you do with that... It is an awesome direction to explore

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  11. Gorgeous painted! And exciting..
    Oh yeah I would have a big bird on my wall! :)

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  12. Beautiful painting, love the details of the feathers. I think it would look great big, especially with just the feathers, and no actual bird. Although I think that would look good too. I know what you mean about the words. I've been thinking about that too. It is a fine line, but the way you used it here looks great!

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  13. It would look beautiful big with just the feather!

    Thanks for visiting my blog and for the lovely comment.

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  14. This is gorgeous! The dark blue underneath the feather textures really works well together. Awesome!

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  15. Fantastic start with the encaustic painting. I love how it turned out. Blessings, Janet PPF

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