R & F Encaustic

Since winter seems to be going nowhere fast, and because there is more snow on the way, I need a 'pick-me-up.'  I need colour - colour everywhere.  I have developed an addiction to turquoise in the past few weeks, and I have become obsessed with obtaining the perfect shade.  This is my perfect shade:

 

Gorgeous isn't it?  This is a sample of R & F Encaustic's Turquoise Blue. 

 

R & F Encaustic (check them out at www.rfpaints.com) is a company out of Kingston, New York, which creates the most beautiful encaustic paints. 

 

"R&F Encaustic is a paint composed of beeswax, damar resin and pigments. The term “encaustic” is often used to describe both the paint itself, and the method for using it. Encaustic paint is applied molten to an absorbent surface, and then fused, (or re-melted), to create a variety of effects. Unlike other paints, encaustic goes from a liquid to solid state and back again in seconds, which means layers can be built up immediately, without any drying time. Once the surface has cooled, the paint has reached a permanent finish, but the painting can be revised and reworked with heat at any time – minutes or years later."

 

At the shop, both Eric and Kathleen have worked with Encaustic, and once this past fall I stumbled into Eric's garage as he was working on a little project and I was able to learn a thing or two about it.

 

 

R & F Encaustic comes in these beautiful bricks of colour....

 

 

Or in the form of pigment sticks.

 

 

A sample of their colour range.

 

 

R & F's Indian Yellow.... I love it.

The R & F webpage (see the link above) is a wonderful place to visit - so many resources!  They have a forum and a blog, and they feature artists who work with encaustic.  There are some really great videos that you can watch as well, and a really neat tour of their workspace in Kingston.  The best part?  They're really big into featuring and supporting artists who work with encaustic.  Its the perfect place to be inspired by both art and colour!

*Little note - all of the photos here are from the R & F website - gorgeous photography all around that site, and credit is certainly due to the photographers and to the company.

It's Not Easy...

Its not easy being green writing this post while it looks like this outside.

Though, it is Saint Patrick's Day, and as John Doyle writes in this weekend's Globe and Mail (and you can find the rest of the article here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/) -

"It’s an event now in the hands of beer companies and their clever marketing departments. “Party like the Irish” is the exhortation, which means, as I’ve noted previously on March 17, that marketing turns a day to commemorate a saint into an internationally recognized keg party.  Some people will roam from bar to bar, in “Kiss Me, I’m Irish” hats and various, unknown-to-nature shades of green."

The "unknown-to-nature shades of green" that Doyle is referring to likely look something like this;

And if you're a child of the '80's like I am, you've probably actually sported a shirt or two in this particular 'colour' because your Mom thought it was 'cute.'  I'm not angry about that or anything.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, certain synthetic green pigments contained exceptionally high levels of arsenic, and were eventually prohibited.  While '80's neon green wasn't toxic to my health (though it probably didn't do my social life any favours), overexposure to the popular 'Emerald Green,' which was based on arsenic compounds, was a frequent cause of accidental poisoning among artists during the Impressionist Period.

 

Claude Monet, Green Park, 1871.

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia.

 

Not only did the artists of this period have to watch out for toxic materials, but they also had to watch out for the Green Fairy.  That's right, absinthe (told you I'd mention it!). 

 

 

Bottle designed by Stranger and Stranger, UK.  Check out their amazing packaging here - http://www.strangerandstranger.com/

  

According to Wikipedia, "The legacy of absinthe as a mysterious, addictive, and mind-altering drink continues to this day.  It is an anise-flavoured spirit derived from botanicals, including the flowers and leaves of Artemisia absinthium, together with green anise, sweet fennel, and other medicinal and culinary herbs."  

Artemisia absinthium - also known as Grand Wormwood. 

The plant is found across Canada, particularly in the prairies, and is considered to be a problematic weed in livestock pastures.

"Adding to absinthe's negative reputation in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, unscrupulous makers of the drink omitted the traditional colouring phase of production in favour of adding toxic copper salts to artificially induce a green tint. This practice may be responsible for some of the alleged toxicity historically associated with this beverage."

Numerous artists living in France during the late 19th century were noted absinthe drinkers including Vincent Van Gogh and Edouard Manet.

Vincent Van Gogh, Daubigny's Garden, 1890.

The Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.



 

 

Edouard Manet, The Monet Family In Their Garden at Argenteuil, 1874.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

 

So, on this fridgid St. Paddy's Day, avoid the weird green beer poured as a novelty and warm up with some beautiful green absinthe.  Heck, you can even wear that weird neon green shirt you have stashed in the back of your closet - I won't judge you.

 



Green Is The Colour

Only 6 days until the official start of spring.... except you'd never know it here in Saskatchewan.  The forcast looks ugly folks, which is why today's post is brought to you by the colour GREEN.

 

Green can affect people both physically and mentally; it is a soothing and relaxing colour which is said to help alleviate depression, nervousness and anxiety.  'Grass' green is considered to be a very restful colour.

 

Green was considered to be the colour of the heavens during the Ming Dynasty.  In Aztec cultures, green was considered a royal colour because it was the colour of the plumes used by Aztec chieftains.  It is associated with the Roman goddess Venus, and the Greek goddess Aphrodite.

 

Green is the colour used for night vision goggles because the human eye is able to distinguish more shades of green than any other colour.  Indeed, there are more shades of green than any other colour.

 

Feng-Shui claims that green eases absent-mindedness, nervousness and rudeness.

 

Colour experts suggest adding green to your life when you want to attain a new state of balance, when you feel the need to make changes, and when you want freedom to pursue new ideas.

 

Green was once the preferred colour choice for wedding gowns during the 1400's.

