Contemplative Encaustic on Panel

Encaustic on Panel, Framed
10"x24"
(3) 8"x10", (3) 10"x12" framed
$125

To purchase this abstract encaustic painting, please visit my Etsy Store.

Meadow Encaustic on Panel

Encaustic on Panel, Framed
10"x24"
(3) 8"x10", (3) 10"x12" framed
$125

To purchase this abstract encaustic painting, please visit my Etsy Store.

Calm and Collected Encaustic on Panel

Encaustic on Panel, Framed
10"x24"
(3) 8"x10", (3) 10"x12" framed
$125

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

Rolling Waves Encaustic on Panel

Encaustic on Panel, framed
10"x24"
(3) 8"x10", (3) 10"x12" framed
$125

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

High Wind Encaustic on Panel

Encaustic on Panel, Framed
10"x24"
(3) 8"x10", (3) 10"x12" framed
$125

To purchase this work, please visit my Etsy Store.

Round and Round Encaustic on Panel

Encaustic on Panel, Framed
10"x24"
(3) 8"x10", (3) 10"x12" framed
$125

To purchase this work, please visit my Etsy Store.

Buildling Blocks 5 Encaustic on Canvas

Encaustic on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
24"x60"
(3) 20"x24"
$350

To purchase this work, please visit my Etsy Store.

Tempest Encaustic on Panel

Encaustic on Panel, Framed
10"x24"
(3) 8"x10", (3) 10"x12" framed
$125

To purchase this piece, please visit my Etsy Store.

Sorry for the lack of posts this month. It isn't that I have been remiss in posting, rather, this big, bad hurricane named Ike decided to make its way through Houston. We're 70 miles inland, and we lost power on the 13th. Today is the first day that we have actually had it back. So, I apologize for not being more current and up-to-date. Also, because of the lack of power, I haven't been able to produce any work. Encaustic requires power for your hot plate or heat gun. So I will be doing a lot, and will be posting lots of new work! Hope you all are doing well, and I'm definitely glad to be back.

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.

Tropical Reef Encaustic on Panel

Encaustic on Panel, Framed
10"x24"
(3) 8"x10", (3) 10"x12" framed
$125

To purchase this painting, please visit my Etsy Store.

Fall Festival Encaustic on Canvas

Encaustic on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
24"x40"
(2) 24"x20"
$295

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

Turquoise Dream Encaustic on Panel

Encaustic on Panel, Framed
10"x24"
(3) 8"x10", (3) 10"x12" framed
$125

To purchase this painting, please visit my Etsy Store.

Building Blocks 4 Encaustic on Canvas

Encaustic on Canvas
20"x40"
(2) 20"x20"
$250

To purchase this fun and funky painting, please visit my Etsy Store.

Elegant Motion Encaustic on Canvas

Encaustic on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
23"x34"
$300

To purchase this abstract seascape, please visit my Etsy Store.

Crashing Encaustic on Canvas

Encaustic on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
24"x36"
$275

To purchase this work, please visit my Etsy Store.

Caracao Clear Encaustic on Panel

Encaustic on Panel, Framed
10"x24"
(3) 8"x10", (3) 10"X12" framed
$125

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

Seaspray II Encaustic on Panel

Encaustic on Panel, Framed
10" x 24"
(3) 8"x10", (3) 10"x12" framed
$125

To purchase this work, please visit my Etsy Store.

Kokomo Encaustic on Panel

Encaustic on Panel, Framed
10"x 24"
(3) 8"x10", (3) 10"x12" framed
$125

To purchase this work, please visit my Etsy Store.

Have a great weekend! The hubby and I are off to a wedding in NYC for one of our best friends. See you on Tuesday!

Subtlety Encaustic on Canvas

Encaustic on Canvas
24"x36"x1.5"
$300

To purchase this work, please visit my Etsy Store.

Cali Dreaming Encaustic on Canvas

Encaustic on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
24"x36"x1.5"
$300

To purchase this work, please visit my Etsy Store.

Envy Encaustic on Panel

Encaustic on Panel, Framed
10"x24"
(3) 8"x10", (3) 10"x12" framed
$125

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

Building Blocks 3 Encaustic on Canvas

Encastic on Canvas
24"x40"
(2) 20"x24"
$325

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

Dots Encaustic on Panel

Encaustic on Panel, Framed
10"x24"
(3) 8"x10", (3) 10"x12" framed
$125

To purchase this painting, please visit my Etsy Store.

