Studio Time: 2009 Materials and Tools

100 Thoughts Series: Jumble Ice II

I often wonder where other artists working with encaustics get their supplies. Some materials and tools are  easy to find, some hard, and some ingeniously come from unusual sources such as the kitchen, garage, or thrift stores. Looking over my acquisitions for 2009 revealed this  list of  frequently used sources.

Encaustic Painting Related:

• R & F Handmade Paints: classes, paints, tools, support and friendship
• Fine Art Store: paints and tools
• Daniel Smith.com: tools, drawing/sketching materials, canvas
• Blick Art Materials: brushes, drafting tape, neutral  PVA adhesive
• Utrecht Art Supplies: PVA Glue, tools
• Graphic Chemical and Ink: tools and slip top cans
• Swans Candles: wax pastilles
• Sinopia: dry pigments and metal leaf
• Hiromi Paper International: beautiful papers
• Lowe’s, Home Depot and Sears: wood, tools, miraculous and strange texture tools garnered from the plumbing, electrical and painting/wallpaper aisles
• pictureframes.com: metal float frames
• International Encaustic Artists (IEA): resource for friendships and expertise
• iprintfromhome.com: photo cards and mailers

Web:

• Hostway: Internet host for sisleyblinn.com (soon to be updated)
• WordPress : ISP for  Sisley-Blinn’s Blog
• Flickr: Online Photo Albums for sisleyblinn sets
• Twitter and Facebook (currently inactive) for community

Other:

• Moo.com:  mini business cards
• FedEx: safe shipping of artwork
• Amazon.com: books
• Netflix: artist DVDs
• Pandora.com: music to work by
• YouTube and Vimeo: encaustic demos and creative inspiration
• Google: for helping me find everything, and keeping me organized with iGoogle
• Food Network: for keeping me fed

Thank you everyone for your great tools, paints, materials, and caring support! (Disclaimer:  I do not get anything from these companies for listing them here. They have been excellent resources for me. Your mileage may vary.)

Online: Blog Monetization

Iris I on Flickr

Recently I received an email from another artist with this inquiry: “I had a question … how does one make money from a blog?” An easy question to pose, a complicated one to answer. Here is a quick look at a few ideas.

A blog can be used for multiple purposes, monetization (making money) being one of them:

• Marketing: extends branding into new readership areas, and directs traffic to related sources.
• Information: provides unique information, or additional useful information that supports a web site, newsletter, forum, web site, or social network sites (Example: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Digg, and Delicious).
• Relationship building: provides a service or information that followers can use and/or interact with (comments, newsletters, guest writer opportunities, or membership site subscription. Example: Google Friend Connect or Ning).
• Monetization: provide various means to create money streams through direct and indirect means.

Making money from your blog may take several forms.  Sales are generally generated either directly or indirectly. Direct sales are from your blog, by you, with your products and services. Indirect sales are created by referrals by way of other web technologies such as ad networks, or referred links to an online shopping cart, or your gallery website. Examples:

Direct: Sales of products or services sold from your blog

• Products such as paintings, prints, drawings, or materials/tools relating to the creation of works of art
• Secondary products based on your work such as calendars, t-shirts, or cards (Example: Zazzle)
• Class sign up and payment page
• Subscription class/lecture PDFs for fee
• Webinars or online course (Example: Prfessor.com)
• Video tutorials, web discussions, chats, or podcasts/vidcasts
• Digital Ebooks (your work or thoughts)
• Subscription blog articles
• Self published books (Example:  Lulu or Blurb)

Indirect: Referral information and links to related sources online

• Links to another website, e-cart, or gallery site that sells or supports your products or services
• Advertising using an ad network (Example:  AdSense, Chitika, Amazon Associates)
• Private ad sales (arrange with vendors you regularly do business with)

Think about what you want to do with your blog and optimize for your specific goals. Take a look at other artist blogs to see what they are doing, and choose the strategies that make sense to you.  Once you have your solutions in place, don’t forget to revisit them on a regular basis to make sure you are still getting the results you want. Save money by using free tools (Example:  WordPress, Blogger, Twitter, Facebook). As with anything else, it takes time to develop a strategy and carefully implement it.

