Wax On, Wax Off

Today was a work at home day. I was supposed to be working at the ski resort but an unfortunate February rainstorm changed those plans. Part of my at home work involved balancing the checkbook and depositing checks. Answering some emails. Repricing some pieces. Making arrangements to meet with a gallery owner this week (fingers crossed!) and covering some photos in encaustic wax so Randy can get them mounted and framed. 

We use a lot of encaustic in our work and I thought I would take the time to explain a little about it. The encaustic process when used in photography refers to applying hot beeswax over a photographic image. This wax can be pigmented with color or remain white or creamy beige and it can give the image an intriguing surface and density, adding depth to the photo. Generally we use no pigment in our mixture, just the beeswax itself. The wax we use however does have an added component. Beeswax on its own will remain soft; the addition of damar resin raises the melting temperature and will allow the beeswax to cure and harden over time creating a glasslike finish. Encaustic has been around for thousands of years in the form of painting. You can read more about that here; Encaustic Painting.

Is it hard to care for? No. For more info on how to transport and care for encaustic work, you can read about it here; Caring for Encaustic.

Unfortunately today I had some issues and out of the approximate 5 hours I attempted to work on applying encaustic medium to the 10 or 12ish pieces I have backing up for me, I only finished one. The wax I made ended up being too yellow. We used some unbleached natural wax that was just too dark in color for what we need it for. I made some more of the clearer wax and mixed it together and it was still too dark. Growl. I ended up melting the wax I already applied off of three pictures and then spilled hot wax all over the kitchen counter. Double growl!! Not happy. A lot of work for not much to show for it. Sigh....let me sing some rainy day working at home blues. 

 

So it begins....

Art Show acceptance and denial season is upon us. Most come in the form of email with the following heading "Name of Show" Notification. The email is opened and the first words you see are either "Congratulations!" or "Thank you for applying....yada yada yada... you suck... blah blah blah...." (O.k. it doesn't actually say "you suck", but that is the general feeling we get.)

This year we decided to put our self-esteem to the test and apply for some larger more nationally recognized shows. So far, well, we didn't have high expectations but the rejections hurt none-the-less. We have been accepted however into our first show in Michigan, Art Birmingham takes place outside of Detroit in May. I seriously hope to catch the tulips blooming across the state! They do bloom in May right?

New this year is also ArtisGras in Green Bay in March. We had a good show last year back in August in Packer country and are happy to be back. We also plan to be back in Sturgeon Bay, Excelsior and Edina. You can see where and when we will be throughout the region on our EVENTS page. I will list them as they come in. There are 8 listed now, hoping to add more in the next few months.

With art show season creeping up and Mother Nature confused about what season it actually is, it has spurred Randy on to start creating new frames for the new season. And why start small? This guy weighs in at about 12 pounds and measures 30" x 30". Maybe not the piece you want hanging above your bed, but it is a stunner and will look great wherever you can locate a stud to hang it on ;) We believe this version of Rough Draft will be entered into the March Wood & Metal show,  at ArtZ Gallery located in Amery, WI.

Stay tuned. And hey, if it makes it easier, you can subscribe to the right ----> to have an email sent whenever a new post is well...posted.

Be well :)

 

Reclaim It!

Before Randy and I met we both had a love for old stuff. Each our own collection of rusty pails, old wash tubs, pop crates, oil cans and all kinds of fun stuff to put rocks or plants in. And although Randy did not have a thing for enamel covered urinals like I do, I still liked him anyway. So it shouldn't be a surprise that some of our favorite things to do are to scour antique shops, garage sales, vintage stores and auctions for unique and fun stuff. (It also turned into a side business, Tin Cat Collectibles, we have a booth in Osceola where we resell our treasures.)

Sometimes, we find stuff that we feel could be turned into a cool frame. We've most recently used a sled, baking pans, crates, drawers and copper shelving. Here are some of my favorites.

Calendar

My friend Kelly and her husband Matt build log homes. It was a goal of theirs to have one of their homes make it into the calendar the company they work with puts out every year. So Randy and I spent a couple days this past late spring taking pics of the interior of their home, as well as others they have built. Well, she found out today that they made the 2017 calendar! How exciting. So glad we were able to be apart of making that happen for them. And it wasn't just one home, but a few. 

You can see their work at www.lakelandloghomes.com

Fests Might Just Not Be Our Thing

Bayfield Apple Fest. Approximately 88,000 people came through in three days. There were apples to be found everywhere! Apple pie, apple chili, apple cake, apple ice cream, apple brats, apple whiskey (my personal favorite), apple cider and even just the good ole apple. It was an insane amount of people that came through that little town. Saturday was wall to wall people going by our booth. At one point I could not see the booth across the way from us. Wow. Unfortunately for us, that didn't mean much in the way of sales. It was an apple munching crowd. A "wander around and stuff ourselves" crowd. Not that it a bad thing, trust me, I stuffed myself several times. That town was full of great food to be had! It just wasn't an art buying crowd. We won't be back for this festival, at least not to sell anyway. We kinda decided that maybe anything that ends with "Fest" might just not be our thing.

We did camp with friends and this time I am happy to say there was no flooding. We did however seem to manage to bring a family of mice with us from home. We caught 4 within the three days we were there. A new record for us. Pretty exciting stuff :)

Thank you to all the familiar faces that stopped by to say hello. We always appreciate that. 

Redemption

Art Street in Green Bay was a success for us. Nothing broke down. No one fell out of trucks. We sold some stuff. Got to meet some great people. There was a horrible night spent at a Motel 6, but we'll just ignore that. Had drinks with friends old and new. Had our hopes renewed! Thank you Green Bay!

