SuzeBlogz

Collage-a-rama

Encaustic artist extraordinaire Roberta Lee Woods came for a 'play date' today.

Roberta not only does encaustic

but is into making beautiful collages with all kinds of handmade papers from abroad...no wax involved.

today was all about GLUE..her fav is

so, we played...

and we glued

then we tried a little waxing & fusing as well

Wendy demonstrated paper collage directly on a hot palette

and then explained how to roll it off the hot palette allowing it to dry & harden

and another 'fusing' demo

when we were all torched out and said our goodbyes Wendy needed a little respite (Oh, okay...I needed one too)....so, before dinner (matzah ball soup...homemade !) we took a quickie drive to the little beach town of...La Selva

quaint

quirky

and vintage !!!!!!

OH YES !!!!!

I am sitting on the most incredible beanbag. The fabric is from an old feedbag and filled with beans. What a clever concept for a beanbag!!!

Comfy...absolutely and, different. BUT, alas...too big & heavy to "SHIP" !!!!

all the pillows in the shop are HAND MADE by the owner and the fabrics come from abroad.

I loved the shop..it's called PATINE

304 Playa Boulevard

La Selva Beach, Ca 95076

831.661.0950

The trouble is....when I walk into these amazing home decor shops I just wanna say WRAP IT ALL UP AND SHIP IT ALL OUT !!!

 

LORD HELP ME !!!

does it go according to plan 'A' ?

Aaaah, all excited...Wendy and Judy are taking me 'Whale Watching" at Moss landing and I've never been whale watching before.

So....I was advised to take a dramamine pill beforehand to help prevent motion sickness...

swallowed the pill and off we went..boarding our boat 'The Sanctuary' (all I could think of was "Logans Run" the sci-fi movie where life ends at 30 as Logan and his friend Jessica attempt to run to Sanctuary !!!....)

and would I ever make it back !

The mate on the ship advised that we also wear motion sickness bracelets...hell.....I thought "Why Not"...at $7 a pop for the rental of these stunning accessories I figured if it keeps me from feeling quesy it'll be worth whatever they're asking !!

pill and bracelet intact...off we go...that's me and Judy

and Wendy

faaaaahbulous....I'm doing great...I see all sorts of marine life..

the boat is going nice and slow...

I see this guy with his $6,000  300mm lens and I think...'show off'..you just wait till the boat starts really moving...how you gonna hold that thing still??

and then....oh, about 2 1/2 hours into the trip, I see this poor gal with her head hanging over the railing on the ship

who knew I'd be joining her a few minutes later !!!

Forget the pills, forget the bracelets...go to Plan 'B'

when it got choppy the weak don't survive!! I don't know about the guy with the big lens, but I threw my guts up twice

and then..I FELT WAAAAAY BETTER !!! and guess what...I wasn't the only one....

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felt better just in time to catch some wonderful whales

Too difficult to predict when they'd surface so most of the memories are in my head and not on film, but, it really was a wonderful day. The skipper and Gilligan had a grand time too !

and then we came home

and I napped for four hours !!!!!!

THE END !!!!

Come along with me...

One of the wonderful things about visiting northern California is that my brother and SIL live right in the same town as the waxy girls.

Spent the morning visiting with my niece Ali (now beautifully recovering from Hodgkins) who, you might remember got married in March and now lives in the San Francisco area, and my nephew Aaron who is currently living in Korea and here for a 2 week visit.

The view from Ali's apartment

I LOVE my family

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After a delicious lunch, and a brief stop at the Farmers Market in Santa Cruz... with entertainment

and where flowers were in abundance

I met up with Wendy and Judy who took me to "heaven" !!

This bird cage comes from Germany...is very old...and ratty looking...all the more reason I said " DO YOU SHIP" ! It had tiny pieces of jewelry in it that some bird 'stole' and dropped in there...or at least so says the 'legend'...

dont'cha love the little plastic cow ??!!??

YES...another "DO YOU SHIP" item !! An old, working concertina.