Resources

• Amazon Associates
  https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/
• Blurb.com: self publishing
  http://www.blurb.com/
• Chitika
  https://chitika.com/publishers.php?refid=livingroom&from=mm
• Google Adsense
  https://www.google.com/adsense/login/en_US/?sourceid=aso&subid=direct_adsense&medium=redirect_adsense&gsessionid=mLJDmlzyLUnyagnxWdiSug
• Google Friend Connect
  http://www.google.com/friendconnect/?utm_medium=ha&utm_campaign=en&utm_source=en-ha-na-us-sk&utm_term=membership%20websites
• Lulu.com: self publishing
  http://www.lulu.com/
• Ning
  http://www.ning.com/
• PayPal for Typepad
  http://www.sixapart.com/typepad/widgets/commerce/paypal_storefro.html
• Prfessor.com
  http://www.prfessor.com/a/smpayton
• Zazzle.com
  http://www.zazzle.com/

Articles:

• 3 Ways to Make More Money with Amazon’s Affiliate Program This Christmas
  http://www.problogger.net/archives/2009/11/25/3-ways-to-make-more-money-with-amazons-affiliate-program-this-christmas/
• “How I Diversify My Site and Income
  http://www.problogger.net/archives/2009/10/29/how-i-diversify-my-site-and-income/
• “LiveJournal Bloggers Can Now Make Money”
  http://mashable.com/2009/09/22/livejournal-adsense/
• “Make Money Blogging”
  http://www.problogger.net/make-money-blogging/
• “Make Money Online: 100+ Tools and Resources”
  http://mashable.com/2007/07/30/make-money-online/

Related:

• “20 Simple Productivity Tools for Bloggers”

  http://mashable.com/2009/08/06/blogging-productivity-tools/

• “400+ Tools for Photographers, Videobloggers, Podcasters & Musicians”

  http://mashable.com/2007/07/23/online-media/

• “Blogging Toolbox: 120+ Resources for Bloggers”

  http://mashable.com/2007/06/19/blogging-toolbox/

• “How To: Become an Expert in Your Industry”

  http://mashable.com/2009/10/27/industry-expert-how-to/

• Mashable.com: Blogging

  http://mashable.com/tag/blogging/

• “Podcasting Toolbox: 70+ Podcasting Tools and Resources”

  http://mashable.com/2007/07/04/podcasting-toolbox/

[No, I do not make money from any entry on this page. These are just my thoughts on this topic.]

Studio Time: Encaustic Medium Cake Sizes

After I make a batch of encaustic medium in the crock-pot, I like to measure it out into usable portions.  Typically I have been using  metal baking pans appropriated from the kitchen.  Most of the medium is ladled into metal muffin pans in two sizes, medium and large (not extra large). Once cooled, the tins are placed in the freezer to harden so that they will fall out of the tins easily. The smaller cakes are used either whole, or broken up and melted with color cakes to create transparent washes.

A portion is poured into a bread pan, which will be placed on the heating surface as a larger reservoir. I use this to separate either sections or full painting surfaces with layers of medium. Or, to build up textural surfaces, embed objects, seal transfers and sgraffito work. The larger muffin cakes are used to replenish this quantity as needed.

Recently I experimented with  flexible silicone bakeware. I bought a Wilton “bite size” brownie pan on sale at a local craft store. “Individual cavities are 1.5 x 1.5 x .75 in. deep.”  I am a convert. Silicon molds are now my new favorite tool. I love the ease of removing the cakes, either at room temperature or cold.  Additionally, this small size fits into any paint container on my palette and is very convenient. My only caution regarding the use of these molds has to do with their flexibility. Either let the encaustic cubes cool before moving the molds, or place the molds on a board or cookie sheet prior to filling. Because they are flexible, it is possible that they will flex and spill hot wax when you are moving them if not supported well.

Additionally, the small molds could  be used to build up a repository of custom colors. Instead of leaving a small amount of paint in a larger cup or tin, to be saved for some future time, pour it off into several small cubes. Keep for another painting, save with documentation for a completed painting for possible future repair work, or exchange with other artists or students.

My metal pans are beaten up with years of use. From now on, I am on the lookout for replacement silicon molds.