You Can't Make This Stuff Up

Bayfield was a wee bit of a bust. We were excited to make our way to the Blueberry Festival in Ely, Mn to redeem ourselves. Had we known we were going to go through what we did, we would have stayed home. 

I will make an attempt to shorten this up as much as I can. But I am a talker and it really isn't a strong point of mine. It started with us leaving on time, which is a rarity when living with me. We headed north up I35 in MN. Our first sign was having a car pass us on the left and when reentering our lane, forget to stop in the lane and hit the shoulder and then swerved back in front of us. Yikes! Brakes work though. Soon after, the Suburban shifts down to pull the camper up a hill, we get over it, something doesn't sound right, I am about to say something when Randy notices the truck is dead. We slowly pull into the shoulder and have a looksy. It is here that we come to the realization that people do not pull over anymore. I will be honest, being stuck on the side of the road with people zooming by at 80 miles an hour is terrifying! After some trouble shooting we come to the realization that something bad has happened and we are going to need help. I thankfully have AAA though and can not get a tow truck soon enough to get us off the side of the freeway! Yeah, so turns out my AAA expired like a week earlier. Some sort of error on their part had my address wrong and my renewal statements were sent to the wrong address. I was not pleased. I may have thrown the phone at one point, said some colorful words and informed Randy I was done talking to them. Anyway. So we got to pay for a tow truck. My first encounter with our driver involved him informing me while using many words that start with the letter F that people don't move over anymore. Ha. A State Trooper stops to check on us and I inform him that people don't move over anymore. He smirks and says "welcome to my world." We finally get the Suburban loaded and the camper attached to the back and are off to Cloquet to find someone who can hopefully help us. 

We do. And the news isn't good. Bearing...lower engine...blah...blah...no oil pressure...$1750 to fix...blah...not sure it is really worth it...blah. Blah. After much discussion and maybe a few distraught looks on my part, the mechanic suggests we get a Uhaul and load it up and continue onto Ely. Brilliant. After phone calls he throws us the keys to his truck and says to go get it. Sniff....hold back the tears Lisa. So getting a Uhaul should have been easy right? Nope. Not today it wasn't. Computer glitches were the name of the game. After about 30 minutes she finally made it happen. Sigh of relief. Back to the shop and we get the Suburban unloaded and the Uhaul loaded. Back that bad boy up to the camper and....the camper won't fit on the ball. I think this is the moment I may have emotionally lost it. Seriously. I pondered things like, if this was God's way/the Universe of saying "Do not go to Ely!!". Or were we being tested? Should we persevere? Should I just cry? Well, while I was having my emotional breakdown the men of the garage and a couple friends and Randy took a maul to the tongue of the camper and started whacking it. A giant jar of grease was brought out and between whacking it with a maul and about one pound of some sort of grease, the camper finally fit. All we have to do is crank it down and SNAP!, there breaks the cotter pin. I pondered a tear running down my cheek earlier, but this is where it finally did. The son looked at me and I think there was a "don't worry sweetheart" and off he went and got a new one and fixes it and cranks that camper down and my goodness, the camper is on the truck!! Cue the celebration music!! With tears in my eyes I hug all those guys and by gosh, we are off!!

Back on the road with only about a 4 hour delay. It is at about this time that Randy's stomach started reminding him he had eaten a suspicious burrito earlier while waiting for the Uhaul. Thankfully only one bathroom stop was needed ;) 

Back on the road again! Things start to settle down, nerves chill and I can start to think again. Sigh. If you guessed not for long though, you are right. There we were minding our own business when suddenly a car coming from the other direction decides to pass and is in our lane coming right towards us and oh my gosh....... Well, our brakes worked. As well as the car he was trying to pass and a few others that tried to get out of the way. It was close. I wish I knew what they were thinking? Wow. I am happy to report it settled down for awhile and we finally made it to Ely. Turns out we forgot the braces for our walls in Cloquet, but at this point that was nothing. We found some we could use in an old wood pile. Onto dinner and a beer to soothe our sorrows. It is then that my shoe broke. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal but I was emotional and they were my favorite pair of sandals. Sigh. Again. Dinner was good though. If you are ever in Ely, check out the Ely Steakhouse. Yum.

We headed back to our campsite with the thought of Smores in our heads. What a way to end our terrible, horrible, no good kinda day. Except, there was no fire pit. This was the preverbal straw that broke the camel's back. I was so sad. So exhausted. I just wanted a smore. I cried. Thankfully that man of mine is smart. He took the camp grill and set it on the gravel and cooked me a smore. Happiness.

I would like to say that Saturday got better. But to be honest, it didn't. Throughout the course of the day I found out a friend of mine died, another had gotten into a car accident and we came to the realization that the Blueberry Fest was not the right show for us. It was two long days and we were very happy to go home. We topped of the end of the festival with Randy falling out of the back of the Uhaul. Poor guy. Thankfully he wasn't hurt too bad. We spent the night in Cloquet at the Walmart. Apparently they sweep the parking lot at 2 a.m. and we got to experience lawn mowing morning at the buttcrack of dawn. 

I will be honest, it was hard to find the good in all of this. But there was. And it was people. Our tow truck driver for CARS Towing, to the boys at T and N Auto and the State Trooper who checked on us, the lady who would not give up and got us that Uhaul, our festival neighbors Alan and Brenda, the painters down the aisle from us and I got to see my dear friend Wanda who just happened to wander past our booth. We ate some great food too. AND I got a moose bobble head for my car. I named him Mortimer. The weather was perfect and the scenery was nice. So there was that.

The Suburban stayed in Cloquet. Wasn't worth the fix. We did finally make it home. I don't think we will be going back to Ely anytime soon ;)