A couple of weeks, a couple of workshops... and encaustics!

A week ago, my region of NYSATA, our state art teachers association, held a hands-on professional development workshop (actually now called CTLE, for Continuing Teacher and Leader Education, here in NY), with an art consultant from School Specialty presenting three projects using products they sell.  I was in charge of making all the arrangments, so I didn't get a chance to complete all the projects, so I'm working on finishing them at home .  But today, I attended a hands-on workshop put on by a neighboring region, so,lucky me, I got to play with encaustic waxes all day, with a bunch of really terrific "north country" art teachers!

 I made 4 pieces, incorporating some collage into the encaustic wax.  The two pieces pictured above are on 8"x10" canvas board panels.  Some patterned papers were collaged into these pieces, minimally.  The two pieces below are on small square masonite panels, and incorporate more collage than the two pics above.  I don't think the photos really show the colors/textures the way I'd like. 

I didn't use the camera flash, because of the glare, but the colors are definitely off/dull in these photos, even though I tried to adjust!  The above piece is made from pieces of colored class and some small old photos of a waterfall, tied together with the encaustic wax.  Below, layers of patterned papers and colored and clear waxes.  I liked it when I began, and then it quickly got overworked and I couldn't get back the original freshness.  It was my first piece today, and I think I did better once I had the medium more under control.  

 Here's some closeups of one of my pieces, my last piece, that I made rather quickly.  I really enjoyed making all of these encaustic pieces, but I'm skeptical about their longevity, since heat can melt and alter the surface.  Anyone have experience using encaustic waxes?

But this one, below, and at the top of the post, is my favorite of the day. 

 Some other people made some really cool stuff, but I only got a few photos. Aren't these terrific?

 One gal had this adorable mini-violin case as her pencil case.  Isn't it adorable? 

 Here's a glimpse (below) of one piece that I began in last week's workshop and finally finished a couple of days ago.  When I complete the other two projects, I'll write about all three in a separate blog post, because they deserve their own post!