High Cotton & Other Artistic Endeavors

I have been working on this painting for Grady since ummmm...let's say July.  Very well could have been June.  Let's just say I took my time and gave it plenty of time to dry between coats.  I was experimenting with encaustic, and while I really love the effect, it was challenging.  Encaustic is a way of using wax to paint with.  You can mix the wax with paint and actually paint with it, or use it on its own.  I used it by itself and layered it with oil paint, paper, photo paper, and transparency paper.  I started with a photograph on regular paper, placed it on the canvas, and the applied the wax.  To apply the wax you melt it until its very runny, and then paint it on or use a palette knife to apply it.  The trick is that it warms up really fast, so applying it evenly is tricky - after some trials, I decided I like the palette knife best.  There are about five more layers of paint and a couple more layers of wax in between.  Its hard to see in the picture, but it does create a kind of 3D effect that I really love.  You can see beyond the transparent wax to previously painted areas, so it has a lot of depth.  The photo in the center was taken by Grady's sister Terah at their house one October, and I took the black & white photo of the big house, which I developed on transparency.  Here are a couple more detailed shots:

I also have rediscovered my love of paint your own pottery places recently thanks to a Starkville Young Professionals Girls Night Out Event.  This pottery painting is a hobby I could get really carried away with if I let myself.  Here are two of those recent creations (a water bowl for Layla and Lorelei, and a spoon rest)