Washi Paper is Your Friend

I woke up one morning with an idea for a small experiment to try in the studio. What would happen if you sandwiched a regular photo printed on heavyweight matte paper to a photo printed on 55gsm (super thin) washi paper using my new favorite buddy - 3M(TM) Positionable Mounting Adhesive 568?  Would the result be transparent when wax was applied to the top?

I scanned and printed some old handwritten letters onto regular Epson Watercolor paper.  Then I printed the color photo of the model onto the washi paper.

A couple years ago I tried this type of sandwich but with wax between the photos. While it technically worked, it was a painful process and the inevitability of air bubbles, especially with a larger piece, caused me to have nightmares.

Here's my 2 images glued down before the application of wax.

And here's the piece after a few layers of encaustic medium have been applied.  It was fun watching the under letter layer reveal itself as I fused the wax and it soaked into the washi paper/upper photo. 

I'm quite excited about the initial result.  It has sparked many more ideas and I can't wait to refine this idea.  My first change is to break up the texture of the letter layer so it isn't so uniform.  Here's a shot from the next attempt.

On a less technical note, my ideas behind this piece evolved from the theme "Remnants" from my show coming up in September.  I wanted to depict how I both know and don't know my most recent ancestors through family stories and photos, but how all I really have is a glimpse into the lives of these people.
For those of you who are around the Lexington, KY area and might be interested, I will have new pieces on display along with Page Turner and Amanda J. Cawby at the MS Rezny Studio and Gallery for the month of September 2014.  

Here's a write up for the show:

Left: Page Turner
Right Top: Melissa T. Hall
Right Bottom: Amanda J. Cawby

Defined as the part of something that is left when the other parts are gone, “Remnants” is a body of work produced by three artists brought together by a common fascination with the scraps, mementos, leftovers, sentimental objects, and traces left behind by others.

Approaching the theme from slightly different directions, Page Turner and Amanda J. Cawby make use of the actual physical remnants from people’s lives in their complex assemblages, while Melissa T. Hall uses the idea of people’s actions leaving behind a vestige or trace to fuel her conceptual images.

Turner sculpts assemblages which resonate with the personal history of everyday objects. Her sculptures explore ideas about female gender roles, especially social mores of women seen through fashion, undergarments, and sexual taboos. Using domestic skills passed down from Grandmothers, Mother, Aunts, and Sisters, Turner pays sincere homage to the feminine.

Cawby finds herself drawn to the inherent energy of objects and remnants left behind by others.  Her completed assemblages are a combination of her own personal narratives and the collected ephemera she repurposes and transforms.  Cawby’s work evokes thoughts of stories left untold, paths not taken, and destinies unfulfilled.

Hall approached the work by asking herself, “What has left a trace or mark on me?”  This led her to explore the physical and emotional remnants left by those who have gone before.  Inspiration was derived from oral family histories and advice heard over and over again.  Inherited heirlooms became symbols sparking narratives.  Her imagery examines the contradictory potential to be both burdened and inspired by these remnants which cling to us from past relationships.

It Takes a Village & 2.5 Gallons of Milk

 Preferably whole milk...

I've been drawn to a lot of photo shoots and ideas with water as an element lately.  There have been beaches, creeks, an in-ground pool, and now an inflatable baby pool.  I'm not entirely certain why water has become such a muse. The underwater pool shoot started this craze and definitely created a monster.  There's just something very magical about what happens to a body in water.  

An Ophelia-style shot has been on my to do list for years.  I'm afraid its become my white whale.  My logical side admits it's an idea that's been done to death (just look on Pinterest), but my heart yearns to dunk a girl in the nearest stream and throw flowers at her.  For one reason or another, this idea has never made it off of the back burner but finally, the stars aligned!  I had models and thanks to my local big box store, a very large baby pool.

It took some mighty good friends (because I sure don't have well paid minion) to orchestrate my most technically difficult photo shoot to date.  This wasn't really supposed to be all that complicated, but Mother Nature almost always comes to play with her own ideas...  Kathie, my buddy of over 20 years, graciously allowed me to set up the pool in her front yard because we thought we'd found the perfect shady spot.

We decided to set the pool up and fill it the evening before the shoot in hopes that the water would warm up to the ambient temperature overnight. Well - if you fill it, they will come!  By "they" I mean friends and neighbors. We ended up having a hilarious hillbilly pool party!  Notice the drink holders built into the baby pool.  It was meant to be!

The day of the photo shoot ended up being a very bright day and there was no avoiding the game-killing spectral highlights in the water.  There was also no dragging the pool to another location.  Water's heavy yo!  Call me Captain Obvious but we did try it.  Kathie and Kiersten (model and mother of my other 2 models), sprang into action.  They built the craziest impromptu tent/pool cover I've ever seen!  It consisted of 2 porch chairs, 1 pine tree limb, numerous bungie cords, 2 ladders, and an SUV!  I of course, stood around and took pictures.  That's my job right?  Someone had to document the insanity...

