Bucolic Dreaming

Rust Prints and Gouache

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Missaghi) — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:41:00 +0000

Sometimes a girl just wants to have fun! Gouache always brings out the lighter side. The rust prints looked so randomly happy I thought they needed color and fun.

Secret Code Art/ Ancient Wisdom

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Missaghi) — Sun, 12 May 2013 13:43:00 +0000

Ancient Wisdom

I love the way this piece (encaustic on cradled board)came together. It started with a secret code book I found in a antique shop. I fell in love with the symbols on the cover of the small booklet and just knew it would somehow work it's way into my art.

I decided to use the Chinese code written with walnut ink on a piece of handmade paper, can you decode what I wrote?

Cold Wax /Oil and Wax

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Missaghi) — Tue, 07 May 2013 19:55:00 +0000

SUMMER

This winter when the studio window froze shut, I wasn't able to work with my encaustic (hot wax), you definitely need some exhaust system...mine is a window and fan. This is when I discovered (through the magic of the blog world) cold wax! It could be used with oil paint which I love most and it didn't need to be fused yet allows you to create all kinds of texture.' Summer' was my first piece and once again I was in love!

Turquoise Dreaming
SOLD

Far & Away available on artbycasm.com

'Far & Away' was the third piece I did and just had to add in the map , so technically it is a mixed media piece.

Night Fall
Sold

Mermaid
Sold

City Lights
Sold

Some of the blogs were I learned about Cold Wax are Jeane Myers at A R T I T, Rebecca Crowell at Rebecca Crowell and Judy Wise at Judy Wise.

Creativity/Action, Happy Moves

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Missaghi) — Thu, 02 May 2013 14:30:00 +0000

Happy Moves , Ink&Rust

Most of my art starts with some inspiration and then unfolds as things are put in motion. I'm never sure when or where the inspiration will show up, but show up it does and when it does I recognize it instantly. Like a light blub turning on. Then the inspiration may sit for a while or it my be put into motion immediately. It is a natural process and works best when I don't force it. However nothing is ever produced unless I start, even if I start with something totally unrelated. It must be put into motion to arrive at the destination.

Bleach Painting On Black

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Missaghi) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 22:10:00 +0000

Iron Diptych, encaustic mixed media , available on my website artbycasm.com

Dance: A Painter's Perspective

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Missaghi) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 13:01:00 +0000

I was so fortunate to be able to attend my good friend Julie's exhibition of paintings she did of the Dancers from the Minnesota Conservatory of the Arts. The work is stunningly beautiful!

It was fun watching the dancers look through her sketch book from the year long project to spot themselves.
Congratulation Julie!!! You can see more of her work here.

Where is spring?

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Missaghi) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 17:42:00 +0000

REALLY...this is spring?

RAW Natural Born Artist in Minneapolis

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Missaghi) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 02:18:00 +0000

I'm so excited to be a featured artist at the next RAW showcase....you can check it out here. I think it is going to be alot of fun. I am selling tickets to cover my media cost , so if you are in the area and want to come or if you just want to show support you can buy tickets here http://www.rawartists.org/artbycasm
I would love to see you and appreciate your support!

From The Mother Lode

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Missaghi) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 14:07:00 +0000

I made a lot of prints from what is now known in our household as the Mother Lode. With the prints I did several encaustic paintings. This first one I call 'Vintage Persian'. The picture doesn't do it justice because the colors are more intense in real life and you can't see the flecks of gold all along the rust print.

Turquoise Dream

close up of Turquoise Dream

'The Secret Garden' Some parts of the prints came out so clear with a lot of rust I decided to only add a layer of beeswax and resin to bring out the deep color even more. This one reminds me of the garden gates I saw and admired all over South Africa.

African Soul

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Missaghi) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 14:56:00 +0000

encaustic rust print with embroidery

African Soul is one of those pieces that naturally happened with out any effort. I felt more like the instrument through which it was created rather then the creator. It started with a rust print, wait it actually started many months ago when I found a hat stand at the thrift store. I came home an dug out a hat I bought in Africa (many a ladies wore this type of hat on Sunday for church going.)
It has been on my bookshelf in the living room and I've been enjoying admiring the craftsmanship. When I learned I was to be the emerging artist for Art at Highland I started sketching and the design on this hat kept coming across the page.

One of the many rust prints I did was just begging for the embroidery stitches to be put on it, and it became 'African Soul'

Now the name for the piece also came about effortlessly as though it was already named I just needed to become aware of it. I discovered the name when I looked at the photo of this piece on Iphoto, many of those speaking bubbles came up all over the picture of 'African Soul' asking me to name the people in the photo. I'm so happy my Mom bought the piece at the show, I know she also has a love for Africa that runs deep....and I'll be able to see the piece from time to time!

Art Show/ Art At Highland

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Missaghi) — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 22:50:00 +0000

With the loving help of my family and friends the art show was a great success!

Adeeb did the new biz cards!!! and WEBSITE , YEAH! Please have a look at the website, artbycasm.com it is sooo cool. I am very fortunate to have such talented sons:-)

From The Beginning to End part 3 " The Ancients"

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Missaghi) — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 17:52:00 +0000

The Ancients

All done, wrapped and ready to go to the show!

4 New Canvases

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Missaghi) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 21:51:00 +0000

While I was working on the BIG canvas which is still in progress, Riaz finished 4 more canvases! All 18x24" and beautiful.