[Music in the studio: "James Taylor: Live at the Beacon Theatre," 1996;  "Paul Simon: Graceland: The African Concert", 1987. Both on DVD from Netflix.]

New Work: 100 Thoughts

What started out as a journal exercise of a few hours turned into a 3 week project exploring color and texture, and  thinking about reflections from surfaces and thoughts. View the series for  “100 Thoughts” on Flickr.

The reflections off water, glass, marble, and other transparent, translucent or glossy surfaces have always intrigued me. The image that is reflected is often distorted, ambiguous, hazy, blurry, and edited by the shape of the surface. Sometimes, much like our thoughts. Situations and encounters can occasionally leave our thoughts bouncing around like light off a surface: uncertain, out of focus, out of context, or clear but truncated.

“100 Thoughts” is a  set of small images that correspond to thoughts that were generated by the act of mark making with encaustic paint on paper. Although some of the images began with an idea, most were “named” after the image was completed. When the actions of the mark making were done, the thought regarding the image crystallized. Titles were kept short to correspond with the small image size, and a specific idea.

All pieces in the set are encaustic with oil bar on Fabriano Artistico paper. The paper is 5 1/2 ” x 6″  (14 cm x 15 cm), images are about 4″ x 4″ (10 cm x 10 cm). Edges were taped, creating a restricted painting/reflection area. Not unlike a print edition, the edges and backs of the paper were kept as clean as possible. Images that were inconsistent with the established theme were removed from the set. Out of an original 116, only 100 were selected for the completed set. The others were added to the original journal entry.

Some titles from the  “100 Thoughts” series:

Answer II
Berries I
Blaze II
Blueberry Kiss II
Creamsicle Sky I
Fever I
Frosting II
Fury I
Glow I
Inner Glow II
Jam I
Jumble Ice I
Last Remark I
Mindful II
Night Mood II
Odd Moment II
Promise I
Rhubarb Vortex I
Startle I
Stormy Light II
Sweetness I
Thinking I
Transpired I
Undecided II
Whispers I

[ No music in the studio today. Only the snoring of 2 cats and a dog, and the soft sounds of heat on metal - the encaustic paints being warmed on the metal palette.]

Online: Twitter for Artists

Twitter can be described as a micro-blogging tool that uses 140 character messages to contact others in the Twitter network and share ideas, experiences, resources, business opportunities, charity work, celebrity news, and more. For artists it is a good tool to network with other artists, follow art organizations, make gallery contacts, publicize your events, shows (#Encaustic: Artists on Twitter) , and work.

Although Twitter is easy to set up and has a simple web interface, it is not intuitive to get started with. Here are some of the tools that have helped me:

1. Set up an account on Twitter. This is a fast and easy step. You will need an email account and a user name. In the past I have chosen to use my own last name: sisleyblinn. This is easier to recognize than a more cryptic or mysterious name that will be seen by others on Twitter. It also reflects how I use my name for my blog and website. Your user name should reflect your purpose on Twitter. Is it for fun, business branding, or family and friends?

2. Once you have an account, personalize your Twitter home page. You can add a picture to the background of your start page, change colors for links and content areas, and add an avatar image of yourself (or a picture of a piece of art work). This will personalize the look of your home page and can be used to visually tie it back to your blog or web site. I choose a recently completed painting for my background and avatar image. Make these changes under the Settings link, in the upper right corner of your home page. ( Home  Profile  Find  People  Settings Help  Sign out)

Be prepared with information for your real name, geographic location, web site or blog URL/web address, and bio. The bio is a short description that can be as creative, specific or playful as you want it to be. Again, think about your purpose.  My bio statement: “MFA Artist. Interest Areas: Encaustic Painting, Printmaking, Web. Exploring the intersection of Art and Technology.” This information will show up at the top of the column on the right side of the page, and whenever anyone looks at your profile.

Articles:
Themeleon: Customize Your Twitter Profile
How to Design Perfect Twitter Backgrounds
10+ Ideal Twitter Background Tutorials with Resources

3. While logged in to your Twitter account, download TweetDeck, Seesmic, Twhirl, or another third-party editor. Although your Twitter messages (tweets)  will be listed (a message timeline) on your account page, there currently is not a way to directly sift, categorize or group the messages. This is where another tool comes in. I use TweetDeck. It is easy to install,  you can use separate columns for groups, searches, replies, and direct messages, and it is free.

