FRIDA JOURNALS AND SKETCHBOOKS

FRIDA JOURNALS AND SKETCHBOOKS

Crackled wax effect on number 2 Frida

Here I go again with my Frida obsessions. I spent so much time on the face for the painting I worked on a few months ago, that I am trying to utilize that time by using the digitals for various artwork that I normally create. This time around, I’ve chosen the “Gypsy Woman” series. Frida may not have been a gypsy but she had the heart and soul of one. She loved to dress in the native Mexican garb and wore flowers and jewelry that depicted her country.

All three Frida journals

I ran a digital image of Frida. I used all sorts of yarn and ribbons to embellish the spine and I placed some of the flowers I dried from my garden onto the front with encaustic wax, which I then painted.

Frida journal number 1

Close-up of wax finish

Inside back journal number 1

For the second journal, I did much the same with a few variations like crackling the face. The third one is an image from my “Music is my refuge” collage. I think she also looks Frida-ish.

Crackled wax effect on journal number 2

"Music is my Refuge" journal

Hope you like them. They are for sale. If I don’t sell them here at my blog, I plan to take them to the Farmer’s Market where I sell each Saturday. Hopefully these journals will appeal to someone who likes the textural feel of the cloth and wax.

Journal number 1 is 5x7” and priced at $46. Number 2 is also $46 and number 3 is $42. Please e-mail me if you are interested and we can go from there. I take all major credit cards, checks or Paypal.

Thanks so much! Hugs XX00
Cheryl

CREATIVE ENERGY

CREATIVE ENERGY

Goddess of Winter Solstice

Last spring, I completely sold out of my Goddess planters. For some reason, people were more excited about them than in previous years. A few customers asked if I would create some for Christmas and I bulked at the idea. My thought was that they would not make good Christmas gifts because people aren’t thinking plants at that time. Not to be discouraged, one of my best customers urged me to create them just the same and add artificial silk plants to them. Now, Let me say that right off the bat, I am not a fan of anything artificial. But…having said that, there is some really gorgeous silk greenery that might just work for wintertime. So, I decided to get going since the clay takes a long time to dry and I’m thinking I might have a Christmas show for them here at Woodloft (my home.)

I started with a really large planter that will be the Goddess of Winter Solstice. I will try to find artifacts to add to her when completed so that she is regal and fits the title. She is much larger than my other planters. Can’t wait to fire and compete her.

Painting using encaustic wax and oils placed on chair

My energy is flowing strong right now and I’ve also started several other very different kinds of art. For example. I am planning on writing a book on encaustic wax with oils soon and was experimenting with the piece below. I placed her onto a chair in my studio and another idea occurred to me. Why not make her into a chair back. So now I’m looking for interesting chairs in which to place more pieces like her (like I need more chairs around Woodloft!)

Close-up

Full view

Here is another example of a painting I created using Jane DesRosier’s method that I learned in her class. I named this one “I Remember Union.” She is slated to be placed in “One Block East” Gallery in downtown Roanoke, Virginia.

Close-up of I Remember Union. World images of faces and events surround her

I love it when the creative juices flow, don’t you? My energy level is very, very high, which could be attributed to the incredible dynamics that stemmed from the students of my first residential sculpture school. The combined personalities of the students generated such vigor and power that I do believe it still resonates in my studio! I’ve already started planning for the class in Sculpting the Figure in Clay, which will be held next July.

Happy creating to all in the beautiful autumn ahead.

Full view of I Remember Union

SPELLBOUND

SPELLBOUND

Spellbound painting-without light

Here is another painting I will be exhibiting at MoJo’s Café on August 4-Sept 4th. I used the Renaissance Oil method for this one and added my own collage work. I also added encaustic wax to the background along with a cold processed wax.

Original painting

When I took the painting outside to photograph, the light just poured across her face in a fashion that had me wishing I would have painted it that way. I may go back and add that light. What do you think? Do you like it with or without the light? I appreciate your input. It’s not too late for me to go back and paint in the light and this is not a bad idea for future paintings because this way, I will have the light already there in the picture and can decide if I like it or not. It might be a bit difficult to duplicate.

Full painting with light from sun streaking across

She is 12x24x 1 ½ “ and is on a heavy birch canvas. I have priced her at $245 and she will be available after the show. If you would like me to hold her for you, just e-mail me and we can go from there. I take all credit cards and Paypal.