Rings on the Table

Encaustic on Panel, Framed
10"x24"
(3) 8"x10", (3) 10"x12" framed
$125

This fun piece of art can be purchased through my Etsy Store.

I love this painting. When I was making it, I had the brown down on the panels, and (in case you hadn't noticed) I very much enjoy working with brown/turquoise combinations. Well, I was kind of experimenting with making circles in encaustic (not the easiest thing to do). I put the first one down and was reminded of being a little girl, and my mother saying "Use a coaster! You'll put rings on the table and ruin it!" Just gave me a little chuckle.

Building Blocks 2 Encaustic on Canvas

Encaustic on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
24"x30"x1.5"
$250

To purchase this work, please visit my Etsy Store.

Building Blocks Encaustic on Canvas

Encaustic on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
20"x40"
(2) 20"x20"
$275

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

Pulp Art Encaustic on Panel

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

To purchase this work, please visit my Etsy Store.

Beginning with "Wild West" I have really focused on trying to push my encaustic work in a little bit of a new direction. Don't get me wrong, I am still doing my swirly, organic type paintings that look like some kind of areal view of the Earth. But as I am doing larger and larger pieces, I have run into some limitations as to being able to get the ethereal and organic shapes that look so lovely on smaller pieces.

I really focusing on building lots and lots of layers to achieve a depth and minute detail that is very interesting to the eye. I'm also working very much on making my color palettes more subtle. Personally, the vivid colors I have been using are my favorites. Don't worry, I'm not giving those up either, it is more that I am trying to push myself artistically to try new things.

One thing I am SO excited about - I just discovered the magnetic lasso tool in Photoshop. AMAZING! Because of that one amazing little tool, and with some layering stuff, I was able to FINALLY get an indoor view that I am now happy with for my Etsy listings. So excited! I just really feel that this new picture looks so much more professional than the one I had been using. Time to edit more photos, and keep on checking the Etsy store - I probably have about five more things I will be listing in there this weekend!

Harvest Encaustic on Panel

Encaustic on Panel, Framed
10"x24"
(3) 8"x10", (3) 10"x12"
$125

To purchase this work, please visit my Etsy Store.

Ack! My face hurts. I woke up yesterday morning and apparently it is that season again. I jumped straight into some kind of sinus infection, do not pass go, do not collect $200. Usually I have a little bit of a warning, some kind of buildup. Maybe because it rained yesterday it just made my allergies that much worse. I got some canvases gessoed yesterday, but I don't know how much painting I will be able to get done today. Paint fumes probably aren't going to help me out a whole lot. Sigh.

I had a discussion with Beth yesterday about how no paint is actually good for you. She was a chemistry major for much of college before she changed her major to art (kind of like me who graduated with a finance degree... and am now a full time artist???). So Beth actually has studied a fair amount about paint's chemical composition. I did not know that acrylic paints are actually almost as bad for you, or worse, if ingested. Part of their flow agent is formaldehyde. Scary, eh? She told me stories about her many pet fish that lost their lives after she painted rooms with laytex acrylic (indoor house) paint and didn't move their tank from the room beforehand. This also explains why I was starting to get lightheaded after gessoing canvases for several hours.

Honestly, it never really occurred to me that gesso and acrylic paint give off fumes of any kind. They are so touted by the industry as being "healthier" for you. I don't sand the gesso on my canvas, so I've never worried about it. But I must say, I never get lightheaded when I use oils as long as I use Linquin and keep the top on my Turpenoid.

In any case, I have more or less determined that by the time I reach 35 I will most likely be senile or just have totally cooked my brain Ozzy Osbourne style from all the painting I am doing. (Although that man is totally the poster boy for not doing drugs. Kind of sad how anti-establishment he used to be and generally hardcore... now he can barely speak. And I digress...)

Revelry Encaustic on Panel Framed

Encaustic on Panel, Framed
10"x24"
(3) 8"x10", (3) 10"x12" framed
$125

To purchase this work, please visit my Etsy Store.

Wild West Encaustic on Canvas

Encaustic on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
20"x48"
(3) 20"x16"
$ 340

To purchase this beautiful abstract painting, please visit my Etsy Store.

