Monday, June 17, 2013


'self portrait at 11' ~ colored pencil, watercolors, goauche, black gesso, beeswax, and oil and soft pastels on tracing paper

i've been working on tracing paper again - this time with beeswax - and really loving it.  the possibilities are just about endless when you combine the two...


 what it looks like without a white background behind it...

'a brief moment at 45' ~  same ingredients as above

i love to scratch into the beeswax with an awl, put black paint over the scratched out places, then rub off the extra paint.    it's a lot of fun...  : )


and i've finally started a new 'daily book'...  when i left for virginia i thought i'd start a new stillman and birn 'gamma', but i hardly worked in it.   last week i decided that what i really wanted to work in was an old book, and once i made that decision it was full steam ahead.  the name of the book is 'gold dust', and there's a pic of it in the sidebar...

two summers ago i worked in an old book and used beeswax on a lot of pages...  to see how they'd held up i got the book out...   everything looked exactly as it did two years ago.  the paint on top of the beeswax has held up beautifully, and the PYM II fixative that i used hadn't flaked off or discolored.  

there's a post here about PYM II and beeswax if you want to know  more; and there are pics of pages with beeswax on them.


the other thing i did last week was (finally!) take the time to figure out how to use my canon selphy printer without having to hook it up to my computer.  it couldn't be easier!    i can print up to eight images on one 4" x 6" piece of paper, but four per sheet is just the right size.   i'm *really* happy to be printing and using pics in my daily book again!


i'd just put wax on the face when i took this pic...

gouache, oil pastels, pan pastel, watercolors and black gesso on beeswax in my daily book

this is what she looks like now, after outlining, getting rid of the hat, massive quantities of paynes grey gouache (her hair), and covering up those lovely flowers on her neck...

wild geranium

besides that i'm still going out






and seeing so much...

* * *

 “I never wish to be easily defined. I’d rather float over other people’s minds as something strictly fluid and non-perceivable; more like a transparent, paradoxically iridescent creature rather than an actual person.”

~ Franz Kafka,  from a diary entry dated 23 March 1914

31 comments:

  1. These are WONDERFUL! I love the primitive look (and am guessing texture as well?) of the "self portrait at 11".

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  2. I'm smiling at how much I love the tracing paper technique! Fantastic. I would never have guessed you looked like an elf with red boots when you were eleven! But then again...hm, maybe. I love that beautiful little book you are using. Perfect!
    Oolivia

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  3. OHH Lynne I love your work in beeswax! Thanks so much for the link back, I have never tried using it on tracing paper! it gives the piece a misty opaque look that is just sooo delightfully dreamy. Its great that you can scratch into the surface, thats a method of working which I love, as always so much inspiration!

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  4. Such wonderful and inspirational work, always a joy!!
    ~Dawn

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  5. Holy Moly Roly Poly...this is all so beautiful Lynne. I think beeswax was created specifically for YOU. It just goes so beautifully with your art. Stunning and moving. xo

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  6. AND I forgot to say this:

    BEST self portrait EVER! xoxo

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  7. Love always wins! I just found a pad of tracing paper...so when I get resettled ...I can play! You always give me such wonderful thoughts...doors to open and explore!!! Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart

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  8. You are the sweetest little Elf! I enjoyed visiting with you today, and doing the wax thing vicariously (it's not something I'm good at, the wax thing, that is).

    Love, Gnome xo

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  9. Oh thank you, thank you for more! I was also thinking of getting brave and doing a self portrait! Haha! Only I will keep my clothes on and maybe my socks off!

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  10. I so needed some "Hoppe" therapy today! Thank you! My hear and soul are smiling, and I can wonder off in your artistic dreamland...

