I just finished 3 12×12 box frame encaustic collage pieces for the Palisade International Bee Festival which happens on April 16th and April 17, 2010. The event is a response to the continuing crisis of hive decline among our most precious agricultural resource, bees. This art is part of an exhibition in conjunction with the Bee Festival at the Blue Pig Gallery in Palisade, Colorado.
Encaustic is an ancient art medium made from bees wax. The modern version also contains damar varnish and ready-made colors. I like to use collage elements such as papers, copper fragments, jewelry findings and beads which I either embed in the encaustic or coat with the encaustic to create a soft surface.
In “Bee Grid”, I included a part of a wasp’s hive, original drawings, and painted and found papers.
In “Buzz”, I used magazine advertisements from medical marijuana stores to build up the spiral plant forms, hence the title.
These pieces are meant to hang together, although they can be sold separately: $500 a piece, $750 for two and $1100 for all three.