BLOG

Here’s another gem gleaned from the Daily Dish. It’s an animated illustration of the golden ratio or golden mean by Cristóbal Vila. Nature, art and math enmeshed.

Can you guess what this is?

Wax lace, March 2010

Whenever I make encaustic medium I spill a bit in the water bath where I heat my wax. The spilled stuff rises to the top in a bubbly white scum. When it cools and hardens it looks like this.

Hardened bubbles in encaustic medium, March 2010

I imagine if I were to press these bubbles together with my hands when wet they’d flatten themselves into hexagons (would they?) just about the size of the ones bees make when building wax comb.

This fragile thing crumpled after I photographed it but was beautiful for a few short moments, nonetheless.

Beginning artists are invited to learn the basics of encaustic painting with me at my Boulder, Colorado studio in March.

Encaustic for Beginners
Date: Saturday, March 20th, 2010
Time: 1:00 to 4:00pm
Place: TBD
Cost: $125, includes materials
Details: Here

Two jars of honeybee propolis dissolving in rum, 3/1/2010

Honeybee propolis ranges in color from dark brown (almost black) to rusty red, gold and green depending on what plants the bees who made it foraged on. Raw propolis is changeable, taffy-like stuff (stretchy and sticky when warm, brittle when cold) made from trees by bees. You can read more about it and see another picture here.

The colors that rise up during tincture making are breathtaking. I’ll shake these jars a couple of times a day for the next two weeks and will get a hit of warmth every time I see that red. I wonder if it will change with time or stay the same?

Recipe here.