Thursday 11 February 2016

Waxing Lyrical

Hello everyone and welcome, lovely to have your dropping in today!  I am sharing a piece which I made for the latest Paper Artsy Challenge Use some Wax
I was totally inspired by some of the super samples and links Leandra shared in her post and this was just the perfect excuse to go and have a play. There are several descriptions on how to use wax techniques and create encaustic art included in Leandra's post, and there are of course many more all over the internet. My piece was inspired by some of the techniques Sanda Reynolds uses in one of her online workshops. Leandra links to Sanda's site too, and strangely just a few days earlier I had decided to do one of Sanda's workshops, so it all came together just perfectly for me.

The substrate I used was just watercolour paper, - not very clever, as really to do this properly you need something stronger, like chip board or wood, but hey ho, I had this piece prepped and gessoed, so I just went with it. I started with a base of texture and crackle paste put on with a palette knife. I made some marks in the wet paste and then when it was dry played to my hearts content with various colours of acrylic paint and oil pastels, mostly Caran d'Ache Neo Colour ll and Penthel and a few Sennelier metallic colours. It was great to dig out some long unused and forgotten supplies from my stash.
Now I am lucky enough to own a Ranger Melt pot, so that made adding the wax pretty easy. There was even some wax still lurking in my project pan (honestly it must have been there for at least 5 years or so...). Anyway, everything was collaged using the melted wax. The eiffel tower above was the top layer of a scrap of a paper serviette.
The hearts (from a Finnabair stamp set) were stamped on tissue paper first, but in the end I decided they did not show up enough, so I stamped them again on scraps of paper, fussy cut them and then fused them onto my piece with another layer of wax.
The sentiment is from the same Finn stamp set, stamped on tissue and then fused. I love how the tissue just totally merges into the background with the help of the wax..
The text stamping in the background finally, was done right at the end on top of the wax, I used the Paper Artsy Hot Picks 1501 and Black Archival and used my heat gun to fuse it into the wax again. I was amazed how well that actually worked.
I had great fun with this and will definitely give it another go on a better substrate.... live and learn....

I'm going to add this to the Paper Artsy Challenge and also to the new challenge blog that was started recently by Linda Leadbetter and several others of the Curiosity Crew. It's called Creative Carte Blanche and the theme is anything goes as long as you use something you have not used before. Well I had never used oil pastels together with acrylic paint, so I hope that qualifies.

Thank you so much for visiting and see you next time.

44 comments:

Marisa Job said...

Beautiful project Astrid!!! Love the texture you created with melted wax!!

Vintagehandmade said...

Oh, Astrid, this is my new favourite of yours! Every time I visit your blog I am so inspired and amazed! I adore what you did with melted wax, your texture is simply fantastic! Magically beautiful project with such awesome colours and so many amazing techniques! Stunning! Hugs! Branka x

Valerie-Jael said...

Beautiful piece, love the vintage look.Hugs, Valerie

Brenda Brown said...

Wonderful wax work Astrid, love the effects you have achieved. I am in the middle of a piece too and hope it looks as good as yours when I'm finished xxx

chrissie said...

Stunning ideas Astrid. I have never tried working with wax at all but I am sure it isn't very east to make something so beautiful.

Love Chrissie xx

Sophie said...

Und wieder spektakuläre Arbeiten...#
Großartig und einzigartig, wie alle deine wundervollen Werke, liebe Astrid.
Ich liebe deinen Stil <3

Herzlichst Sophie xx

Diana Taylor said...

Oh goodness, sometimes the word stunning just seems inadequate but I don't know what else to say about this beautiful and amazing piece of work - I LOVE your textures and those little turquoise circles are just perfection. I now feel inspired and enthused to get my melt pot out!!

Pamellia said...

Wow Astrid, what a brilliant piece! I've made a couple things with wax, but I have never had this kind of success! So gorgeous! Love the tissue paper technique and the texture you achieved with it. Stunning! hugs :)

experiments in paper said...

Oh, this came out beautifully!! I adore all that fine texture, and the depth the wax gives to the colors....and yes, fantastic how the tissue disappears! Hope to have a go myself this weekend - many thanks for a wonderful piece of inspiration! xxx Lynn

Dorthe said...

It is stunning, Astrid...the colors you have played with blending and matching so perfectly, and I would never have thought it was on paper, looking so heavy and wonderfully thick in the crackle area. Love the text here and there, and the beautiful heart stamp from Finnabair .
Dorthe, XO

Corrie Herriman said...

Complete gorgeousness !
Corrie x

Matilde said...

It looks fabulous!!!

Juliz Design Post said...

Wow the textures, colours and depth in your design is stunning Astrid.
Thanks for the links must check them out.
Julie x

froebelsternchen said...

Your encaustic art is unique! Wonderful depth in that piece Astrid!
oxo
Susi

Maura said...

Astrid, these are awesome! Love, love how you used the wax, I have never tried that an really am inspired after seeing these - thanks! Maura

Kathy Bradley said...

Astrid,
Beautiful piece with gorgeous colors and textures. Encaustic classes are on my list - but it's such a very long list!

rachel said...

awesome work astrid - I so have to have a play later with wax - I'm not sure which way I will be going but thanks for your inspiration - big hugs Rachel x

Redanne said...

