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Lilac swarm, May 2010

This singular lilac bush caught three swarms of bees in May. The one above was so heavy it pulled the branch it landed on all the way to the ground.

Ooh! Have you seen the new Ab-Ex postage stamps at the USPS? I just picked up a sheet and man, oh, man. They are they great. Love the enormous Pollock stamp. Motherwell, too. Other artists on the sheet are Hans Hoffman, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, Arshile Gorky, Clyfford Still, Joan Mitchell, Adolph Gottlieb and Barnett Newman.

Interesting to see Gorky getting his due. (I think the de Kooning biography had a role to play in that, don’t you?) And I’m wondering, if they included Joan Mitchell, why they didn’t include Helen Frankenthaler, too? Had they chosen two women instead of just one it would have seemed less like a token.

There’s a good interview with Pamela T. Boll, director of “Who Does She Think She Is?” at Salon.

A choice quote:

“… In the arts, there’s no guarantee for success. Even if you’re working at Wal-Mart, if you show up, you get paid. In the studio, you don’t. It’s very risky business. You have to create your own life and have a very strong understanding about what your have to offer. There will be a lot of people telling you that you’re just fooling around. Society just doesn’t consider an artist’s work as “work” — just like motherhood isn’t often acknowledged as being real work.”

Do you have a favorite pair of socks? I sure do and they’re made by Smartwool. So it’s a joy to let you know I’m collaborating with Smartwool on their Fall 2011 line of gallery socks. We’re knee-deep in the design process having recently chosen images and colors. The finished socks bearing images from my current gallery and archive will be ready for retail in July 2011.

Can you guess which paintings we’ve chosen?

Bee on dandelion, Boulder, Colorado, April 2010

Are you letting your dandelions bloom? I hope so. And if not, I invite you to at least think about it. Not only are they responsible for an enlivening burst of yellow each spring, dandelion pollen provides an important early source of protein for growing honeybees. And they’re effortless to grow (at least, that’s how it seems).

American lawn tastes are changing, and those who welcome dandelions represent the vanguard of a new aesthetic. Read more in this article by a self-proclaimed Dandelion King.

At our house we don’t use herbicides. Dandelions bloom though we try to trim seeds before they scatter. It’s a little futile. But there’s something happy about it. I do like yellow.

Thanks to Derek Friday at Finndustry for the Dandelion King link.

Gallerist Joseph Carroll chose works by ten artists to show at Flow & Control, the juried show happening at the Fourth Annual Encaustic Conference in June. I am honored and delighted to be included. The other nine are:

Jill Skupin Birkholeder
David A. Clark
Shelley Gilchrist
Ken Gold
Ruth Hiller
Nancy Lowe
Kelly Steinke
Michele Thrane
Robin Van Hoozer

This beautiful thing was made by a bee.

Flower Petal Nest by Osima avoseta

In a tender new discovery scientists have learned that the solitary O. avoseta queen bee works alone to make these petal nests for individual eggs and larvae. More wonderful pictures on NPR. And nice story on eurakalert.

Thank you, Susan.

Beginning Encaustic
Date: Saturday, May 15th, 2010
Time: 1:00 to 4:30pm
Place: Studio Monika, Louisville, Colorado
Cost: $125, includes materials
Details: Class is full. Please email me to get on waiting list.

Soft Flower, encaustic and ink on panel, 5″ x 4″

I made this imaginary flower last winter during one of those bitter weeks when spring seems so far off as to be impossible. Now, here we are! It’s a pleasure to remember what it felt like to imagine spring while enjoying the real thing.

Thanks to my friend Susan J. Thompson for reminding me of these wax and pollen works works by Wolfgang Laib.

Pollen from Dandelion by Wolfgang Laib, 1999

Untitled by Wolfgang Laib, beeswax, 1993

The Five Mountains Not To Climb On by Wolfgang Laib, 1984

Those yellows are something special, don’t you think?

It’s an honor and pleasure to let you know about a FREE screening of
SISTER BEE happening at the Loveland Museum on Saturday, April 10th at 1:00pm.

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.