This mixed media painting will be in the Shop Update, August 6th. Not a lot of stitching in this piece but just enough to do the trick. I'm very happy with the results. The tiny weaving was done with silk/wool warp and woven with paper text strips, wool, metallic thread, and a bit of tea over dye. The metallic gold is hard to capture in a straight on shot so I've shown it at an angle so you can see the bling. 

Today's topic....when is a piece of artwork done? Good question. Sometimes it just hits you over the head. This is done! Other times not so much. I hate the other times. All the questions that start to arise. Should I add more or take away perhaps or what? All artist I think go thru this to some degree. I have to put the work aside and work on something else when this happens. I have to just stop! If I don't then it can go the wrong way and feel overworked to me. But this is just me. I've had pieces that I felt were not my best and they sold. And other works that I loved and they didn't sell. It has always been that way; even with the yarn dyeing business years ago.

​There were colors that I adored and they didn't move as fast as I thought they would. And others I didn't even want to list and I did it anyway and they sold out fast; leaving me scratching my head in wonder. This is the way of the world. Everyone has different taste and you can't really predict it, so as an artist you just have to keep on doing what you love and what feels right for you and it will find the right person and a forever home.

So today I was working and that feeling of "Is this done or not"? was really bugging me so I walked away for a hot cup of tea and some time to rest my eyes and my mind from it. So here I am talking about it sipping my tea and getting my mind right before I go back into the studio to dive back in. Some days everything falls into place beautifully and others well, they require more tea and thought. So I'm heading back to the Studio to look and think and see if I really begin to see not just look if you know what I mean. Hopefully, I'll be back with pics later. 

Ok back with some pics from yesterdays stretched canvas. She's done. This piece will be in the shop update next Thursday. Aug.6th. Time for dinner. Ta Ta for now. 
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Moving right along on this 30 day challenge. Today I'm working on adding stitch and a tiny weaving to a mixed media painting. The last layer of the painting is finally dry. Oil and coldwax. Oil takes much longer to dry but it's worth it. I love the blending I can get with oils. That buttery effect is addictive.

Beginning layers are often done in acrylic which drys super fast. You can add oil to an acrylic base but you can't go back to acrylic once you add oils. So when you ready to go to oils you have to commit to it. I have found some water based oils that I like and they make clean up easier. I'm just starting to experiment with those.

Having stitching and weaving elements on an oil painting you might think they could rot over time but using the coldwax as a top layer similar to a varnish helps prevent that. Oil works great with coldwax and with Encaustic(hot wax). I have a little corner sit up upstairs for Encaustic work next to a window with a fan for exhaust. But it is just too hot to fire up the wax right now. So I'm waiting for Autumn(my most favorite season) for working in Encaustic wax. Well, it's my most favorite season for anything. I love it! I'm super productive in the Fall because the weather is perfect and my brain feels like it is firing on all cylinders. The cool air, the beautiful Fall colors and the sweet smell of falling leaves and wood smoke fires just makes me so happy. Can't wait. I'm drooling all over myself just thinking about it. As you can tell summer is not my thing. Ugh! Ok enough of that....back to the work.

So below are a couple of pics, this piece will be in my next shop update. That is looking like it will be Thursday August 6th, at 7pm eastern time. If that changes I'll let you know. That is the date I'm pushing for. It's time for dinner so catch ya later Peeps. 

Stitching into a painting can be a little nerve racking because you can ruin it if not careful. So why do it? Because I can't help myself. I want the texture, the contrast of materials, the relief effect from the raised stitch and more. It's a personal preference. I don't do it to all my paintings but there are some that call to me and I reply. I stitch them and even add small sections of weaving to them. It took me a while to get to this point. "I thought it's a painting you can't do that to it." How silly was that! I can do whatever I want to it. I'm in control. Once you say that to yourself then the sky opens up and you are free.
It's the same with tapestry probably even more so. It can begin to feel precious because of the time involved in the weaving. And then there are rules and more rules and "the traditionalist would never do that." Forget all that. If I want to stitch into a tapestry or even add elements to it to take it where it needs to go; then so be it. There are no tapestry police coming to my door. Once you accept this as the truth you will be amazed at how freeing it feels. Art should never box you in! Never! 
That defeats the purpose of art in the first place. Freedom of expression. 

So what do you have in the end? You have a mixed media painting or a mixed media tapestry. Simple. Some tapestry shows don't accept mixed media tapestry but many do depending on the level from which you deviated. If the base structure is still weft faced tapestry weave and you have just added to that then your usually ok to enter that show. 

Below are some small mixed media paintings (wips) that I'm working on for the shop update. Looks like that will be in about 2 weeks. I'm going to try and start adding items and doing updates biweekly. I'll post more about all of that on the shop site and update to Instagram as well.

These small paintings work well in a grid formation but I think I'm going to offer them individually so you can mix and match if you buy more than one. There are several more in the works so there will be a nice selection to choose from.
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