Oh how beautiful Astrid, the colours and textures are fantastic. I have the equipment and the wax, I just need to get them out and have a try - you have inspired me with your wonderful post! Hugs, Anne xx

Lynne Moncrieff said...

The texture, the colours, the imagery, it is all so incredibly beautiful.
Astrid, when I bought a Melt Pot some years ago, I was that eager to heat up wax, even though I didn't have an extra pan! Not such a clever move as I've never successfully managed to clean out all the wax, in the end I gave up and just always leave wax in the pan!
Wishes
Lynne

Meggymay said...

Fabulous textures, makes me want to reach out and touch, its an awesome journal spread.
Yvonne

Almo said...

Such wonderful textures you have created on this piece Astrid, and love the way your colours blend together so seamlessley. I have dug my melt pot out this week too but to melt some UTEE, now I need to find my wax and have a play to see if I can make a piece even half as lovely as what you have here. Mo x

Patty O'Malley said...

Fantastic!

Suzanne C said...

Gorgeous! Love the crackle effect on there and so many cool techniques blended into one beautiful piece of art.

Words and Pictures said...

Gorgeous waxy textures with such depth - seems as though all those prompts and inspirations came together at just the right time for you!
Alison xx

pearshapedcrafting said...

Wow! This really is stunning - those gorgeous colours enhanced by the wax -the fabulous images -the crackle! True inspiration! Hugs, Chrisx

Candy C said...

Astrid....this is just fantastic! Hot wax is another relatively unknown for me. I've played with it a few times but I've NEVER made anything that looks even close to THIS! I love it! Even on watercolor paper, it is amazing! Thanks so much for sharing all of the wonderful photos and steps in your creative process. Something like this would be SO FUN to do! You've inspired me to pull out my old Ranger melt pot, blow off the dust and use it! I love your colors you've used and all of the texture you've achieved. The crackles are awesome! I also love your stamped text and the hearts stamped on tissue first. Brilliant idea and they really add to your piece. Thanks so much for sharing your art with everyone at Creative Carte Blanche!

Yvonne said...

Oh my...have you inspired the heck out of me...this is fantastic! I have been wanting to try encaustics but haven't had a chance as of yet! Well...it is high on my list now! The colors, the textures, the stamps you used have just come together in artistic glory! Oh my...I love this piece! Thank you for sharing your creativeness with us at Creative Carte Blanche!

Anita Houston The Artful Maven said...

Be careful...once you go wax you don't come back!!! I LOVE it so, and LOVE your piece! Perhaps you can cradle it to a board for more stability because this deserves to be showcased! GORGEOUS texture too!

Hels Sheridan said...

Loving your art Astrid, the wax looks fabulous and so much texture, I just want to reach out and touch it. .. thanks for joining us at Creative Carte Blanche

Christiane Courtin-Mangez said...

Hi Astrid, I'm so sorry, I don't understand all the beautiful technics you used!!

Do you think it'll be possible to have a translater on your blog ?

Thanks a lot for your answer !!, hugs from France

Jackie PN said...

Absolutely outstanding Astrid! Just gorgeous and of course you have inspired me to play now!! heehee
hugs,Jackie

CastleKelly Crafts said...

This is absolutely gorgeous Astrid, will have to have a go X

Mrs.B said...

Fabulous page Astrid, love the different textured effects, and the wax just adds another dimension.
Avril xx

Unknown said...

WOW, Astrid these are just fabulous, I absolutely love how they turned out! And I can't tell you how happy I am that my workshop inspired you to try these techniques! It means a lot to me! :) And thanks a million for the shout out! Much love, Sanda xoxo

Mona Pendleton said...

Wow Astrid! What stunning pages! I love the magical color scheme and all the texture! What cool techniques! Thanks for the inspiration!

Annie said...

Totally fabulous Astrid x Love the colours and beautiful collage you have created. I don't make enough use of my melt pot either

Huge hugs Annie xx

Linda Ledbetter said...

Oh, Astrid, WOW! This is ALL KINDS of gorgeous. I haven't used my Melting Pot for such a long time, and now I want to dust that baby off and try to make something 1/100th as wonderful as this. Thanks for the inspiration, and for sharing it at Creative Carte Blanche!

Angelnorth said...

Great textures going on here with the collaged images, it looks fab!

Silvia(Barnie) said...

That's an amazing pieces of art, the texture looks fantastic. Of course the other details, too :)

Cheryl Grigsby said...

So glad you're creating with us, Astrid! You've done an incredible job of incorporating wax into your usual, gorgeous mystical style. I'm a big fan!

Ruth said...

Beautiful work, I just love the soft transparency that wax coats everything in...stunning pages Astrid! Ruth x

Annette Green said...

Wow, I learned so many new things here today. I'm so thrilled to see you have joined in our Creative Carte Blanche fun. Your pages are so full of depth and layering. I love studying it. Beautiful!!

Jenny Marples said...

What a fabulous spread Astrid!!! Not tried wax but you've seriously tempted me. This has such a wonderful blended look to it. Jenny x

Craftyfield said...

Darn! I thought I was being original when I chose my post's title, hey ho great minds and all that... What gorgeous Vintage colours and distressed layers there are in your artistic piece, fabulous!

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