Finishing collages for my show

My encaustic wire collages are all finished and the March show is hung!

It’s been fun to explore what to make and how and when.

Some substrates lingered while I tried out various ideas and rejected them, and other pieces came together in consecutive sittings.

I repurposed some older pieces into different looks. Adding wire and changing colors gives a whole new perspective. The beauty of encaustic is that you can keep fusing layers on older paint.

While I understand the premise that one must create every day, sometimes you cannot force where you want a piece to go and have to wait for inspiration to strike.

It’s a balancing act to live the artists’ life and take advice about what that life should look like.

I think the key is having discipline, knowing how your personality works, and being realistic about other demands on time.

Pushing too hard to make art can lead to burnout, but not going into the studio regularly will make for a lesser artist.

I find myself missing studio time if I let other things interfere with my rhythm.

It is easy to get absorbed in schedules and obligations, but ultimately the passion that calls you to make art will also force you to do it, or you won’t be as happy.

When my wire won’t bend the way I want it to or the heat gun seems to have a mind of its own and the wax won’t cooperate, I just putter around for a bit and think about what I want to make.

Filling the Creative Coworking wall was a challenge, and I do feel like I should have made more and bigger pieces, but I couldn’t push myself too hard with other things going on in life.

I hope you come by on Friday to take a peek. Melanie Deal’s collages are really cool and I look forward to scrutinizing them more.

Creative Coworking is located at 922 Davis Street in Evanston.