Laura Griffin Designs

Ode to London Graffiti

A couple of years ago, during one of my trips to London, I snapped some photos of a graffiti filled haven for skateboarders…

Here’s another shot…

While scraping down the layers of an encaustic painting last week, I realized that my piece had suddenly morphed into a graffiti wall!

I carved letters into the layers of wax & added orange sea glass to finish.

Hope you’re having a great weekend,

Abstract Encaustics

Thought I’d share a couple of abstract encaustic paintings that I recently made. I tend to create with a lot of structure in my cardmaking & polymer clay work, so it’s been interesting to try my hand at abstract art.

I started off with this small painting (5″x7″) using cream, teal, & orange hues with a hint of sap green. The surface texture was created using a scrap of burlap which was painted & then fused onto the piece using a heat gun. Underneath the wax paint is a map of a French city. You can see it show through in a couple of places… but I ended up covering up most of it with opaque color.

After finishing this one – I decided to mimic it on a larger scale on a 10×10″ cradled wood panel.

Here is the result which is fairly close to the original considering encaustic is an unpredictable medium. No two pieces are ever identical no matter how hard you try! That makes for a lot of fun surprises, though.

A day of encaustic painting…

Last weekend, I spent a day at The Encaustic Center painting four pieces including this one. Wax is so different than any other medium and I love the different textures & layering you get with it. This painting is called Tree of Life. If you’re interested in learning more about encaustic, the encaustic center is a great place to take beginner workshops or just go for work days in the studio. The prices are reasonable, the owners knowledgeable, & they keep a rainbow of pre-mixed paints available for your use. I’ll definitely be going back sometime soon!

You can check out their website here.

Happy creating,

Live inspired.

I created this piece on a cradled 6″ x 12″ wood panel for an upcoming encaustic wax show.

It is inspired by the word of Kelly Rae Roberts and is a mixture of collaged paper, charcoal, oil sticks, pigment pens, mica powders, silver leaf, & beeswax. The rustic heart shape is made from vines.

Background papers are by Anna Griffin & Autumn Leaves, and the stamped sentiment is from an Angel Company set (love the typewriter font!)

This was my first attempt at painting a face. I have a lot to learn, but had a blast with this one, so hope to share more of these soon. The wings have a subtle shimmer from mica powder and a few flakes of silver leaf.

TFL,

In Dallas this Saturday night?

Come check out the Meltdown show at the Art Hotel Gallery downtown. It features a number of local Encaustic Wax artists and is my gallery debut! The show’s opening reception is from 7-9 p.m. Details are below (click for larger image).

Hope to see you there!

Encaustic Painting

I am in love with encaustic painting right now. Encaustic is a mixture of beeswax & damar resin and gives the most wonderful texture & translucence to your work. I recently attended an encaustic workshop and finished the below piece for an upcoming gallery show called Meltdown. It is a mixture of oil paint, transfers, & beeswax on wood and is titled “For the Love of Art”. TFL!

Encaustic Wax Journal

If you haven’t figured it out by now…I’m not someone who sticks to just one method of artistic expression. I love to learn new techniques & end up dabbling in them all. So far, that includes stamping, papercrafting, polymer clay, sewing, metal embossing, silversmithing, painting, writing/performing music, graphic design, and the latest….encaustic wax.

I recently joined the TexasWAX Dallas guild and am experimenting in encaustic wax art. (Encaustic is a mixture of beeswax and damar resin and is an art form that has been around for centuries.)

The first piece I made was this journal:

I adhered watercolor paper to the front of two masonite boards, then painted melted wax onto the cover in gold, brown, red, & white hues. I embedded the hand-stamped “journal” piece into the wax and hand-carved the branch and bird images.

The text on the back panel came from a vintage book, and I inserted around 25 hand-stamped art papers inside using the book rings.

Next, I’ll be working on some 12×12 art pieces for an upcoming gallery show. I’ll be sure to post those when they are complete. TFL!