Immediately I started to gesso the canvases so I could work on them. When I'm too tired to do art I am framing, photographing, doing an inventory, pricing, labeling and bubble wrapping pieces for the art show. I have one son doing my art website, business cards and booth sign and some framing, another making canvases and the third is handling money. I'm keeping everyone on their toes including Hubby who is the photographer and psychiatrist when doubt sets in. Whoa this is a lot of work, but exciting:)

First of the four done! This will be at 'Art at Highland'

From Beginning to End Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Missaghi) — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 13:03:00 +0000

First layer of wax has been painted on.

Fusing the first layer of wax with my handy torch. You can't see the flame but you can see on the canvas the patch of shiny wax which has melted.

After a full day and a half of arranging and rearranging the painted rust prints I use an old iron heated on my hot plate to fuse them to the first layer of wax. The weight and heat of the iron fuse the paper perfectly into the piece.

Before painting the second layer of wax and resin I decided the piece needed some squares, this is the point in the work where you started to react to the piece rather then forcing it into my original concept. Maybe you could say you start to deal with the reality rather then the imagined? So I grabbed objects around the studio to weigh down square cut outs, which will later be removed and the empty space be filled with white wax. The objects looked so cute lined up on the canvas I had to take their picture :-)

Second layer of wax has been painted on and fused, now it is time to start scrapping I may add a third layer and then I get to make some marks in the wax, FUN!

From Beginning to End Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Missaghi) — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 15:05:00 +0000

I've started my largest encaustic piece to date. It measures 24"x36". My talented son Riaz made the cradled board canvas beautifully. It is so pretty I am tempted to leave it as is, then I remind myself what it was created for.
My sister made a suggestion that has been incubating and I think this piece would be good for her idea to record the process of making one of my encaustic painting.

The concept I have for this piece is to create layers of rust marks on translucent paper to give an organic look to it as if the piece was created 100's of years ago and then nature added it's marks along the way. I want light to shine through the piece, so I need a white ground.

The first step is to prepare the board with white gesso. I use Tracy Willan's recipe for gesso. It took about 5 layers of gesso, taking 2 days with drying time to get a smooth white finish. Being a natural product the gesso has a earthy smell to it as it dries. Some would say it unpleasant but I like it, it reminds me of our horse barn when growing up.

Not the best picture, it has been snowing and overcast , so not much light in the studio today

While the canvas is drying I continue to make the rust prints that will be used in the painting.

Just the beginning, lots more to go

It has taken about a week to make all the prints I will use.

My favorite part comes next...painting the rust prints, using oils, inks and rust. I'm going to do a lot so I can choose the best for the piece.

The rust prints are ready to be adhered to the canvas.

The pieces' first layer is a beautiful feast for the eyes.

I could be perfectly happy to leave the canvas just like this, at least for a while, yet I am eager to add the first layer of beeswax and resin....stay tune.

Wax On Wax Off

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Missaghi) — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 03:07:00 +0000

It seems I am scraping off more wax then I put on this piece. All in the pursuit of getting it right.

I found it interesting that I grabbed this rock to weigh down a piece, seeing as the cut outs are the same shape as the rock. Was it coincidences or being in that meditative state that occurs when making art it was a natural choice? Either way I had to photograph it.

In the Studio

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Missaghi) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 01:23:00 +0000

The other day Homayoon asked if he could take some photos of my studio. I told him "at your own risk...it is a mess" I was so pleased with the results, I hope you enjoy them as well.

First Prints From The Mother Lode

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Missaghi) — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 02:57:00 +0000

I was so excited to open up the prints today. The color was intense, so beautiful. The watercolor paper buckled it a couple places adding some mystery.

Now to start working on them!

The Mother Lode

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Missaghi) — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 05:22:00 +0000

I was feeling a bit stuck on Saturday, so we decided to go out treasure hunting. Look what we found. I think I hit the mother lode for rusting!!!!!! Can't wait to get started.

Cooking the rust. The box on top is filled with my other rusty bits to weigh it down.

Tools of the trade.

Being Inspired

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Missaghi) — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 21:30:00 +0000

A section of current work for the Highland Art Show, inspired by one of my Biking Photos

the inspiration

Photos taken on a bike trip through Minneapolis this fall inspired a series of works call City Walls and City Pavement and is still inspiring work I'm doing for the Highland Art show.

'City Walls series' and 'City Pavement' are available on my Etsy shop.

Art at Highland

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Missaghi) — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 01:59:00 +0000

I'm so excited to be the emerging artist at the Art at Highland show and have been very busy making art. You are all invited to come !

More Rust Painting/Prints

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Missaghi) — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 23:38:00 +0000

Rust Painting

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Missaghi) — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 02:31:00 +0000

I've been making more rust prints for my encaustic work, with the left over rust I've done some rust painting, it really is the most gorgeous color

Stuff

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Missaghi) — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 02:34:00 +0000

nice compostion

Lately I've got some neat stuff thrifting..... I know the studio is really a mess.

This box got stuffed with stamp making tools.

These slide cases will be great for storing stuff. Adeeb took one and I've put my drawing things in another.

These presentation transparency sheets are coming in handy for making stencils.

Some vintage things! The pins I found at the thrift store the book was given to me for art work...can't wait!

Gouache On Atlas Pages

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Missaghi) — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 20:42:00 +0000

I've been busy adding some gouache paintings to my Etsy Shop. I've done them on Atlas Pages from an old Atlas. It is great to work with this lovely color when everything outside is grey.