With shade installed, we ventured into the pool.

I had seen the idea on Pinterest to add milk to the water to make it look cloudy.  It took much less than I thought it would.

The idea worked as advertised!

I have to thank my village for another wonderfully wacky weekend!  As usual, you rock Kathie, Kiersten, Emma, and Audrey!  And thank you Tenderly for the milk donation and for agreeing to my next water adventure!

Self-Directed Artist Retreat

It's rare in this life to meet people by chance and form a lasting bond.  Two years ago I attended an encaustic workshop at Arrowmont in Tennessee.  I've been fortunate and have kept up with several of the ladies from the workshop. We get together sporadically.  Like a roving band of artistic vagabonds, we gather at a house and make camp for a rowdy weekend.  The cast of characters for this particular trip included Trish, Kevin, and Leah.

Kevin and Trish made great minion -
I mean assistants while Leah posed for me!

We work together, soaking up the creative atmosphere, and share what we've learned since the last time we were assembled.

Leah's work.  She works in 3D
quite often and it shows!

Kevin's wonderfully detailed work

Trish's prolific awesome pile of work

Leah at work adding color to this marine inspired piece

To keep from flipping the breakers every other minute, we shared palette space.

I scraped quite a bit.

Leah fusing an very interesting piece of fiber art.

My workspace

Leah giving us an impromptu paper molding class.

During the afternoon of our 2nd encaustic work day a thunderstorm rolled in.  I had passed this interesting tidal marsh on the way to Leah's house each day and wanted to go shoot it when we had some interesting clouds.  A plan for a quick field trip to play on the highway was hatched!

Yes, we looked like nutters, but that isn't all that unusual for me now is it?

Now these are clouds!

On a side note, Leah's most excellent husband, John was wonderful!  He fetched food and supplies and even packed us a picnic to take to the beach!

This was definitely a mixed-purpose trip for me.  I shoehorned a photoshoot into the already tight weekend of hot wax. 

To start off the day of photography, we simply had to walk across the street from Leah's house to this charming little path through some wonderfully large, Spanish moss-dripping live oaks.  Kevin brought the most amazing vintage dress with rhinestone buttons.  It was wonderful of her to share it and the dress was the perfect fit for this oh so Southern location.

Kevin directing Leah

Next stop - the historic Bonaventure Cemetery!  We spent what now feels like a really short time at the cemetery.  At some point I'd like to come back with a map and some free time to explore more.  Especially if it was cooler! Did I mention that it was hot? It was like standing in Hell and being handed a blow torch kind of hot!  Just keeping it real...

The infrared camera definitely came out for this location.

Our last location of the day blew my mind.  It was quite a drive, but certainly worth it!  We went to Hunting Island in South Carolina.  I will qualify this by saying that I am not the most traveled person in the world.  My experience with beaches is limited to Myrtle Beach and the middle section of Florida's eastern coast, which all look pretty much alike.  This was a beast of different proportions all together!  On this lovely little island, the beach was eroding a forest leaving great hulks of dead trees like prehistoric skeletons emerging from it's white sandy surface.  My tiny photographer's mind simply imploded! I kept bouncing back and forth between what I had planned on shooting and just taking landscape shots.

Trish set off to explore.

Leah posing for her other photographer friend, Kelly Roetto.
I took this shot to prove that the tree in the surf was really there,
not something I added in Photoshop.

This particular tree's claw-like shape inspired some Fay Wray-esque posing.

Mother Nature was particularly kind to me on the day of the photoshoot (except for the heat and humidity).  We had beautiful clouds and the tide coming in on the beach made for some exciting shots.  I'm already planning a trip back to this spot for another photoshoot with a particular ballerina friend if I can talk her into it...  Oh the possibilities!

Thanks ladies for the continuing fun and inspiration!

Not So Tasty Paste

Here's a quickie process update.  

I had been taught to use Yes Paste when gluing down larger prints to cradled wooden boards.  Well, time moves on and Yes Paste is getting hard to find. Both Dick Blick and Michaels have stopped carrying it.

Last night I tried a product by 3M -  3M(TM) Positionable Mounting Adhesive 568.

Instead of writing out a tutorial, I am going to link you to the wonderful Greg Noblin video I watched. He takes you through adhering a print to a cradled birch board step by step.  Check out his work too - it's wonderful.

I have to admit, I'm in love!  In the time it took me to adhere 3 prints, I probably wouldn't have completed the gluing process for 1 piece using the paste.  It also appears with the mounting adhesive, the possibilities for air bubbles decreases.  Yay to that! After mounting the first print, I tugged around a bit on the corners. Everything stayed down and seemed to have a really solid attachment.  

I followed Greg Noblin's procedure of first placing the adhesive to the board.  After using the squeegie to makes sure it was down, I found that it was easier to go ahead and trim the film to the size of the board using an exacto blade.  That seemed to make it less likely to pull up the sticky part on the corners when removing the film.

At least one part of my process will be sped up!