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  11. Love all your work using beeswax! I bought some a while back thinking of trying some encaustic work, but haven't done it yet. I do have some old tracing paper...hmmm. How do you apply the beeswax? With a paint brush or sponge? I'd love to know any tips about how-to...thanks so much! Peace to your heart, Sara

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  12. Lynne honestly, I don't even know where to start on this one. I could write a chapter book right here in this little box. That wild geranium has the elements of your 'signature' fleur. Lilac and those magic gold topped things that come out (stamens?) ... I chuckled right away when I saw this. Truly special. And above of course I did see a fleur in your painting. It makes my heart sing when I see a vision of this. Well, the red shoes in the self-portrait are pretty great hey? I am making this short (I beg to be believed here. HA!) so will just add that I'm going back to read and act on the style of painting/constructing (scraping away bits, etc.) to see what I might discover for myself. *smiles* N, x

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  13. Hi Lynne , u would not be Lynne if u did not go out lol i love your self portrait and im delighted that u remembered your shoes and what shoes , red and curled toes wow , Jimmy Choo eat your heart out lol love how u go in cycles could even say circles lol your work is the most simplistic yet has so many layers , i love the Kafka quote if some one could define us we would be boring lol hes says it so well
    luv ya

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  14. I loved all of the info you packed into this post. First off tho, I adore A brief moment at 45. Oh...I just love her so much, of course I pretty much enjoy everything that comes from those hands of yours and I got equally excited with the sharing on beeswax. I just coated an entire journal spread with it, layer up layer and sealed it with Dorlands and I couldn't be happier with the results so I was super excited to hear about your experiments with beeswax. I think I'll give the PYM spray a try. Given that it's summer I can spray outside and I really love adding beeswax to my journal pages. I was warned not to do so by a few other artists but me, being me, I just jump right into the fray and do it anyway, if nothing else to learn and see what happens. Beeswax lends such a lovely patina to anything it's put over and the smell is divine as well. I'm happy, happy, happy you shared all of this with us. xxxoooxxx

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  15. whimsy and thoughtfulness all in one. I love the yin and yang of your art..

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  16. your work makes me so happy... love the wax and tracing paper.. the effect is so ethereal and about that quote... absolutely.. a definition is the beginning of the end for an artist.. xoxo

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  17. There is just something about your art, your books, your style and your posts that I find so compelling Lynne. Sooooo special!!!

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  18. Love Always Wins.
    I remember this quote often, has it been two years?

    Here is joy, the red wagon full of light!

    Love how you put the little shell into the tree bark...

    Off to play :)

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  19. Oh what a marvelous dose of Lynne Hoppe magic here today. Drool...
    Had a little visit with beeswax with Elizabeth Bunsen last week. Need to warm me up a pan, I think. So smooth, sensual and beautiful !
    You amaze me, Lynne.
    Happy Summer !

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  20. Lynne, I just love the depth and delicacy you're getting in these pieces using this media combination. I'm going to go read the post where you wrote about the technique- thanks! Enjoy your summer- everything looks lovely there.

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  21. Oh. I also forgot to say that I'm working on a piece which includes of portrait (so to speak)of myself at about that same age. yours is charming; it expresses just the purity of spirit I would have expected, and still see in you. xxoo

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  22. Oh boy am I relishing again in your techniques. I have used beeswax only once and never quite got the hang of it. In your work it gives the images a softness and transparency that I adore.
    That little,she'll in the tree and the stick left in the forest make me,want,to secretly follow you on one of your walks just to be the lucky finder.
    Your are blessed, no doubt about it and you spread natures grace.

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  23. How I love your beeswax pieces...they are an eye- and heartcatcher for sure ♥ Conny
    http://piaromsartjournaling.blogspot.de

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  24. Love, love, love the book pages! And the walking sticks. Fabulous.

    Beautiful....

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  25. The wax works sooooo well for your work... To show the delicacy, fragility and transparency of your faces !! WOW !

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  26. Oh my oh my oh my! I love it, I love it ALL!
    xoxoxo

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  27. I love love love those pages, especially self-portrait at 11. Just stunning!

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  28. Absolutely stunning Lynne... such inspiration... I played with beeswax on the weekend but have never tried it with tracing paper... love the idea of the black paint too... your work is incredibly gorgeous...

    Jenny ♥

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  29. Your posts always inspire me. Love your work scratching in beeswax. The wild geranium is exquisite! And I had to write down that quote by Kafka. Thanks for sharing.

    The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention.

    hugs

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  30. You really work magic with tracing paper and beeswax and I'm smiling at "Loves Trees" wedged between folds of bark.... Oh pure delight!

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  31. Your artwork is very magical and enchanting Gorgeous work.

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