Close-up

RENAISSANCE OIL COLLAGE-GENTLE SPIRIT

GENTLE SPIRIT

Gentle Spirit Renaissance Oil collage

Spring has inspired me to create an oil collage of a young woman who looks a bit like a fairy or wood nymph. At first I was going to name her “Elfin”, which seemed to fit her but then I decided on Gentle Spirit, from my book “She Who Whispers.” She is highly textured with flowers from my garden and a crackled effect. She definitely has the look of one "not yet injured by life."

GENTLE SPIRIT

The seed pod opened-a woman child emerged. She was not yet complete…still in the process of becoming finished. She was innocent, having the quality of one who has not yet been injured by life. No soul searching, no vision quest. She was just content to be here and to be a living part of the great mother earth.

~Cheryl Dolby~

I placed flowers along the edge of the painting

I used encaustic wax to attach and preserve these flowers, which are from my garden here at Woodloft.

I was very pleased with the large crackle effect.

Gentle Spirit is 18x24” and priced at $290. Shipping is included to anywhere in the continental USA. I accept checks, MC, Visa, Discover and American Express or paypal. I can also send to anywhere in the world and will be happy to give you a shipping price to your country. Please click on my e-mail to make arrangements for sale. Alternately, you can view Gentle Spirit on my Etsy shop for more details by clicking here.

Hats

HATS

"Rosie"

Have you heard? Hats are making a comeback. I’m really glad because I just love to see a man in a fedora or a beret. I think of writer Ernest Hemmingway or all the great movie stars of the 40’s like Clark Gable and Gregory Peck. It’s not just men’s hats that are staging a comeback but women’s hats as well. Just think of all the advantages of wearing one. You can look distinguished, homespun, extravagant, reverent, nautical, whimsical to say nothing about younger since the shade from the hats will usually disguise a few eye wrinkles.

If those points of inspiration don’t cause you to run out and buy or make one, think about this. Whenever I used to sport a hat while having lunch with a friend, who also had a hat on, we would find a drink mysteriously appearing at our table. One time, it was even a bottle of champagne! In that case, the champagne was delivered with a note reading: “It is refreshing to see women who care enough to look their finest-thanks for wearing the great hats.” Or something like that.

Often times people ask me where I come up with the stories I attach to my pieces. I was fortunate enough to have exhibited at art shows for many years and met women from all walks of life and in various stages of their lives. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to really listen to what they were saying because I learned a great deal and was able to include some of their wisdom in my stories. One woman in particular came to mind as I looked at my finished painting. Her name was Rosie. This sweet woman told me she had lost her husband but couldn’t take off her wedding ring. She said that she wore it for many years after he had died. Then, one day she realized that she was living in the past and had to go on with her life. Well, the story I wrote is reminiscent of hers but I changed it a bit so that it could be applied to different situations, like divorce. It’s a simple little story but probably meaningful for many women, whether they are wearing a ring or not.

Rosie

The bloom and innocence of youth matures and deepens into the serenity of wisdom. One day, without remorse, without regret, the symbol of unity and all that had been, gave way to all that is and will be…Rosie removed her ring.

View of Rosie from the bottom

Our Little Supper Club had a picnic on Sunday. The setting for this particular outing was so striking and had such history involved that I decided to do a complete posting of Nancy Markoff's historic home on another post. We had no major theme for the party except we decided it was a good idea to wear hats. Not everyone did but here are pictures of some of them.

Stephanie in her "Ya Ya" hat

Elizabeth, on left, and Trish, on right wear their squishable travel hats

Yours truly in a hat that I made for the occasion.

As far as the picnic food went, I couldn’t even begin to describe the offerings. It was all delicious but I thought I’d just show you what I brought this time and give the recipe. Even though this cake tart looks and tastes like an authentic French pastry, it is one of the easiest recipes I make. Noone can ever guess the ingredients. I normally do not use pre-mixed anything and I love fresh natural ingredients but I do make an exception with the cake tarts. It's probably not a good idea to double click it if you are terribly hungry right now.

Strawberry Cake Tarts

Strawberry Cake Tarts

Ingredients:

1 box of 2 frozen pie shells
1 can of whipped vanilla frosting
1 box of yellow cake mix
1 large jar of strawberry preserves
Powdered sugar

l.Roll out pastry shells and cut in rounds to fit cupcake pans. You can use the large or tiny ones.
2. Fill unbaked shells half full with the strawberry preserves
3. Make the cake mix according to directions on the box and place by spoonfuls over the preserves
4. Bake in a 300 oven til the cake rises-about 25 minutes but check often.
5. Remove, cool completely and ice with frosting and smatter powdered sugar over the top. Yum. You can place in the refrigerator if there are any left. They are even delicious cold the next day. This recipe will make approx. 18 regular cupckaes, depending on how thin you roll the pastry dough. It takes no time at all to make and almost everyone who tastes it, raves about it.