Articles:
10 Twitter Tools that Help You Work Smarter
Top Twitter Tools Exposed & Explained at Lightning Speed! (6 min. video)
10 Cool Firefox Extensions for Twitter

4. Sign up for Twitter Tips, and other helpful guides.

Articles:
How to Effectively Use Twitter Hashtags
Twitter Beginner’s Guide
A Visual Guide to Twitter (JPG)

5. Take a little time to learn how to use Twitter. There is a wealth of information on how to use this communication tool. Some of it is pretty straight forward, some of it has a marketing skew for social media professionals trying to cash in on this new market. Don’t be scared off. It is worth the time. And soon, you will have many friends to ask and follow.

Articles:
100 Tips to Be a Smarter, Better Twitterer
How To: Use Twitter’s New Retweet Feature
Twitter Beginner’s Guide – PDF
Twitter Lingo – A Quick Guide
Tweetable Art: 10 Twitter Tips for Artists
Twitter Handbook for Teachers
Mashable: The Social Media Guide: Twitter
Mashable: How To: Retweet on Twitter
Using Twitter to Market Your Art
13 Twitter Tips and Tutorials for Beginners
How-To: Backup Your TweetDeck Groups And Preferences

6. Look for peers, friends, contacts, organizations, news agencies and other interesting people to “follow.”
When you follow someone, you add them to the network of information agencies and personalities that you want to know about and correspond with. Those that follow you, want to get your messages. Follow people’s content (tweets) by clicking on the “follow” link under their name and avatar picture in the upper left of their Twitter home page.

Search for topics such as art, artist, gallery, painting, encaustic, art news, or call for artists on Twitter. Once on a page of interest, check out who they are following. Click on who they think is interesting and decide if you want to follow too. From my page you could follow: Top Art News, Twitter Tips,  The Webby Awards, and ArtNetDotCom, Tate, or SFMOMA to name a few.  Don’t forget regular news channels that also use Twitter such as CNN, BBC, or PBS Blogs.

You can also search and/or join a directory such as We Follow,  Twitr, or Twellow. Take a look at HastTags for trends, tags and people. “Get and set definitions for #tags – A dictionary for (hash) tags,” at Tagalus.  Search hashtags using Twubs.  Example for #encaustic: http://www.twubs.com/encaustic. Use a service such as Omnee, a dynamic Twitter directory. ) Organize people you follow using Twitter Lists.

Articles:
How to Turn Twitter Into Your One-Stop Lifestream
How To:  Use Twitter Lists
10 Ways You Can Use Twitter Lists
Twitter Lists: Frequently Asked Questions and Strategies
The Top Ten Reason Why I Might Want to Tweet Instead of Make Art
How To: Get the Most Out of Twitter #Hashtags
6 Twitter Search Services Compared
The 7 Ways to Approach Twitter
The 10 Users You’ll Meet on Twitter
#Encaustic: Artists on Twitter Exhibit

7. Use third-party Twitter tools to extend your content reach.
There are many tools that will help you get your message out with multi-media impact. A tool I use daily is Twitpic. You can show work in progress, completed work, or pictures from your last exhibit quickly with Twitpic or yFrog.  Only takes a few seconds to add a link to a picture.

There are also tools to show YouTube videos, YouTube Tweete, or upload and view your own video updates with Twiddeo.  Get the most from your 140 characters (including spaces) by compressing web addresses/URLs that you reference with TinyURL. Send out invitations to a tweetup with Twtvite. Create a poll with Twtpoll. Or, send a quick Twtcard. Look for new iPhone apps such as Tweetmic (“high-quality audio recordings or “Tweetcasts” directly from your iPhone), for new functionality. TBuzz enables you to tweet about the web page your are on with the click of a bookmarklet.

