F is for...Frustration and Failure

I had a discussion with some fellow artists recently about whether or not painting creates stress and frustration more than relieving it.  Most people will tell you that creating art is a source of joy, or stress relief, or an escape, or it has some sort of positive influence in their life.  Don't get me wrong, I agree that it does all of the above, but...

I am a perfectionist.  When I first started painting, however, I had no expectation of my ability.  Now, I have huge expectations, and when a painting doesn't turn out the way I intended, it is extremely frustrating.  I want to be better.  I need to paint bigger.  I must develop more depth, better colour, more contrast...find a new perspective.  It gets a little overwhelming.

Granted, I am the only one putting these expectations on myself.  One of my artist friends pointed out that it is human nature to want to better ourselves.  True.  And would I take as much enjoyment from  painting if I painted the exact same type of things for the rest of my life?  I dunno.  Maybe I would.

I suppose I am just impatient, and I should enjoy the journey a little more.  I will get there.  Or will I? I mean, how can you ever really be satisfied?  And where is "there"?

As my mom says, Not every painting turns out.  Besides, for every failure there is something to be gained, if only experience or knowledge.

No wonder artists are portrayed as tortured souls!  It seems an impossible task to really get it all out the way you want it to.  And everywhere I look, there is something I want to render through art.

My advice to myself...chill out and paint.  And here are a couple of "fails" from my portfolio. Actually, they were not so much fails as unfinished.  There was something about each of them I liked. Only the top one was saved and turned into a painting I quite liked.  Another piece of advice to myself...keep going and don't give up on a piece too soon.

Fortunately, it is easy to reheat the wax and repaint!

Encaustic Wax is not Caustic...April #atozchallenge

I am fairly new to the arts -- I started painting about four years ago.  It was something I always wished I could do, and then one day I took a class and did it.

I fell in love with encaustic wax as a medium, and I am continually surprised at what you can do with it.

paint with it
draw with it
sculpt with it
collage with it
layer it
excise it
combine it with oil, ink, shellac, pigment, fabric, paper....

It is incredibly versatile.

Here are a few links to some of my favourite encaustic artists:

Robin Luciano Beaty

Alicia Tormey

Tony Scherman

And it is not caustic, as the name suggests.  The word "encaustic" means "to burn in" which applies to the process of using the wax.  Each layer of wax must be heated so that it will fuse to the layer below, and this can be done using a torch, but it can also be achieved with a heat gun or an iron.

I have a number of encaustic pieces on my Art page on this blog.  One of the best things about encaustic is that if you screw up, you can scrape it off and save the wax for something else!