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.