Encaustic Collage

I've spent some time in last month or so experimenting with encaustic painting in preparation for an encaustic collage workshop I hosted as part of SCAD's annual Art Materials Trade Show. It's an interesting medium to work in - the main elements are wax and heat. The process is well suited for collage because you can embed materials such as paper and cloth between the layers of wax, and you can easily transfer xeroxed images onto the tacky wax surface. Here are some examples of what I've been making (the first two pieces are available on Etsy):

Building Blocks. 2008.
encaustic, oil pastel, and collage on panel.
6-1/2 x 6-1/2"

Aviary. 2008.
encaustic and collage on panel.
4-1/2 x 4-1/2"

Not Titled. 2008.
encaustic, oil pastel, and collage on panel.
6-1/2 x 6-1/2 in.

Update:
These paintings are now available at ShopSCAD (with the exception of Aviary, which was purchased on Etsy).

Viewfinder Photography

A few weeks ago I saw this post on Boing Boing linking to a Flickr pool of digital photos taken through the viewfinders of old cameras. A week or so later I bought an old Argoflex 75 twin lens reflex camera on ebay which finally arrived a few days ago. So, this weekend I spent a few hours adapting it to take photos through the viewfinder using our digital camera, and took a few outdoor shots with my "new" camera:

This is the camera after I removed the top viewfinder covering
and super-glued the lens back into place.

Here's a photo of the camera, along with the hood I made out of
black foam board to hold the digital camera in place.

A view of the camera with the handmade adapter.
The lens of the digital camera fits into the circular hole at the top.

Here's a view looking down through the top of the adapter to the viewfinder of the camera.
The digital camera focuses on the image shown in the viewfinder.


Here's some test shots I took today in our back yard: