Collage papers, birch panels and painting larger. It is all good.

** This is a repost of my post from June 18th. Blogger had a brief issue with uploaded photos, and mine were among them. I don’t know any other way to fix this. Unfortunately, I will loose all your kind comments, and my responses. But I wanted the pictures to be on the post.***
Art time has been preciously rare. This is a quick post today. If you read this blog on a more or less regular basis, you know my husband had foot surgery a month ago. Life has not been the same since. But yesterday he went back to work, and things are going well. On my side bar are photos of him gluing up a 36 inch by 36 inch birch panel. You can just see his cast/boot in one of the photos. This weekend I hope to get photos of the final steps he takes when finishing these panels. Mary asked how much the panels weigh. The 36 inch by 36 inch panels are 9 pounds. They are very easy to move about, and hang on the wall while I work standing up. I’ll post more about the whole process soon.
When I have been in the studio I have been working on these 36 inch square panels. I just love working large. Finally there is enough room for gesture, and expanse. In the process of creating my paintings, I also create collage papers. I use a variety of paper to put paint on and take paint off of the panels. These images are of some of the papers recently created. I think they are intriguing, and I can visualize them as an artist book perhaps.
I think my work on the panels is looking more encaustic like all the time. I am isolating layers with gloss acrylic medium. That is really adding depth. Then at the end I use a varnish or medium that is not glossy. I don’t like all that reflection, and I don’t think it suits the mood of my work. I am seriously toying with the idea of trying encaustic, although I wish I could use my tried and trusted acrylics with the wax.
During this time when my studio time has been limited, I have been out and about on the internet, discovering new and interesting blogs. I have added several to my side bar – encaustic artists and photographers. There is stunning work out there!