A Look at fall in the Smokies

Looking out the window of my studio I can hardly concentrate on what I'm working on......the fall colors are really here, and spectacular.........a small sampling

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Stalking the Wild Mushroom

On Saturday we did the most amazing class. It was the Smoky Mountain Field School Hike for collecting wild mushrooms. We went to the Greenbriar Area of the Smoky Mountain National Park.

Mushroom collecting is best in the Spring through Fall. Our instructor was Coleman McCleneghan PhD., and she led us on a journey through the tiny world of mycological fungi. As a rule collecting is not allowed in any national park situation, but because mushrooms are the fruiting body of the plant they are an exception to this. We had a most interesting day and were taught how to identify the mushroom by making a spore print. I loved this aspect (the artist in me) and can't wait to take this to another level and see what I can do with them. This is such an easy and rewarding project I will save it for another post.

Calocera Viscosa
Yellow tuning fork fungi

I do know this one! It's a Chanterelle, it's delicious to eat and I was the one to find it! 

White Polypore 

One day I'll know what the name of this is!

Cyathus
The common name is Bird's nest 

Polypore  

Appreciating The Beauty Around Me

 

Back to the Sketchbook!

I have been busy working on my book, and it's a good thing as the deadline is fast approaching. January seemed like such a long way off but with the holidays in between it isn't. Because the pages in this book are not as paint friendly as the ones in my regular journals, it has taken me time to adjust my style of art journaling. I now glue or sew heavier paper or cardstock to the page and then begin.

My Little Corner

A glimpse into what's been happening on the inside:

more pages......

and more pages.....

Close detail of colored pencil drawing

Monoprinting with Wax

Here is an encaustic monoprint I did today. I am not finished with it yet, I want to do more drawing and incising but I was so pleased with these brilliant colors I had to take photos of them. Mind you I did not do this the traditional way with a hot palette. I just used my pancake griddle and melted the wax directly on it. Then I laid my sheet of 140 lb watercolor paper on top and it picked up some of the color. I had to repeat this about 5 or 6 times to get enough wax on it. I am not sure how it is to be framed as encaustic usually is not put under glass. I will have to investigate.  Look at the color in these details!

I really like the way the white line shows up. I used a
heated stylus with a calligraphy tip.

Metallic wax was used in this detail in the stylus.

Tranquility

These Asian inspired boxes are really fun to make and are the first assemblages I started making in the

 early years. Although  "Tranquility" is a fairly recent one. I used vintage milk paint on this box, I had painted usually paint them with acrylics or spray enamel. The boxes come from a variety of places. This one is just a simple, shallow cigar box. I am always on the lookout for an unusual wooden box to alter. One of my favorite finds was a 1950's children's wooden tool box from ebay. It had so many neat holes, pullouts and drawers, I really had fun with that one and will be posting it in the future. One of the things I enjoy about doing these is the process of making them look ancient.  I was thrilled with the crackle medium I used on the top, it made so many fine little cracks. I then rubbed brown shoe polish into the cracks. The resulting patina was amazing and looked very old.

I have painted all of the inside of the box with 4 or 5 layers milk paint. The milk paint is mixed very thick ( like buttermilk) and sanded well between each coat. Then the collage papers are added. More paint and more collage, drawing and distressing. The final objects are added and colored beeswax is dripped in selected spots.

An old coin I aged placed on a hand made clay disc.

This detail shows a paper wrapped candle on the interior.