Medal for the Victorious Dead

Reworked an older piece with the addition of the golden skeleton. I guess you would call this an assemblage. The idea here is it’s an award for a fallen solder or fighter, kind of a thanks for your service, post - mortem. Thank the universe that I never had to go to war and fight for my country, pick up a gun for transient political beliefs, kill a stranger over land disputes, or property, or as revenge for an assassinated leader, or my favorite, take lives for a difference in religious dogma or over the interpretation of God. An award like this goes to the dead’s survivors, who can only feel it is vastly inadequate, an empty gesture for the children of a dead parent or spouse, and ironic, because the only satisfactory ‘prize’ is never having the burden of duty to fight for an institution, place, way of living, food, and someone else’s cause.

We won the war, but all the winners are dead…… M. Teters, 2022

Large Decorative Encaustics

Rented a studio space at Over the Moon studios in Asbury Park. I had (4) 3 x 3 ft panels on which I planned to do some spontaneous encaustics. Slashing that much hot wax around seemed like it was best done away from my living space and Over the Moon worked out great. I mostly like the results of the last month’s work, but I am my own worst critic.

Submerged, 3 x 6 ft,. ….encaustic and pastel dyptych on panel

Heavy Sky, 3 x 3 ft, pastel and encaustic on panel

I'm Worth a Million in Prizes

Spent some time painting this one. The human skeleton is not an easy task to draw/paint. It’s got many angles, planes and junctures that drive me crazy. I’m willing to accept that it’s not going to be perfectly anatomically correct, but if there are any glaring errors, I have to fix them (if you see any, don’t tell me).

The title comes from a lyric in Iggy Pop’s, Lust for Life. It seems fitting that a beauty queen would feel like he/she is worth a million in prizes. I mean it takes a certain amount of narcissism to enter a beauty pageant. Of course, there is no shortage of narcissism in the world today, especially in the USA. Everybody wants their 15 minutes, …not even, everybody wants lasting fame/Superstardom. Everybody wants to be famous for being famous. Thank you Kardashians, thank you Tick Tock, thank you Instagram, Snap Chat, thank you shitty pop music.

Re-Pinked Medusa's Dream

Medusa got pretty bleached out over the winter, so I gave her a make over for the summer.

Working Title - Belief in Money

Been working on this piece for a few days. Came together pretty quickly. What’s different about this piece is it’s a merging of the two main techniques I’ve been using for years, encaustic and oil painting. Using the two techniques actually isn’t new, I’ve been blending the two media for years, it’s the styles that I’ve been keeping separate. Oils painting is great for fine details, depth of field, rich layered color; it’s very specific. But encaustic, because of it’s physical properties, it’s usually less specific. It dries almost as soon as it hits the canvas, it’s thick, it’s textural, and to use it properly you have to re-melt it so it binds to the substrate and any other layers of encaustic wax that were already laid down. The re-melting makes it difficult to hold onto exact shapes, lines and forms, so encaustic frequently looks kind of blurry, dreamy, floaty. (There are ways around this if you want hard lines and shapes, but I’m not going to get into that, right now). So, what I did here was paint the detailed parts almost to completion in oil, blocked in the background, and then started working the encaustic over the oil base. The other reason I used encaustic is because it takes transfers very well. …transfers meaning, an image from a printer. The ink used in copiers and printers is essentially carbon in a plastic matrix, and if you rub it hard on encaustic, it sticks to it. The transfers are the next layer on this piece.

Transfers added 4/27

4 of Cups

Another tarot card, this one you don’t particularly want in your reading. ….The Four of Cups Tarot Card can represent missed opportunities, remorse or regret. It can also signify becoming self-absorbed due to depression, negativity or apathy. The Four of Cups can indicate that you are feeling bored or disillusioned with your life, you may be focusing on the negative or feeling like the grass is greener on the other side….So, I may have over done it a bit here in the imagery, but I had the idea and you know, artistic license. The idea of wine pouring into the mouths of skulls fits well (in my mind) with missed opportunity, and of course in the distance is the greener grass.

A little diversion (in anticipation of Spring?)

Experimenting using india ink and graphite on vellum. Vellum is kind of a recent discovery for me. I mean, I knew of it, especially when I was doing a lot of printmaking. Some of the printmakers in the studio were really obsessed with paper, so I heard of vellum, …and cotton rag, and mulberry paper, and abaca, and Rives BFK and Arches and all the choices and lingo that is really kind of wonderful. I think those specific choices that artists make, the paper, ink, paint, ground, size, all of it, is what makes good art so special and individual.

Vellum was originally made from calf skin, but it is supposedly now made from cellulose, although I read that modern vellum has a plastic polymer added to it , so not recycle-able. However it is made, it is translucent and has a silky surface with a microfine tooth. It takes graphite wonderfully although it doesn’t adhered well so very smeary, kind of like a pastel. You have to fix a drawing on vellum with that nasty spray to get pencil to stay put. I’ve been lightly putting a final coat of thin matte medium over it which is tricky. You have to apply the matt medium in one stroke, the second stroke with smear the pencil. …..so this is weird information to know. My head of full of little factoid snippets. It’s a mess in there.

2 New Cards from the Major Arcana - The Sun & Justice

Both of these are mostly done. Really, many of my paintings I don’t consider “done”. I don’t even like to use the word ‘done’, sounds like I’m making roast beef. Usually, when I look at something I’ve done, I only see how it fails, how I can improve it…Unless it’s sat around for long enough. Artwork I’ve made that is 5 years old or more, I can actually look at objectively. It’s as if another person made it. When it’s ‘matured’, or possibly, I’ve matured or become a different person, I can look at it and see what is truly good or bad about it.