Domesticated - Painted Plaster & Encaustic Art

I raised to respect and love the domestic arts - and I do with all my heart.

 My latest art piece, "Domesticated"  is an ode to one of my favorite hobbies - baking! 

Using my new favorite methods.. Layers of plaster on a wood plaque.. Shallow carved using Urban Threads embroidery designs.  Truly, there are soo many ways use to embroidery patterns beyond it's intended use. A fabric and lace apron dusted in chalk, stamped, and covered in beeswax...

A few more layers of paint - reminiscent of those fun, flour messes that build in our home after a day of baking cookies.

A Shallow Carved Mixed Media Mirror

A few months ago I picked up Plaster Studio: Mixed-Media Techniques for Painting, Casting and Carving with the hopes of learning some new mixed media techniques. And boy did I ever! It is rare these days that I find a book that I want to completely devour and every page has insightful new techniques. If you don't have this book in your library at home, you need to. It's pure awesome.

Two weeks ago I had reached a mental block with sewing and needed to move into a different media. I started playing with plaster and didn't stop. Then to top off my excitement with a bit of heartbreak, I read online that Jenny Doh was hosting Stephanie Lee, one of the authors, to teach a class on her book. Oy. Some days I miss my California home badly, those days usually coincide with Jenny's class announcements. From all the pictures on Instagram from that class, yeah I was bummed! I decided that I would pretend to be at the class and join in on the fun.

I brought out this plastered wood mirror that I had started and just went to town on it. Layers of burnt umber, mustard yellow and evergreen. Then a shallow carving of a single feather. And yes, I sweated over that one. I figured I had one good try to make it right or I'd be back to square one. Luckily I didn't choke and I'm pretty happy with it.

I thought it needed a little something extra, I decided to carve a small word of inspiration.. "fly".

Though I'm sure it doesn't compare to taking a class with Stephanie, it was still so much fun to make. I just added the mirror to my Etsy site if you are interested.