Ideas to try out...learning new things

Will see if these bones can be fused into the wax surface...

Fishing string ...this should be easier to fuse than the bones!

Fusing a collage encaustic work with a heat gun.

Learning to use colour and to divide the picture plane into two parts.

I continue to explore Mr Mikio Tagusari's method of making monotypes.

hanging my encaustic work

Completed 17 Dec 2012, Wax and pastel on paper mounted on canvas, 20 x 20 x 1.5cm

I've been thinking about how to prepare my paper encaustic work for display - whether framing in glass is suitable... For finished work that have only a thin surface layer of wax, I tried glueing the piece on a wooden canvas stretcher. This seems to work fine.

Carving, fusing, collage and thread

I'm exploring other ways of working with wax but carving lines is fun - it's a great feeling to see the wax curl and unfurl!

Learning to fuse with a heat gun (ie to bond the top layer of wax with the layer below by heat)

A simple collage on a grid

Experimenting with thread.

Learning to combine yellow and blue wax and adding ink.

Learning to do an inlay - ie filling a gouged out area with a different wax -  I am pleased with this work.

Carving away!

The uneven wax surface produces interesting grooves when lines are carved repeatedly.

Inspired by bark

Recently my sister and brother-in-law from Sydney sent me some photographs of barks of trees. The bark textures  inspired and challenged me to make some waxworks. Here they are. What do you think, Loy and Doug?

I will take them no further

Here are studies which I am happy to put away in a folder and consider 'Completed'. They have been cropped digitally because of wax drips on the border. Since then I have learnt not to let the wax drip from the brush so that the edge quality of the work will be 'tidy' while still reflecting the fluid nature of the wax.

I am pleased with the rounded 'bottom' of the wax shape and the soothing green so I will title it 'Contentment'

My friend Asako liked this work and it was she who selected this work on my behalf as 'completed'

This work and the one below remind me of the tranquil bamboo grove in the compound of a Zen temple I visited in my first trip to Japan in 2008.

Some wax cracked and peeled off when I drew on the surface with a sharp instrument, but I sealed these areas with another layer of wax, so the image has a 'worn' and natural quality about it. Also reminds me of a Chinese painting.

Hands of prayer...can you see the hands of prayer?

A few weeks ago, I was invigilating the O Level examinations at a secondary school. Before each examination began, all the students would say a prayer, cupping their hands. One day I was struck by a boy's hands as he prayed. He had long slender fingers and his right and left hands touched each other lightly at the finger tips, creating a graceful concave form.  At home looking over my wax studies, I suddenly saw a pair of praying hands in this work below. Can you see the hands of prayer?

Inspired, I began to make more drawings of these hands. Here they are. Can you see the hands of prayer?

Wax and Chinese ink on paper

Wax, pastel and Chinese ink on paper

Wax, pastel and Chinese ink on paper

Wax, water colour and Chinese ink on canvas board

Wax, water colour  and Chinese ink on paper

FANTASTIC MIRROR IMAGES from wax studies

The 'mirror' image (Right) was made by putting paper over the original work (Left) and placing a hot iron on it.

Melted wax from the original work (Left)  is transferred to the paper.

Interesting and unexpected effects are obtained in both the original and mirror images!

The mirror images work well on their own.

I love the speckled texture that resulted from the interaction of watercolour and wax.

Thanks again to Mr Tagusari who shared this technique of waxworks on paper with me. 

2 wax studies on canvas frame

The frame (20 x 20 cm) makes it easier to apply wax evenly and more thickly...

Wax was painted over the canvas and the surface was incised.

DETAIL of the above: I would like to retain the delicate scrapings of the wax

Watercolour was lightly brushed over the surface.

Watercolour marks add another element but some of the wax scraping marks fell off as the surface was handled.  

Second study - thicker wax and incised lines were deeper.

After brushing over with Chines ink.

I will slowly increase the size of the frames and make the wax thicker so that the incised lines will be more pronounced.

wax studies with watercolour

Watercolour was applied to the wax studies that were made earlier.  Some pleasing results below.
Thanks to digital editing, I could crop the studies to my liking.