The Great Wave Encaustic on Canvas

Encaustic on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
24"x60" <--- HUGE
(3) 24"x20" Canvases
$450

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.

My First Etsy Treasury

I got my first Treasury! It was quite the adrenaline rush waiting for the clock to wind down to grab one in time. Well now I know that I can do it - but I also know that getting a Treasury is a 2 hour process too. Phew! Lots of fun, hope it helps visual artists get some much needed exposure on Etsy. Help me out and click!

Lily Pond Encaustic on Panel

Encaustic on Panel, Framed
10"x24"
(3) 8"x10", (3)10"x12" framed
$100

To purchase this beautiful abstract art, please visit my Etsy Store.

If you're in Texas, make sure to stay dry! I'm not worried about TS Edouard simply because we are so far inland, but there could be some wind and tornado issues. Nothing worth evacuating for since we are in the 500 year flood plain. Thankfully we will be getting some rain, it has been so dry here. Seems like the only time we get rain is when one of these tropical storms or hurricanes come through.

BS Art Studio website is FINALLY finished. I am so excited about how it turned out. Of course there are some small things to tweak, but all in all it looks pretty awesome. I think I still want to have a page of links, and another page about encaustic, but for right now, it looks pretty good, so I am excited! Take a gander at that site here: www.bsartstudios.com

I've very much been enjoying doing this blog, but I've also been wanting to explore other aspects of being an artist and being a part of the Etsy community. So, I've started a second blog, on my BS Art Studio website, and it's called Sail Away. I'm using this blog to focus on promoting fellow Etsy members, and to also educate both sellers and buyers about handmade items. Many people believe that because something is handmade, you shouldn't have to pay much for the item. I would like to show buyers the thought process behind pricing and why it is better to buy handmade items rather than something mass produced in a sweatshop in a third-world country. In any case, this is going to be fun!

Lazy River Encaustic on Panel

Encaustic on Panel, Framed
10" x 24"
(3) 8"x10", (3) 10"x12" framed
$125

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

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!

Seaspray Encaustic on Panel

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

To purchase this work, please visit my Etsy Store.

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.

Cape Encaustic on Panel

Encaustic on Panel, Ready to Hang
24" x 30" x 1.5"
$300

This piece will be available in my Etsy Store on Aug. 2nd. To pre-order this, please email me.

Man, getting ready for White Linen Night has been so much harder than I anticipated. I'm using lattice panels because this is my first festival, and spending $1000 just on panels alone is a little out of my budget at the moment. So, I've been painting lattice for the past week. If anyone tries to Tom Sawyer you into painting lattice, decline. You don't even really have to do it politely.

On Monday and Tuesday I woke up with an awful awful case of the flu. I've never had my joints ache so badly. I'm used to dealing with sinus stuff that you can eventually work through, but this just knocked me out totally. I slept for the better part of two days. It has put me into a bit of a panic, since WLN is in just a couple of days, but I should hopefully be ready in time. I don't really have an option, now do I? In any case, I'm back up on my feet and just getting as much done as possible between now and Saturday morning. I can't wait, but at the same time I'm so nervous. This is my first festival!

Gentle Current Encaustic on Panel

Encaustic on Panel, Framed
10" x 48"
(4) 8" x 10", (4) 10" x 12" framed
$135

To purchase this work, please visit my Etsy Store. It will be available on Aug 1st. If you would like to pre-purchase this work, please Email Me.

BS Art Studio was just featured in an interview by Three Muses. Make sure to read it and give her awesome props on her wonderful blog!

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!

Clown Fish Encaustic on Panel

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

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.

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!

The Great Reef Encaustic on Birch Panel

Encaustic on Birch Panel
24" x 30"
$300

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.

Summer Dreams Encaustic Painting on Panel

Encaustic on Panel, Framed
10" x 24"
(3) 8" x 10", (3) 10" x 12" framed
$100

To purchase this work, please visit my Etsy Store.

Into the Void HUGE Original Abstract Encaustic Painting

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

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

Lady in Red Encaustic on Panel Painting Framed

Encaustic on Panel, Framed
10" x 24"
(3) 8"x10", (3) 10" x 12" framed
$100

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

Breaking Through HUGE Original 12x48 Abstract Encaustic Painting Quadtych FRAMED READY TO HANG

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

To purchase this beautiful artwork, please visit my Etsy Store.