Articles/Resources:
9 Tips for Enriching Your Presentations with Social Media
TwitGlry : A Twitter Tools and Apps Gallery
5 Ways to Share Images on Twitter
55 Cool Twitter Widgets and Apps
Picnik Makes it Easy to Tweet Your Photos
Mashable: Twitter Toolbox: 60+ Twitter Tools
Mashable: Twits to Go: Top 12 Twitter Apps for Your Phone

8. Remember, this is a social media tool with the formality associated with the business or social purpose you choose. Your messages should reflect your personal voice but also be in line with your other online assets. Tweet often, but make an exchange of useful information a priority.

Articles:
Tweet Ideas: 13 Things to Do on Twitter Besides Tweet
10 Twitter Safety Tips to Protect Your Account & Identity
Top 13 Twitter Don’ts

9. Follow, remove or block – choices to grow your network. It takes time to gather good reliable Twitter followers, and find those who will become important as friends and resources. It is worth it. At some point you will find that ah-ha moment when using Twitter goes from “this is not worth the time” to “I love this – who else can I get involved.”

You will need to make decisions on who you are following and who follows you. Like keeping weeds out of the garden, there will be those that follow you that you may not want to.  On your Twitter account page click on the link for “followers” in the upper right of your home page and click the “block” button. Other tools, such as TweetDeck will have this option as well. Don’t get tied up in the numbers of followers.

Unless you are a promotions fanatic, you want quality over quantity. If you find that you are not really interested in someone you choose to follow, “remove” them from the list. On your Twitter account page click on the link for “following” in the upper right of your home page and click the “remove” button. Other tools, such as TweetDeck will have this option as well. Again, don’t get tied up with the numbers. You want the most relevant and interesting information available. This protects you and your time, and developes quality relationships.

Articles:
Beyond #FollowFriday: 24 Daily Twitter Memes
Twitter Etiquette: A guide to getting unfollowed
FollowFriday- How it Works
The Best Damn #FollowFriday Video On The Net
Twitter Support: How Do I Report Spam?

10. Oh yeah, just for fun:

TwitPaint
Stephen Colbert interviews Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter (video interview)
TwitShirt: Your tweet quote on a t-shirt
Peekr. Temporarily view the background on a Twitter home page.
We Are Hunted: The Online Music Chart
NASA
26 Charities and Non-Profits on Twitter
Terminator Salvation Launches Elaborate Twitter Game
6 Twitter Games To Make Tweeting Fun

Conclusion: In my studio, not only do I move from drawing to painting, sketch to print, or idea to finished piece, I also move between my work tables and the computer. You might say that my analog (physical art making) life and digital (2D/3D image creation, art business development through my web site and blog, and networking with friends, peers and resources with social media) have a symbiotic relationship. I am inspired and motivated by both.

Update, Aug ‘09:  Although I have successfully used Twitter for the past year, I am currently taking a social networking break to re-evaluate my overall branding PR plan.  (It’s okay to do that, really!!)  Look for me again on Twitter in the future.

Please leave your tips or resources in the comments section linked below!

In the Studio: Color Decision with Online Tools

I used Adobe’s Kuler, online color palette tool, to  development the color relationships used in  “Rhondo Weave: African Violet.” Here is a short version of the steps I used:

1. Experiment with color themes until you are satisfied with a swatch palette that represents your idea. (See post Online: Adobe Kuler Color Tool Rescue.)

Meditation IV: http://kuler.adobe.com/#themeID/429404 (105 color themes and counting!)

2. Choose similar color chips (I stockpile paint chips from various paint stores.) to use in your work area as reference, pick corresponding encaustic base colors that you already have, mix new colors if you need to.

3. Start working …

4. Finished!

Although the final image is different than my original idea, doing the color analysis up front helped me avoid problem colors. Take a look at Kuler and enjoy digital color mixing.

Online: Adobe Kuler Color Tool Rescue

Sometimes it is hard to either think clearly about a new color scheme, how to complete or extend an existing one, or troubleshoot a problem color. A tool that I love is Adobe’s Kuler. It is a free online color-chip style generator, and there are thousands of color groupings, called themes, that have been made by others that you can search by keyword. There is a short AdobeTV overview video.

I  made too much of a semi-translucent green that reminded me of Lava Soap. Kind of a medium-minty color. Well, a little is fine, but I have way too much. So, turning to Kuler, I searched for “mint” as the tag and found many color options to work with my new treasure. Out of 650 results returned, some of my favorite combinations were: “watermelon mint,”  “coral mint,”  and “a passing feeling.” “Watermelon mint” is shown here.