Why not have a picnic or make a hat or even...remove a ring? Have fun!

Rosie is for sale at my etsy shop. Here is a detail of the background in the picture below. I brushed Texture Magic Dimensional Paint over a stencil and then sanded it down a bit and painted to match background color. I love working with this paint because it dries in a relatively short time and works well with stencils. Be sure to clean your stencil off immediately though since the paint is hard to remove.

Detail of stencil work on background

LADY OF THE LABYRINTH COLLAGE

LADY OF THE LABYRINTH COLLAGE

Lady of the Labyrinth collage

The poem I have attached to this particular collage comes straight from my book, Layers. In Layers, I have written a story that starts out slowly. It is about a girl around 12 years of age. She and her friend find a mysterious book. It is a book that changes both of their lives forever. The story at first makes y ou think it is about each girl becoming a woman. Later, you find that what is happening is not what you thought. This book is a celebration of women. I will probably never be able to achieve in another book what I have in Layers. It comes from my heart and aims to reach the hearts of women in all walks of life.

Here is the poem:

Lady of the Labyrinth

Her soul cries out for the sacred walk.
for the pilgrimage.
As she moves through the narrow passage
toward the center, she opens her heart for
the journey.
The discipline of the steps gently placed on
the path, one after the other, footprints to
understanding..slowly begin to reveal the
gifts of the spirit.
With each step, she sheds layer after layer
of unresolved pain. As her body moves
Inward, her quiet mind opens, surrendering
the passioned images. There is an emptying,
challenging, yet ever allowing, ever centering
and finally, a release.
The sacred labyrinth of times long past calls
her to begin her spiral. To weave together the
psyche and the soul.
She emerges from her sojourn with a keener
eye and a lightened heart.

~Cheryl Dolby~

Close-up of hardware

I was over at Happy’s, my local flea market, and saw a woman that I usually buy a lot of jewelry from for my work. I didn’t quite make it to her booth though. She looked over and said, “Cheryl, what are you picking up from the ground? What is down there?” I had found the best treasure…beer bottle caps. These weren’t just any old beer bottle caps though. These particular caps had been run over repeatedly by the many trucks and cars that come through the market. They were rustic and ancient looking, just the look that I often times try to achieve. I took my small treasures home just knowing I’d find an application. Sure enough, as I started working on my labyrinth piece, these gems just fell into place. I attached them to her hair with encaustic wax and added gold highlights to them. I used a metal labyrinth that I had on hand plus old rusted tools. Perfect. I do like the way the piece turned out and will build upon the theme.

close-up of beer caps

"Lady of the Labyrinth" as well as the book Layers are available through etsy using Paypal. Alternately, you can view them on etsy and purchase directly from me via my e-mail. I take all the standard credit cards including Visa, MC, AX and Discover.

View from the bottom of painting

ENCAUSTIC WAX COLLAGE-BLOOMING SPIRIT

ENCAUSTIC WAX COLLAGE

“BLOOMING SPIRIT”

"Blooming Spirit"

SOLD-Thank you Dawn!

This is the third in my encaustic wax collage series. I must say, I think I have finally honed in on the style I want to use in this series. I created “Blooming Spirit” by using some of the flowers from my garden that I had dried a few years ago. I used mostly roses, baby’s breath and some odds and ends. I painted the face with oils and used several different gels and glazes, some acrylics too. I then placed encaustic wax over the flowers to preserve and added gold highlights. She is 11"w x 22" h.

Close-up detail

Here is the story I have given her, taken from my book , She Who Whispers.

“Blooming Spirit”

Her home was far away and she longed for the roots that had for so long held her life together; friends, family and familiar surroundings. Time passed as she quietly endured her sorrow. Finally, she rejoiced, for her soul, who knew far more than she, revealed a great truth: “Change is growth, you must bloom where you are planted.”

~Cheryl Dolby~

Another close-up

I have just placed her on Etsy for you to view there. She can be purchased on etsy or you can contact me directly through my e-mail. I take all credit cards, including, MC, Visa, AExpress and Discover. I also accept checks.

Hope you like her.

