Lynn Corsi Bland: August 2016

Mixed Media Artist

I work primarily in acrylics and collage.I use collage and beewax in my assemblage works and am now completing several shrines using found objects. I have been experimenting with encaustic collage and have found the medium very challenging. The paint is a combination of melted beeswax and pigment. A small amount of damar resin is added for hardness. I mix these paints myself and while painting all custom colors are mixed directly on a hot palette.

I will share my progress with this exciting medium with photos of work in progress and finished pieces.

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

A Look at my process

I have recently become a fan of instagram. So many visual treats to excite the senses. I am hooked and hope you will follow me. My handle is just my name, all three of them: lynncorsibland

After posting a few photos of my process when creating an encaustic painting I got a great response, so I thought I'd try it here on my blog.

I thought it might be interesting to document each step as I build up the layers of an encaustic painting.
One painting can have as many as 20, with others only 10 to 12. The first layer is always the gesso and I like to cover my boards myself. If I'm in a mood to work textured I can easily create a few bumps and dips to make it suit me.
The gesso is a very special porous one made specifically for painting with encaustic medium. The surface must be very porous to absorb the wax. Acrylic gesso WILL NOT work. It has a polymer base which is plastic and works as a sealer. I order mine from RFPaints. Some artists paint directly on the raw wood, this works well, and saves a step, but I like the bright white surface.

Here is my board with 2 layers of gesso, and one of india ink loosely painted with a small brush.

I always break up my surface with some type of marks. I get ideas and inspiration as I look at the marks I've drawn.

The next two layers are clear encaustic medium with no pigments added. Even if I want a textured piece I scrape the surface with a razor blade on these early layers. I now have 4 layers and haven't really begun to paint.

I don't plan my colors at the beginning. I like to intuitively look at those lovely colors of hot
wax and randomly choose. These first few layers will covered over so any colors will do. It's
a nice surprise sometimes as I'm scraping through layers to find a wild color combo that I
just love. This is the beauty of the encaustic process. After a few more colorful layers it's time
to get serious. I move the colors that I plan to use and put them to one side of my palette.

I really like the way this blue and coral look side by side on my palette. So these will be a good starting point. I'll continue my demo on the next blog post.

Artist Biography

Born in Daytona Beach, Florida, Lynn Corsi Bland, is an artist who works in a variety of media. Her Constructive Design degree is from Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida. Bland’s work is a combination of paint and wax with found objects to create unique compositions. It has been featured in numerous shows and group exhibitions including The Arrowmont School of Arts Biennial juried exhibition, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, The National Collage Society Annual Exhibitions, Hudson, Ohio, Jack Art Gallery Juried Encaustic Show, Atlanta, Georgia, The National Collage Society Postcard Show, New York, New York, The 2011 Sketchbook Project, Brooklyn, New York, Mason Maurer Fine Art, Atlanta, Georgia The Encaustic Art Institute Juried Show, Cerrilos, New Mexico. The work has received awards and been show cased in numerous magazine publications. Material Visions and Signatures are two books that have included the artist’s work. She holds the distinction of being a Signature Member of the National Collage Society. Living and working in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, in the Great Smoky Mountains, gives the artist an abundance of inspiration to draw from.