 

Arnolfini Wedding Portrait by Jan Van Eyck, 1434, oil on panel, National Gallery, London.

 

Green is considered a lucky colour in most western cultures, and few things are considered as lucky as a four-leaf clover!



 

So Happy Thursday everyone!  I'm going to keep up the green 'theme' for a few more days - stay tuned for more useless fabulous information on the colour green.  Absinthe anyone?

 

Eric Has Found His Marbles!

Hard to beleive isn't it!

 

This is a study that Eric has been working on.  He 'stole' marbles from my daughter's 'Hungry Hungry Hippos' game, and set to work.  

 

 He is more than welcome to steal all of the marbles from that game.

 

 

The drawing was done on a piece of Arches* paper with Faber-Castell pencil crayons (Eric's new favorites for drawing).

 

This just goes to show that inspiration really can be found anywhere!





*And just a quick note, all Arches paper is 35% off in store until the end of March.  Happy Tuesday everyone!

Results!!

As promised, the results of my 'Adventures in Calligraphy,'  the good, the bad, and the ugly.  I'll start with the ugly.

And is it ever ugly - this is a combination of attempting to use a very stiff nib, and not having held a calligraphy pen in, ohhh, more than fifteen years.  Yikes.  I would almost be embarassed by this if it weren't somewhat amusing.

My second attempt went much better than the first.  Referencing the alphabets and styles provided in the Calligraphy Bible, I was able to practice some different letter styles.

 

Finally, I felt ready to move onto actual words and was really excited to use that beautiful leaf green calligraphy ink I picked up on Friday.  The black ink is certainly formal and consistent, but I really liked the variation I got with the coloured ink.  I'd like to test out mixing some of the really vibrant colors, such as Scarlet and Blue, with white... hopefully I would end up with some pretty pastels to use around Easter.

And there you have it.  The important part is that I enjoyed working at this again.  I want to keep it up, keep practicing, and see what happens.  It was certainly a nice and relaxing way to spend part of the weekend.

Happy Monday Everyone!

Inspiration: Calligraphy

Aaaaah - the weekend is finally here!  It has been a long week, and I am looking forward to relaxing over the next few days. 

I love this time of year.  The light is returning, the weather WILL warm up (I am optimistic!), and I am inspired to try new things.  This weekend, for the first time in ages, I am going to practice my calligraphy skills.  I was that kid in school who wrote c-o-n-s-t-a-n-t-l-y in class... and I am not referring to academic note-taking.  I was always writing my name, my address, different words... just to play and see how lovely I could make them look.  Curly letter 'A's' and fancy letter 'Z's, it didn't matter, I just had to write. I adored calligraphy - I got my first set of pens and inks when I was 13 years old - though, for whatever reason, my set ended up in the back of a drawer.

Not anymore!  I am challenging myself to work at it again this weekend!  I grabbed a calligraphy practice pad and some ink on Thursday and I am excited to play with things.  Its a little scary since I have put it out there now - to the universe - that I am going write again, and I vow to show you my results on Monday; the good, the bad and the ugly. 

 

The Calligraphy Bible: A Complete Guide to More Than 100 Essential Projects and Techniques, edited by Maryanne Grebenstein.  And some 'Winsor Yellow' calligraphy ink from Winsor & Newton.  I love these Renaissance letters!

 

Strathmore Parchment Paper Pad, random calligraphy nibs, Learn Calligraphy: The Complete Book of Lettering and Design by  Margaret Shepherd, and the Calligraphy Bible.

 

 

A selection of Winsor & Newton calligraphy inks.

 

More ink!

 

Set up at home and ready to go!

 

 

Happy Weekend everyone!  Tune in Monday to see the results!



A Few of Our Favorite Things

 

 

This is the first post in a series featuring 'A Few of Our Favorite Things.'  Weekly, The Creative Menagerie will feature some of the things we are loving at the moment... from products we carry in our shop, to photography, fashion (some lucky soul here at the shop just got an INCREDIBLE Alexander McQueen clutch!), art, travel - the sky is the limit!

 

First up, the lovely Brittany Perry - a creative soul if there ever was one!  Brittany's creativity is absolutely infectious.  She works here at the shop and is an artist in her own right (readers, this seems to be an ongoing theme here at the shop!).  Brittany graduated from the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, with a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts.  Though majoring in painting, Brittany also plays with pencil drawing, watercolour painting and loves to discover the creative possibilities of using paper not only as a foundation, but also as a medium (the girl has ideas, let me tell you!).

Brittany lives here in town with her baseball-playing spouse, two dogs and a cat, all while loving yoga, art and anything else she can get her creative hands on!  Henceforth, Brittany's Favorite Things!

 

 

Favorite Thing Number 1.)  Shizen Handmade Paper

 





"I love Shizen Paper for the handmade quality and the texture, the playful patterns and fun colors! The creative possibilities are endless with this paper. You can use these papers for everything from cardmaking and giftwrap, to bookbinding and scrapbooking. You can even use them in your custom framing!!"


Favorite Thing Number 2.)  Graphite Pencils

 

 

 

"I am really into drawing with pencils at the moment.  I use a variety of pencils ranging from 6B to HB."  The wolf is a commission that Brittany is currently working on.

 

Favorite Thing Number 3.)  Graham Watercolour Paints

 

"Along with using pencils, I also enjoy working with watercolours.  My favorite paints to work with are the Graham Watercolours; creamy and rich, the depth and intensity of colour is absolutely beautiful.  My favorite watercolour brushes are the Q Kolinsky Sable Brushes - they hold lots of paint and the pointed tip of the brush is perfect for detailed work."

 

 

Thanks for sharing Brittany!

 

 

PS - Question: What is your Spirit Animal, Britt? 

Answer: "An owl and a Grizzly Bear."