Saturday, February 02, 2008

Cooling at the End of the Day

This has been a long productive day. I had a student this morning and we worked in clay. It was a very good way to start a day since just working with clay is very meditative. The rest of the day has been one of "burning in" beeswax on two large canvas panels that will become encaustic paintings. I am savoring the start of these paintings as I let myself enjoy the process though believe me holding a heat gun for several hours will give your arms and wrists a workout. Since I've begun lifiting weights again the process gets easier each time and I recommend it.
I must admit I am thinking of some kind of apparatus to which I can attach a heat gun to make this job easier when I am doing a very large work. I'm not sure that it is even possible. At one time I had a black light exposure unit that I made for alternative photo printing so perhaps that design with heat lamps might have possible use in this situation. Or maybe I'll just suck it up and do the work as I've been doing it. My mind always races to think of a new inventive way to do the work.

Ah, the photo. This photo cools me, since that's what I need right now. I photographed the beach in Savannah right after Thanksgiving and let me tell you it was COLD.

2 comments:

Lynda Cole said...

Helen, I like your photo. Water horizons are one of my favorite things.

If you wanted to shift to a propane torch for your encaustic, you could get one in which the tank sits on the workbench and you just hold a nozzle and hose - pretty light weight.

Helen DeRamus said...

Lynda, I have been concerned with the hazard of using too high a heat source. Should I be concerned about that? I really hadn't considered the use of a torch for that reason. Tell me more.