I have worked a lot more on the Breathing Butterflies piece. It is almost done but just needs a few finishing touches. It is very different from my other work, a bit of a departure for me. When I am working I like to always keep an open mind and try not to fall into doing the same sort of patterns and subjects I've already done. If I do a subject again, I want to re explore the subject and re interpret it. Anyway, this one is very different and I have learned a lot working on it.
I was lucky this week to give a demonstration of encaustic techniques to a group of college students. The two pieces on the right are the result of the demo. They are just beginnings at this point. I like doing demos and talking about my work because it forces me to explain what I do in words and then I really get more of an understanding myself. The one on the left was done by layering 7 colors and using my heat gun to swirl the colors together. On the right, the background is a piece of rice paper I had painted previously that I affixed to the panel with clear wax. Then I put several strips of cloth that I had left over from some sewing projects. I then demonstrated how to do stenciling with encaustic and also how to do linework. I really enjoyed doing stenciling, it has been a while since I have used that technique and I plan on doing more in both of these pieces.