This is one of first experiments with using encaustic mediums. I used beeswax mixed with damar resin and then red, green, blue, yellow and white encaustic paints, also pencil. It was really fun mixing the colored wax on the hotplate. Each stroke of the brush is a bit tedious as the wax cools very quickly. So you have to be pretty deliberate with your mark making. There can't be too much hesitation as to where your brush will go and if it will be the right color. I like the inconsistency of it. In some ways, it could be argued to be a bit stifling but I think I feel a lot of freedom in the fact that it somewhat takes the pressure off right/wrong, more rigid ways looking at the act of painting. It is difficult and you have to kind of back off sometimes and let it do it's thing a little and just be there.

This was taken just using my Iphone. I hope to get a better image up soon.

Tom Cruise and fungus

This was inspired by a friend's drawing that I liked(http://www.jheuer.com) I didn't plan on doing a drawing like this but I was listening to NPR and heard the word fungi, which was pronounced fun(ji). This annoyed me because I always pronounce it fun(gi)and sometimes word pronunciations just annoy me. This one stuck out and kept saying fungi in my head and then I pictured a fun guy, and of course no one is as fun and fungi-like as Tom Cruise, so there we are. That was the glorious conception.

My short time in Africa was an extremely meaningful experience to me on many different levels. The pictures I took do not capture it as I'd like but I do plan to do a series of sketches and paintings from the reference and from memory. My mom and I were there in Senegal to visit my sister in her small village she is working in for the Peace Corps. When we both returned from the trip and were back home, we were still sort of mesmerized by all we had been exposed to and learned from the travel. We talked about how our society is focused around "what you do" and the focus is based less on "who you are". In our culture for the most part, if you have that part of your life set into place, the career or the achievements, then you have it made. You are "okay". You are defined. You have an identity. It wasn't like that in Africa at all. They all did the same chores everyday together. They worked all day to prepare food, garden, clean. Life is simpler. The people of the village do not compare their lives or life accomplishments to other's lives. Everyone just lives. My mom and I were talking about how it's not as much appreciated in our Western culture, to worry about how you treat people each day but more about all that you do in a day. This is so ingrained in our fast-paced, "time is money" system. Needless to say, being aware of this difference was quite refreshing.