Cloth doll bodies that come from Japan...Wendy/Judy bought up a ton of them for an art project !

Seriously boys and girls...if you can make a trip over to Saffron and Genevieve at 910B Soquel Ave, Santa Cruz...run !!

Open Wednesday to Saturday 11-5:30pm

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Tomorrow...well..if all goes as planned...we're going whale watching...I'm stocked up on the dramamine...

A little nervous !

A Suzeapalooza Day

Oh Boy.....

Wendy and I took a break from waxing and dashed off to Half Moon Bay today....passing some lovely views

dont these people have jobs ???

aaaah, the beauty of California and the lovely weather !

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We stopped at a goat farm....uh huh...you read that right...

BUTT...it was fun (and smelly!!)

they had a dynamite shop where you could buy all sorts of stuff made from goat.... cheeses especially. We loaded up!!

and they had amazing views

and horses

OK..I could do without the flies....

and beautiful flowers

and, an amazing room upstairs with this wonderful huge banquet table and chairs for parties

and then it was onward to Half Moon Bay for shopping (notice I didn't say "BUY")...I SWEAR !!!

(shoulda bought !)

(not anyone I know!!)

Love the encaustic art pieces from our friend Roberta Lee Woods...for sale at Adobe

and lunch...

at a faaaaaahbulous sushi restaurant with the most beautiful aesthetic design EVER...

I feel like I should go home and re-do my house !!! LOL

The ceiling blew me away

and...wait....the sink in the bathroom took the cake!!! No..it's NOT the toilet despite the shape !!

then....as we drifted into different shops we caught a young man making letterpress stationery

you dont see that art very often !

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Now I did promise to share some more waxy wonders..

Wendy takes enormous care when working with paint sticks.

There is a great safety to be appreciated because all of these sticks contain pigment (like oil paint) , some of which can pass through skin cells and make you sick.

so, when she works with them, (like applying them to a waxed piece) she wears gloves

and when she wipes the paint away with linseed oil

She not only wears gloves but disposes of the gloves and paper in a safe manner. Once the oils touch the paper that she uses to wipe the color away it becomes combustible.

WaxWorksWest gives a 10 minute safety explanation before every class.

here Wendy 'buried' some patterns and transfers into layers of wax

another waxy wonder

 

Tomorrow might just be family day with my sister in law, niece and nephew...

if you come back, you'll find out !

Wax-a-bility

Yes, a good art day starts with a cuppa tea

 

and then we get to add the creativity and the wax !!

Day 2 of the altered book with wax continues...

These 2 pages are done using the really lovely pigment colors from the Miles Conrad collection of encaustic wax.

My friend Judy Stabile created the face which I added to my book.

The face in this page is done with a transfer to wax technique

Here's Judy creating the process

She works on a hot palette and uses Encaustic wax sticks

Then, because she's working on a hot palette and drawing with the wax sticks everything stays liquid so she can create a monoprint transfer

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Here are some other pages from my book

and, some of the other students work...like hand stitching

front of the book cover, all waxed

 (student) Julie did some 'digging' and created quite an interesting paper dimension

Terri (she's below on L) made a wonderful waxed gift card

and her altered book

her book cover (check out the Perfect Pearls Mists) over wax

and, of course there was class nourishment...!!

There's so much more to show you....so...after some retail therapy tomorrow I'll blog a bunch more....show you what Wendy's been up to !!! You'll love it.

Beeswax is HOT !!

Look at these yummy gorgeous colors....WAX !!

Today was day 1 of a class with the very talented Jodi Alexander.

So, we all brought a book to class that we intended to alter. Jody shared samples, both real and in a slideshow, of some amazing things you can do with books

these have been totally waxed ! Very cool sculptural art !

how about paper as jewelry??

let's give it a hand !!!

