Stronger 8x10 Encaustic on wood cradle board by Canadian artist Bente Hansen

Stronger  8x10 Encaustic on Wooden Cradle Board  $120

When I am painting I usually have either the TV going in the background or music.  Depends on my mood.  If I don't have either quite often a song will pop into my head which I take as a message for a title or meaning for the painting.  Since I am painting intuitively I pay attention to these messages.

With this painting the song "Stronger" popped up.  If it doesn't kill you it'll make you stronger.

The painting needed to be stronger which is where the green gold came in.  Without it the message just wasn't there.  I also rubbed in some jewel tone powders on the feathers so that when it is in the sunlight the feather glistens.

I hope that some of these explanations help in understanding some of the processes that I go through.

Blessings for a creative day.

Bente

Brew Bay 8x10 Oil and Cold Wax medium by Canadian artist Bente Hansen

Brew Bay  Oil and CWM on Wooden Cradle Board  $80

This piece is very much an experiment.

It started as a demo for photo encaustic which turned out fine.  Just not very exciting.

I had been reading of people using cold wax on top of their encaustics so I thought I would try that.  It worked just fine.  As for how many years it will last I really don't know.  Maybe someone out there will be able to tell me.

After that I thought I would see if my pan pastels would work on the CWM.  The white really didn't show but the rust colour that you see in the bottom left hand corner is pan pastel rubbed into the wax. That seems to of worked great.  I have tried buffing it off and it is in there quite solidly so this is something I will definitely continue to pursue.

We had quite a storm here yesterday.  Today it is a balmy sunny day so time to head out into the bush to walk with my dog and his doggie buddies.

Blessings for a great day.

Bente

Winter Day Mixed Media by Canadian artist Bente Hansen

Winter Day 20x20  Mixed Media on wood cradle panel  $450

This painting started as CWM in deep reds with gauze imprints of dark turquoise.  I couldn't work out that puzzle so the painting got turned upside down.  If you look carefully at the image you will see the texture of the  gauze.

The revised image was done by brushing, scraping and using a brayer and spatula.  I thought of calling it "spatula painting". The cold wax medium is an interesting medium that dries quickly and allows you to mix your oils and allows you to scratch into it.

Blessings for a great day.

Through the Trees Oil painting by Canadian Artist Bente Hansen

Through the Trees 12x9 Oil on Gessoboard $110.00

Happy New Year to everyone.

I hope the upcoming year will be satisfying and bring many rewards.

2017 was a ying and yang year for me.

The great things were many and I won't go into the bad. We all have these times and I find that they allow us to appreciate when the times are good.

I enjoy painting on Gessoboard.  It seems to bring out the luminosity of the oil paint.  Its like a gem shining through.  The downside is that I can not purchase these boards in Canada and with the US$ exchange that makes it very expensive.  On the plus side I had purchased some a number of years ago when visiting Oregon so I do have a small supply of them on hand.

If you can get easy access to these boards I highly recommend them.

Blessings for a great day and a satisfying 2018.

Bente