You can create color groupings called themes based on analogous, monochromatic, triad, complementary, compound, shades, and custom. It is possible to make themes from pictures found online or uploaded from your computer, or variations on existing themes made by others. Save your favorites, and import colors into some current software tools.

In a short time, I came up with three combinations that could help me work with my Lava Soap encaustic color supply: “Iris I Detail II,” “Theme 3,” and “Theme 4.” Combinations are limited only by your imagination and time. (Possibly snacks and a beverage.)

I have over 100 color themes,  including “Encaustic Bliss.” Look for “lisa.”

(No Lava soap green here!)

[Studio YouTube music-a 70's Flashback: Harry Chapin: Cats in the Cradle; Cat Stevens: Father and Son, Moonshadow, Peace Train, Oh Very Young, Sad Lisa;  Jim Croce:  I Got a Name, These Dreams; Gordon Lightfoot - If You Could Read My Mind, Dave Loggins: Please Come to Boston.]

New Work: “Rhondo Weave: Great Burnet”

“Great Burnet” added today to the “Rhondo Weave” series. 18″ x 18,” encaustic with oil bar and metal leaf on canvas wrapped braced board.

Detail from upper left corner.

Show Acceptance: “Meditation: Sunset”

“Meditation: Sunset” was accepted in the Working in Wax exhibit.  Juror Eileen P. Goldenberg. Bedford Gallery, http://www.bedfordgallery.org/.  May 6 – June 21, 2009.

“Encaustic paint has luminous translucency, a succulent surface, and warms to the touch, like human skin. It offers a wide range of applications, such as using the pure encaustic with no color, adding pigments for rich color, creating texture, casting in molds, collaging with photographs, and making sculptures by combining it with wood, steel, and other materials. I believe this is why we love the wax; it gives us endless possibilities for expression.

Selecting well conceived, beautifully executed, and visually satisfying art works was my vision for this show. I was looking for artists who give us a glimpse into their emotions and lives. Though the focus of this show is the material, what is vital to art is the expression of the artists, and it is their visual language that shines through.

Eileen P. Goldenberg, juror”

18″ x 18″ Encaustic with Oil Bar and Metal Leaf .
Canvas on Braced Board. 2009

Detail from bottom left corner.

May 6: Exhibition Opening Reception, 5:00—7:00 p.m.
June 18: Culture + Cocktails Reception, 6:00—8:00 p.m.
June 21: Exhibition closes

Bedford Gallery
1601 Civic Dr.
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
925/295-1423
http://www.bedfordgallery.org/

If you are close, take a look at the exhibit and snap a picture for me!

Online: Encaustic Paintings eBook made with MyeBook

I made my first ebook online with MyeBook. Select the number of pages you want, upload your content. Choose from pre-made bookcovers, page backgrounds, and images. Crete a multi-media experience by adding Flash, audio and video clips.

Take a look and experience the smooth page turns of this online ebook: Encaustic Paintings 2009. Selections from the “Meditation” and “Rhondo Weave” series.  Zoom in to see each page, click-and-drag to turn the page, or advance pages using the arrow bar in the lower left corner. Leave me a comment here (click on the “comments” link at the end of this post) , or a message at the ebook site.

Collect your images, text and design ideas and make an ebook of your work.

*Update: On 12-24-09, I received a status notification saying my ebook has been viewed 90,000 times. Not bad!

Inspiration: Unexpected Subject

For inspiration I often revisit previous ideas.  The following image collage came from a trip with 2 girlfriends to an Amish country bed-and-breakfast in the late fall.  Although the company and the lodgings were comfortable and restorative, the weather was cold, overcast and bleak.

I took many photographs of the surrounding rolling hills, farm equipment, pine rockers on the sprawling porch, as well as small details including a birdbath that was chipped, stained and discarded behind the barn. Layers of sediment, decaying leaves and bits of bark created an interesting patina at the bottom.

Long after the trip was over I looked again at these photos when asked by my friends for copies to document our trip together. The picture that fascinated me the most was that of the birdbath. Thinking about my feelings of being with my friends and having the daily chores of life lifted gave me a new perspective into the image.

