Red Wave I Encaustic on Canvas

Encaustic on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
24"x54"
(3) 24"x18"x1.5"
$385

To purchase this work, please visit my Etsy Store.

All that Jazz Encaustic on Panel

Encaustic on Panel, Framed
12"x48"
(4) 12"x12", (4) 14"x14" framed
$260

To purchase these four beautiful paintings, please visit my Etsy Store.

Jade Dreams Encaustic on Panel

Encaustic on Panel, Framed
10" x 24"
(3) 8"x10", (3) 10" x 12" framed
$125

To purchase this work, please visit my Etsy Store.

Whew, I am exhausted. Even my hair hurts. No seriously. It does. White Linen Night was fun, but it was HOT. I believe the heat index when I was setting up was around 110 degrees, and I'm not joking. We've had one day of rain since we got back from the wedding, so I do not believe that I have sweat that much in a very long time. Joe got worried because I started getting a little distant, so he kept handing me water. I think the heat was getting to me. That and not eating. But regardless, I learned a TON about doing festivals and such. It was a great dress rehearsal. Now I know what to look for in a show, and especially how to better prepare. I thought I was organized, only to figure out that I was actually very disorganized. Funny, eh? Lots of life lessons, now I have to sell some more so that I can do more festivals!

Golden Dragon Encaustic on Canvas

Encaustic on Canvas, Ready to Hang
16" x 42" x 1.5"
$250

This piece is going to be available first at White Linen Night in the Heights. If you would like to purchase this before it goes on sale at WLN or my Etsy Store, please Email Me. This piece is a colorful painting done as a triptych (3 canvases) on gallery-wrapped canvas. I have finished the edges in black, so there is a lovely, clean, contemporary look to it, but because the painting itself has such an organic feeling, the two styles keep the piece warm and lovely for your home.

Whirlwind Encaustic on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

Encaustic on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
24" x 18" x 1.5"
$150

The sides of this piece are painted a dark espresso brown so there is no need to frame, and it will be ready to hang, right out of the box! To purchase this work, please visit my Etsy Store.

Note: My blog readers are being given first look at this beautiful work of art. Because of the drying time of the varnish, this piece will be available in my Etsy Store on Aug. 2nd. To pre-purchase this work, please Email Me.

Ahhhh... looks like I picked the wrong day to work on the computer all day. It wound up being pretty nice all day long yesterday, until about 6 or 7pm, when the skies finally opened up. Today is just pretty miserable. So dark outside that I have to turn most of the lights on inside to see anything. But hey, at least I can stretch some canvases, do some of the not so fun grunt work, and maybe finish the laundry. (I'm still trying to catch up on housework from being away on our honeymoon!) The lawn definitely needs it. This summer has been so much more dry than last summer, our grapefruit and lemon trees are just screaming for more water. Stay dry!

Hurricane Party

"Hurricane party,
Getting out of control,
Lying in a gutter eating tootsie rolls"
-Cowboy Mouth

So yes, Hurricane Dolly is currently bearing down on the gulf, and specifically the southern tip of Texas. To be honest, I have never seen people so worked up about a Category 1 hurricane. Up here in Houston (literally hundreds of miles away), people are not panicking, but still talking about doomsday scenarios for flooding and wind. It is a little disturbing. Granted, I have now lived in three very hurricane prone areas (and island off of South Carolina, New Orleans, and now Houston) so I may be a little jaded. I was always seriously disturbed at the apparent nonchalance towards hurricanes in New Orleans, and they wound up paying for the laissez faire attitude. But at the same time, we didn't evacuate from Hilton Head (which is an island with one road off of it) for a Category 1. Forget it. There were some years rainstorms brought more rain and wind than a Cat 1. And I digress.

I've been pretty frustrated recently with my encaustic work. I love doing it, I love the translucency and the beauty of color. (These two pictures are shots of my table this week. I got so excited at all the beautiful colors I got to mix!) However, I do not love the amount of dry time that comes with varnishing these works. It has very much put me into a jam. I can wait for the encaustic part itself to dry (between 1-2 weeks depending on the thickness of the paint), but the varnish is takign 2-3 weeks, which eats up any available drying space I have. Not only that, but with a 3-5 week lead time from start to finish, I'm having some difficulties getting enough inventory made for my Etsy store. I would really like to have about 80-100 pieces in the store at any given time. I can then replace items as needed and focus some more larger pieces (like The Great Reef).

So here is what I have done to solve the problem:

1) Built a drying rack. This is a beast. 8 feet tall, made out of studs and dowels, mostly. It can hold between 15-30 pieces depending on if they are my 12x12 quads or my 10x24 trips. I started the shelves 3' off the floor to help avoid some dust.

2) I'm working on my varnish mixture. Hopefully adding some OMS will help speed up the dry time but still protect the pieces. Because they stay so tacky for so long, I've had lots of problems with lint and dust getting into the varnish and I've been having to pick it out. Not so much fun.

Other than that, I am going to be working online for most of the day today. It's looking like a yucky day, so the lighting will be awful in my studio. Might as well make the most of a rainy day and spend it on some much needed business development. Stay dry and think of happy colors!

Herding Fish HUGE Encaustic on Panel Painting Framed

Encaustic on Panel, Framed
12" x 48"
(4) 12" x 12", (4) 14" x 14" framed
$260

To purchase this colorful painting, please visit my Etsy Store.

Above and Beyond HUGE Abstract Encaustic on Panel, Framed

Encaustic on Panel, FRAMED
12" x 48"
(4) 12" x 12" (14" x 14" framed)
$260

To purchase this piece of colorful artwork, please visit my Etsy Store.

What an appropriate title to the post today, when I think about it. Last week, I found out from the Daily Painter website that I had not been accepted this go around. After much deliberation and after I did some self-reflection, I decided that it was for the best right at the moment. I leave on Friday to go out of town for two weeks to get MARRIED. If I had just been accepted to the website, I would be stressed out about trying to post things when I should be focusing on the next two weeks of my life.

But. Just because I was not accepted does not mean that I have given up by any means. The more I thought about their response and rejection email, the more I realized that I definitely need to apply again. I think the thing that hurt me the most was my two month hiatus from posting while I was out of the country and worried about wedding details. So, I am going to be almost religious in my fervor to post regularly and to paint ALL the time. This is especially helped because I have to produce a LOT of work in the next few months to begin applying to festivals and to get ready for White Linen Nights on Aug. 2nd.

Daily Painters, you have not seen the last of Shelby Crutchley, and when she applies again in August, you are going to be BLOWN AWAY by the amount of quality, beautiful work she has done, and how faithful she is being to posting on her blog.

Okay, that's it for today, Ciao!

Shockwave Original Encaustic on Panel

Original Encaustic on Panel Triptych, Framed
10" x 24"
(3) 10" x 8"
$100

If you would like to purchase this work, please visit my Etsy Store.

These works are so much fun to do. And this one especially with the little "shock" of coral in there with the blues. Just think of how much spunk and color you can add to your home or office with a painting like this. Forget the throw pillows, add some art!

Floating Acrylic on Canvas

Floating
Acrylic on Canvas
24" x 36"
$260

To purchase this piece, please visit my Etsy Store.