Crayons and Encaustic-Part 2
- Top right=The crayon experiment is clearly not working.
- Middle right=I heat up the REAL encaustic thing in my studio.
- Bottom right=Scraping away 70% of the crayons.
- Left=The end result after several layers of color, fusing with a heat gun, and adding texture via rolling bits of this and that across the surface.
The Ocean and Frosting-Crayons/Encaustic Part 1
An art therapy Pinterest board featuring a bright, primary colored ‘encaustic’ piece caught my eye last week. The therapist took old crayon shavings, covered the bits with wax paper and fused it together with an iron to create thick wave-like crests of texture. OOoooOo purty
But. Even a newbie encaustic user like myself knows that using melted crayons is a technically lame move because the pigments in crayons are inferior, the wax full of inelegant industrial outsourced cooties.
OH, SO WHAT – the therapist’s painting evoked both the ocean and frosting, two of my top ten favorite things. So I went and dug out a shoebox full of crayons shards and nibs that dated back to 1982, when my oldest daughter started to dabble with crayons at age two. Here is my granddaughter, circa 2 herself, following her own crayon muse.
The beginning of my project from step one of sorting 30+ years of crayons into color groups, to step two and three:
Jane Goodall Reveals Her Lifelong Fascination With…Plants? | Science & Nature | Smithsonian Magazine
Backyard~Sophie Lumen©2013
Jane Goodall Reveals Her Lifelong Fascination With…Plants? | Science & Nature | Smithsonian Magazine.
Grandma Social Media Rockstar
“The Art of Aging is a winner in the Best Senior Living Awards 2013 in the Social Media Rockstars – Individuals.
The Art of Aging is a Facebook presence created by artist Sophie Lumen. Sophie’s goal is to shift perspectives on aging. What if we think of aging as an art? With more than 11,000 fans, The Art of Aging is making an impact on the Facebook community.”
What a hoot!
Sophie Lumen a nominee in Best Senior Living Awards 2013 as ‘Social Media Rockstar’
‘The Art of Aging’ is a nominee in the SeniorHomes.com ‘Best Senior Living Awards 2013′! The contest closes on Monday Feb. 4th. Your vote counts now!
Thank you to those of you who have already voted, only you can make it happen! I’ve been doing this for three years and have made many new friends—over 11,000 on Facebook, and my dear subscribers here. You are my inspiration.
Please know that SeniorHomes.com will NOT ask you to sign up for an email, click through to another window, etc. You can also vote on Google+. This link goes directly to the voting place—
http://www.seniorhomes.com/d/the-art-of-aging/2013-best-senior-living-awards/
So follow the link above to cast your vote for my work on ‘The Art of Aging’ on Facebook as nominated in the ‘Social Media Rockstar’ – Individual category. Wheeee!
P.S. Please consider voting for my good friend Dorothy Sander, nominated for’ Best Blog of the Year’ in the same competition. Dorothy and I share a special soul-sister connection and long-distance friendship. We’ve shared each others posts on various social media sites and hope to be publishing a book together this year! Last year her blog was a finalist in the competition. Let’s make this her winning year! LINK: http://www.seniorhomes.com/d/aging-abundantly/2013-best-senior-living-awards/#
Second Chances
When I reflect back on life as I entered my fifties, an image comes to mind. It is that of a crazed racehorse hurdling toward the finish line at break neck speed and suddenly coming to a screeching halt, dust flying, head reared back, body frozen in an awkward position, and eyes wide with terror. I felt like I'd been hit over the head with a two by four.