By enhancing colors, textures and light, and adding bits of photographs I took from other outings I evolved an image that better represented the experience for me. I found that the rudimentary documentation of the birdbath  served as inspiration for deeper contemplation.

“Wordless does the mind search.”

Although this image is part of an older journaling project, I see similar thoughts regarding color, texture and light being manifested in current work, such as the New “Rhondo Weave” Series.

“Rhondo Weave: Thyme”

Related posts: Rhondo Weave: Lavender, 3 New “1000 Petals” Paintings, and Dog Dream Series.

Online: Fantasy Museum Experience

Longing to get into a museum? Now you can get the thrill and adoration without the angst or wait.   View your work in a museum-like atmosphere, larger than life with adoring patrons! Just a few quick clicks with this online tool: Museumr.

Here is a lovely picture of my 24″ x 24′” encaustic “Iris I” stretched to a grand scale on a beautiful blue-gray museum gallery wall. Looks like I’m going to need to invest in much bigger brushes and raise my own bees for wax to match this size! Hope there is a workshop for that.

You can also turn your art into a Rubik’s Cube, jigsaw, lego-ize it or turn it to goo (not that some of us haven’t already seen that at least once).  A quick, silly online tool at Museumr.

” Have you ever dreamt of your own exhibition in an art museum? The Museum of Modern Art, or a private display at Kunstmuseum Stuttgart Art Museum? Now you can have your photos displayed in halls all around the world — eternal fame is just a click away. Pick a photo and place it in a museum art.”

Even though this is a virtual experience, seeing a piece scaled to a large format was worth the time for me. Take a break from the hot plate. Have fun.

New Work: New “Rhondo Weave” Series

New series:  “Rhondo Weave.” 3 encaustic paintings with oil bar and metal leaf  on canvas wrapped braced boards. Tansy and Thyme are 12″ x 12,” “Lavender” is 24″ x 24.”

Rhondo Weave: Tansy

Rhondo Weave: Thyme

Rhondo Weave: Lavender Blue

Rhondo Weave: Lavender Blue – Upper Left Corner Detail

Similar to previous series, there are expressive marks overlapping  softly blended colors.  Imagery based on natural herbal elements.

Online: Encaustic Slides on Slideshare

Do you have a Power Point/Keynote slide show to share? Did you miss one that you still may want to see? Then take a look at Slideshare.com. There are many good slide shows here on a variety of subjects. And, it may be a place to host your presentation so that others can see it in the future.

These are a few that caught my interest:

Mourning the Bees – 24 slides, 2008

Waxy Buildup – 22 slides, 2007

Daniella Woolf: Encaustic Stripes – 7 slides, 2007

Modern Art – 21 slides, 2009

Even if you don’ give a public talk, you could still post a slide show here and have it link back to your web site or blog. Another online tool and networking opportunity.

New Work: Rhondo Weave: Lavender Blue

The “Rhondo Weave” series continues with “Lavender Blue.”

Detail of the upper left corner. Encaustic with Oil Bar and Metal Leaf, 24″ x 24″.

View on Flickr in SB’s  Encaustic Painting Set.

Online: SB’s Flickr Photostream

At long last I’ve joined the Flickr network.
Take a look at the Encaustic Painting Photostream .

Flickr Slideshow for the Encaustic Painting. Really looks nice full screen  in the browser.

Look for the photostream icon:

[Music in the studio: Jim Brickman Greatest Hits CD.  Youtube: Jim Brickman performing "Never Alone" featuring Hillary Scott and Lady Antebellum, The Gift (anime video), An Evening with Jim Brickman.]

Studio Time: Multi-tasking

Today I need to make encaustic medium, clean up the encuastic painting area, and frame some finished work. And, because I hate cleaning, blog about it.

Task #1:
So far I’ve stacked the brushes, scraped the glass covered table, and cleaned the hotplate I use for keeping pans of encaustic paint hot and fluid. Pigmented blocks of encaustic paint are put away, a stack of paper towels are folded and ready, and the floor is swept.

