My Encaustic Journey - Part III

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Push Past The Dislike...Yummy Cupcake Sprinkles Await!

This is the third and final piece I created in my encaustic class last week.  It's funny how this piece came about.  I had completed my first two pieces and our time in the class was coming to a close.  I knew I didn't have a lot of time and yet I still wanted to try to get a third piece done.  So I began by trying to adhere this fortune from a fortune cookie to the panel using encaustic medium.  The minute the medium hit the fortune the paper became transparent and you could see the words on the back of the fortune (a definition of a Chinese word) start to peek through.  I pulled the fortune off - a bit frustrated - and wondered what to do next.  Victoria, our teacher, walked by and said something like "I kind of like the transparent look of the paper" and that helped me begin to push past my dislike.  I committed myself again to adhering the fortune to the panel so I dipped the fortune in the wax medium and positioned it on the panel.  I then started to create a box around the fortune and the encaustic paint and my hurrying turned into a frustrating combination!  We definitely weren't helping one another out!  So I took a deep breath and decided I just needed to loosen up and just start flinging encaustic paint.  I needed to stop being so purposeful and rushed and to just play - a decision that helped me push past the dislike of what I had been seeing unfold in front of me on the panel.  So I began to play!  I covered the fortune with a piece of painter's tape to protect it and then began going around the room and borrowing melted encaustic paint from other participants to add to my board.  Drip, drip, fling, spatter...with a bunch of fusing with the heat gun in between.  As the piece began to build I began to smile.  It started to remind me of candy or cupcake sprinkles!  Yummy!!!!  By the time I removed the painter's tape from the fortune, my dislike had turned to joy.  So next time you find yourself criticizing your art and feeling rushed, see if you can just loosen up and play...you may end up with yummy cupcake sprinkles!!!! :)
Just a quick note...due to my schedule I will likely be posting Four Ways Friday on Saturday this week.  Thanks for your patience - I really appreciate it!!!  Have a beautiful tomorrow! :)