No gluing needed...hard to believe !

and so we began....

we had the freedom to do whatever we liked with our books using the techniques Jodi demonstrated......making a niche

and Wendy demonstrated as well.....waxing an entire set of papers that have been sewn together...Wendy works on a gorgeous hot palette

Jody shows what can 'hide' in the niche.

some people wanted to sew

I wanted to play with stencils and sprays for starters

 

I worked with Rangers Dylusions Sprays

I took the paper towels I used in class and wet them so the ink spread....dried them on the hot palette.....then waxed them........fabulous result

also tried it with toilet paper...would I kid you...

I also tried a technique where I blacked out all the words in my book except for a select few and because I used a book that had letterpress, when I waxed the page I got this amazing transluscent result.

tomorrow is day 2...I'll show you how everyones books are coming along

in the meantime...here's a wonderful inspirational book you should go looking for

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now, as a quick aside....

don't forget I have stuff on ETSY...latest piece...

it's really unique and very special & has a very pretty magnetic clasp!

Hello California

I was missing my sisters in wax !! Hadn't been out here since March and some good classes were coming up with guest instructers at WaxWorksWest....time to book a flight !

Arrived at Wendy & Rogers house last night

Wendy, as you may remember, is one of the owners of Wax Works West along with her sister, artist & sculpter, Judy Stabile and artist Daniella Woolf.

I've stayed at Wendys house many many times and yet her incredible house and glorious landscaping never stop amazing me.

I love the little cottage behind the house and the climbing hydranga

there was this beautiful mist hovering over several spiderwebs

Tomorrow I'll be in a class with the amazing Jody Alexander.

There are so many fabulous items to buy at Wax Works..but the latest & greatest...for just $2..is the newest size HAKE brush for wax in the 1/2 inch size !!

Making waxy projects with the girls is so much fun

you guys just gotta make them a  workshop destination !

stay with me.....I'm here for 2 fun filled weeks !!

celebrating a cool book...!

Today we're doing a very special BLOG HOP  

it's all about my friend Daniella Woolfs' newest book

You'll want to click on the link above to get really involved & see what the other talented bloggers have to say...but first...I need to share MY story...

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I came from the world of crafting

She came from the world of art

the two of us met

and it was LOVE !

OKAY...so it wasn't quite that romantic....LOL

BUT CLOSE !!!

This is Daniella Woolf and you'll learn all about her if you keep going....

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With no knowledge what-so-ever of beeswax or the word 'encaustic', I signed up for an encaustic class 3,000 miles away, out in California, at a place called WAX WORKS WEST because..

a) Ranger had added beeswax to my product line and I figured I'd better learn what to do wth it...after all, I could melt it in my Melting Pot !

b) I looked online and found these 3 gals who had a fabulous looking wax studio that sounded like a great place to start my learning experience.....

c) it was in my brothers town. I could stay at his house for free !!

and that's when I met, (as I refer to them), the "Wax Girls"

Wendy Aikin, Daniella Woolf and Judy Stabile !

and the romance began!!!

I loved them...they loved me....I learned from them...they learned from me...we had a mutual admiration society goin' on.

Daniellas work was especially different. I'd never even seen anything like it at all. She was waxing things like tea bag tabs or using her moms old canceled checks to make wax art. This was freakin' amazing to me.

Because of class, I was inspired to shred some old paper, wax it and add it to this project

then this project

It became an obsession

and.....what began with one class then turned into a three or four times yearly visit to hang out with the "Wax Girls" and take more classes from them

I learned how to roll paper in wax and set fire to it...safely !!

I learned all about pigment wax

I started waxing everything in sight !!

I did a box...

Daniella showed me lots of things to do with transfers

and stencils

and, of course, rubber stamps

and how to use mesh for texture

each of the girls has their own unique style and each of them teach at the studio.

I bought their books and DVD's

and discovered such a love for all things waxy...

and found experimentation was a big key

I loved pouring the wax into molds

In one of my extraordinary classes with them I did a wax book

I partied with them

and they came to New Jersey and partied with me !!

and now the latest....

I'm so thrilled to own Daniellas' newest book

even if you aren't fortunate enough to make the trip out to California for an in person class, this book will have you doing wonders all by yourself in your own studio...

