Wax & Wire with Crystal Neubauer

Wire heart by Crystal Neubauer,
wire shape by Maike’s Marvels

I took a fabulous class with Crystal Neubauer on Saturday. PerficalSense Studio hosted “Moving Beyond the Canvas with Wax and Wire.”  I had met Crystal at the “Meditations: Looking In, Reflecting Out” exhibit, and knew I’d enjoy learning more from her.

First, we were introduced to the tools we would need, wire of various gauges and metals, pliers to cut and shape, a hammer, an anvil, paper or fabric, and encaustic medium.

 

Crystal, who enjoys bringing new life to old objects from her vintage finds in both collage work and this wire work, had brought several samples from which we could take cues.

 Class samples by Crystal Neubauer

Crystal noted Tia Kramer, Brenda Mallory, Lorrie Fredette and Lee Bontecou as her inspirations, along with finding shapes and patterns in concrete, glass work, and even the earrings I was wearing that day.

Inspirational idea books

First we sanded the rebar wire, shaped it, and hammered into a form to our liking.

 

Wire shapes by Crystal Neubauer

Copper flower frame by Maike’s Marvels

Then we picked out papers while the wax was melting.

Encaustic Medium

These papers were cut to smaller sizes and dipped in the wax.

waxed and unwaxed paper

We then adhered the paper to our forms with a quilting iron, and burnished the warm paper to fuse the wire and the wax.

You can layer any way you want, and then cut or tear the paper to fit your shape.

A few of us played with colored wax, pan pastels and PearlEx pearls to add color to our creations.

Adding sparkle to my wing

 

Some people created multidimensional shapes.

At the end of class, we were all quite pleased with the results.

Creations by 5 of Crystal’s students

I am already looking forward to the next class in June, “Moving Beyond the Canvas with wax and 3D.”  The La Grange Art League will host Crystal’s Wax and Wire Works on April 29. These classes and exhibits by Crystal can be perused here.

Wax and Wire creations by Maike’s Marvels

I’m so excited about the possibilities these new techniques offer!