Task #2:
Next, I cleaned the crockpot used to make medium, measured out the beeswax, weighed the  damar crystals  and pounded the crystals into small bits. Sometimes I heat 1/2 the beeswax prior to adding the damar, but today it all goes in together at once. On goes the lid, and while everything melts together on the medium setting I start task #3.

Task #3:
After printing out my email receipt for the frames I ordered, I take out all the frame parts from the UPS box and compare the order sent with the order paid for. Everything checks out. I put a clean towel down on my work surface to protect the frames while they are being assembled.

Checking on task #2:
I can smell the beeswax melting -Mmmmm! I love that smell.

Back to task #3:
Set out the parts for the first frame with the tools required and the instructions from the company. I like the metal float frames to show off the edges of the paintings. They are easy to assemble and can be moved to another painting quickly in a pinch.

After assembling the metal frame I position the painting in the frame. I use soft, pliable earplugs for smaller frames, wedged in the sides between the painting and the metal frame to insure even spacing. Next, carefully turn the frame/painting over and  screw them into place. Turn it back over and remove the soft spacers. (I have tried cardboard, folded paper and numerous other materials for spacers, but the pink earplugs work the best for me. And, I never miss removing them due to their bright color.) I use 1/4″ strips of dry sponge for larger frames and paintings.

Checking on task #2:
Nicely melting, nothing to do but wait.

Back to task #3:
I frame up half of the paintings and find wall space for each one.

Back to task #1:
Taking a break from framing and pot watching, I blog. Cleaning the encaustic work area is next. Extra beeswax and damar crystals are put away along with the measuring tools. The glass is re-scraped clean as well as little bits of wax from the floor where it has dripped over the last week. Take the trash and recycling out.

Back to task #3:
I finish framing 8 pieces today and hang them all  safely to complete drying/curing. I still have to print out documentation tags for the back of each, but that can wait. Done with task #3.

Back to task #2:
The wax and demar are completely melted.  I strain the medium through several layers of cheesecloth and ladle portions into waiting muffin tins and a  medium bread loaf pan that I keep on the hot plate. Later, when the tins have cooled I’ll remove the handy sized medium shapes and store them in a bin next to the work area. Done with task #2.

Back to task #1:
I finish cleaning from the medium making and am done with task #1.

All in all, a good days work. I have a clean encaustic work area, a fresh batch of medium is made, and several pieces are framed.

[Studio music: Shannon Hurley, Josh Woodward on indie site thesixtyone.]

Online: Vuvox Print Banner

New media banner made on Vuvox: Collage.  35 minutes to make using the previous banner as a template,  including gathering images from various computer folders.  See the full banner online. 2 more minutes to add it to my Vodpod account. Worth the wait to load!

Online: Vuvox MashUps

I am always curious as to what online tools artists are using to promote their work. They include sites like  Y!Groups, as well as the popular social networks like Flickr, YouTube, MySpace, Twitter, and Facebook.  And, there are new online tools coming out every day to leverage these sites. There are a few noted on my blog under the Art/Technology link.  I’m making a collection of these useful tools, so please send me a list of your favorites  in the comments section for this post.

My favorite for today is Vuvox: Collage, a mash-up tool for making a collage banner (sorry, no video or sound, just pictures from the studio and yard – although, if you have it, you can add multimedia).  You can click the play arrow and it will side scroll, or you can move the scrubber/slider left and right to go to any section.

The pictures may be redundant if you’ve recently visited the blog,  but here they are in a new context, re-authored/re-imagined. Take a look at the Sisley-Blinn Artist/Painter collage banner at the Vuvox site, if you cannot see the presentation below, or you want to see the full panorama look.

[Studio music: YouTube -Josh Cobia, "How Many Times,"  MySpace for Josh Cobia.]

Studio Time: Tools & Materials

My paintings are created with studio made beeswax medium, R&F encaustic paints and oil bars, and various brushes and tools.

Working with this tactile medium is challenging, rewarding, and creatively open ended. The surfaces are rich, luminous and inviting. The results are often times surprising and always intriguing.

The details of the surface are often as wonderful as the finished piece viewed from a distance. (Photos taken in the evening light of  the studio.)

[Studio music today: Lilly Allen - "The Fear, " and other pieces on YouTube.]