View from the bottom

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ENCAUSTIC WAX COLLAGE

THE UNFOLDING

This is the second in my heavily textured encaustic wax collage series. I used oils for the face and crackled the surface of the collage. I crumpled tissue paper and immersed it into gel medium. I then spread the paper over much of the surface. I painted encaustic wax over some of the area. I did not iron it in, as I do my encaustic Gypsy Woman Journals. I was extremely happy with my collage, yet, something was missing. I decided to write one of my stories onto the lower part of the collage. One problem with that is the fact that no matter how hard I try, I cannot produce calligraphy-like handwriting. I even took a course on calligraphy. I bought all the pens, nibs etc. and practiced for an hour daily. It seemed to work fine for awhile and then, before long, I reverted back to my old chicken scratch. Even so, I decided to scratch out one of my stories from my book, She Who Whispers. Sometimes, when I view the collage with half open eyes, I actually see ancient script. As though the writing came from some secret society. (I’m laughing here a bit)

Close-up of The Unfolding

The story I told was of "The Unfolding". Just in case you can’t read it on my collage, (even when you double click it to enlarge) I’ve typed it in below.

"The Unfolding"

So long in the cocoon...and now she was free..free to fly..fly away ..because they had been called to the world, and she had been called..to herself.....

Cheryl Dolby

Another view

I wrote "The Unfolding" with women in mind. Women who have given and given until they could give no more. When the child finally leaves the nest, you would hope the mother would be free. They have chosen their own lives now, away from her, away from home. This certainly isn’t true in all cases though. Many women must wait entire lifetimes for their freedom. It doesn’t always come from the child or children leaving either. Sometimes it is a divorce or even just a state of mind. We can choose to be free of the worries our children, and others, bestow upon us.

I am offering The Unfolding for just $200. She is 14"w x18"h by 1 1/4". I created her on canvas. I have just placed her on Etsy so that you can view her more clearly. She can be purchased there with the help of Paypal or alternately , she can be purchased directly from me. Just e-mail me. I take all of the major credit cards including Discover Card, checks or Money orders. Thank you.

ENCAUSTIC WAX COLLAGE

ENCAUSTIC WAX PAINTING
“THE DORAN”

The Doran

Encaustic wax is a wonderful medium to work with. I’ve been using it for a number of years to create a feeling of age in my paintings. With “The Doran”, I tried something a bit different.

Materials, more than anything else, inspire me the most when I am creating my artwork. I have an Herb and Almanac Cross Reference chart that I have kept for years, thinking I might frame it. When I saw it rolled up in a corner of my studio, an idea came to me. Why not incorporate it into an encaustic wax painting. I read the verse at the top and knew I wanted to create a nature scene.

Here is what it read:

“Oh dear ones! Treat ever so gently the beast within and it shall sing praises unto the name for that is it’s nature.” Then, at the bottom, I was surprised to read: “Blessed is the divine mother of all creation from which springs the well of all life.”

I am not sure how old this chart is, but it is now a part of my Doran painting.

Close up of ancient herbal almanac

I decided to use oils to create her face and I definitely think the wax tones down the plasticity of some of the other items I used at the top of the painting. Crackling the paint also helps to give the painting a rich ancient look.

Close up of encaustic wax effect

Here is her story.

THE DORAN

Some call her a witch because in her presence, miraculous things sometimes occur. She is known to be able to cure many illnesses with the ointments, teas, tinctures and potions she makes with her herbs. She spends hours cutting, removing seeds, shredding roots, turning, drying, crushing, steeping and distilling. She uses eyebright, pennyroyal, primrose, lovage, borage and comfrey.

She watches the seasons: She dies with the winter and rises with the spring. She is totally in tune with the harmonics of nature because she is able to see on luminous levels. She believes we are all in some way linked together; the birds, flowers, trees and plants and somehow are part of something much greater than we are able to comprehend.

She is majestic, serene and at peae with herself and the universe that surrounds her…She is a Doran…

~Cheryl Dolby~

If anyone is interested in purchasing her, she is 18”wide x 24” high and is 1 ½ inch deep, which makes for easy hanging. The collage is entirely created on a solid birch wood. I painted her face with oil paints and used acrylic on the rest of the painting. I used coir, encaustic wax, silk flowers, an old almanac and assorted other papers. She is priced at $275. and can be shipped to almost anywhere. If anyone is interested in purchasing her, please just e-mail me to make arrangements. Or, alternatively, you may view her and purchase from Etsy Thank you.

close up of frame