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whadd'ya wanna know???

Brushes...heat tools....colored pencils...pigments....rub on type.. making a cradled panel....transfers....hot wax stylus tools....pouring wax....india ink.....substrates....metal leafing.....fusing

Daniella shows you EVERYTHING imaginable in this book. Great photography...super 'tips', easy projects, completely user friendly AND ....drum roll please...a DVD comes with it so you can feel like you are taking that one on one class !!!

Join the BLOG HOP

become a fan (found the pin at a beauty show !)

you'll never be intimidated...it's easy, it's fun

IT'S ENCAUSTIC ART !!!

"Creativity is contagious, Pass it on".

 

so said Albert Einstein....

I know most of you don't live here in New Jersey but I so much want to let you know about a terrific event that's going to take place next weekend and give you time to put it on your calendar

It's the

COMMON THREAD

Open Studios Art Tour

SAT JUNE 23 & SUN JUNE 24
11 AM – 4 PM

FREE SELF-GUIDED TOUR OF
LOCAL ARTISTS STUDIOS

10 ARTISTS WILL SHARE THEIR CREATIVE PROCESS
IN BRANCHVILLE, WANTAGE,
FRANKFORD, LAYTON AND SANDYSTON NJ

it's a beautiful area

INFO: Facebook: Common Thread Art Tour
Contact #:  973.534.0357

also

ARTISTS @ SUSSEX COUNTY FARMER’S MARKET at Fairgrounds,
  37 Plains Rd, Augusta,NJ  SATURDAY ONLY,  9 AM-2PM . 
 Food fresh from the farm, music and much more!

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One of the artists that will be displaying is Ricky Boscarino of 'Luna Park'. I've had the pleasure of visiting Ricky at his home/workspace/studio and it is like being in Wonderland.

 

he is a jewelry & pottery designer and I took a mosaic class from him.

you can't even imagine how much fun it is just visiting his 'space'. YES...he really lives here and creates here.

again....you can get additional info if you use their Facebook page: Common Thread Art Tour
 for map & addresses of artists.

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On Friday I will be joining a group of talented  bloggers for an extra special BLOG HOP.

Kicking it off: Cloth Paper Scissors Today

Meet the author: Daniella Woolf

Bianca Mandity

Bridgette Guerzon Mills

Dea Fischer

Jane Davies

Jodi Ohl

Julie Fei-Fan Balzer

Lynette Haggard

and me.....

Welcome to The Encaustic Studio weekend blog celebration blast! Ten fantastic bloggers from all around the country will be joining the party and sharing their thoughts on the new book, The Encaustic Studio by Daniella Woolf, hosting book giveaways and writing about their work in encaustic.

fabulous giveaways

y'all come back now...y'hear!!!

 

finishing up

arrived home last night and now they predict RAIN !!!

I swear to holy heaven...it is just following us around !!

BUT... I really want to show you more of the the cool things we spotted on our walk about Old Town..

they had an Asian Shop...that peaked my interest A LOT !

an authentic old bed from China that they'd filled with old artifacts..if you zoom in tight on the bottom left of center you'll see the old shoes sitting on the floor. The kind with a large platform bottom for the bound feet.

Naturally I wanted to take EVERYTHING home...but...I have no more room for a single thing !!! That's the truth! Bummer !

Moving on....

Little vingettes to peak the interest

Loved these silly birdhouses and how easy they'd be to make

and then The Lenster found a blast from the past...candies we haven't seen since WE were kids in Brooklyn

Believe it or not...a shop that had all kinds of motorcycle stuff

but, I was completely intrigued by the collages and greeting cards from Erin Smith

One was funnier than the other !

I got a couple of good pictures of son Lee

and granddaughter Darian

their rescue beagle Jack

and..whatever these trees are that I loved

wonder if they'd grow in New Jersey??

visit was too short... but too wonderful and now it's back to "normal"...whatever that is !!

Oh..and because

did I forget to mention the Texas purchase...

tra la !!