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Master Studies (sort of)

Education, Gallery, Inspiration, Motivation, Process, Studio, Uncategorized / By wolfpupstudio@gmail.com

(posted 08/19/2026)

I majored in art at a small private college, but looking back, I feel my education was lacking in one important way. Art history was, of course, part of the required coursework, but there was very little emphasis on technique. I remember learning why a particular painting was revered in its time, or what made it unique or controversial, but not much about how the artist actually made it. How did they compose the painting? How did they choose their colors? What decisions went into creating it?

I’ve always been drawn to self-education. I know it has its limitations, and I’m perfectly comfortable with that. I still love figuring things out for myself.

Maybe that comes from growing up in an old farmhouse where I spent hours reading anything I could find. There was no teacher there to guide me through all the things I wanted to learn, so I mostly had to figure them out on my own. I was the youngest of three children and the only girl. My dad died when I was two, and a few years later my mother was diagnosed with mental illness. I spent a lot of time trying to teach myself things, and just as often ended up frustrated when I couldn’t figure something out or didn’t have the right tools or supplies.

My mom did teach me to crochet, and later my cousin taught me to cross-stitch after she learned. I immediately started crocheting Barbie clothes and designing my own cross-stitch patterns. At one point, I cut up a pillowcase to use as fabric for one of my creations. I got into trouble for that, of course.

I also watched a lot of PBS as a young child. Many of the programs I gravitated toward were cooking shows, and cooking became another creative outlet. There was always food available to experiment with, and I loved the idea that I could take a handful of ingredients and make something. So you can imagine my disappointment when our school district eventually dropped the shop and home economics classes I had been looking forward to taking someday. Those were exactly the kinds of classes I craved.

Not that long ago, I decided to learn watercolor painting. That instinct to figure things out for myself has never really gone away. Lately, I’ve decided to turn that curiosity toward some of art history’s greatest masters. I’ve been doing what are commonly called master studies – choosing a painting by an accomplished artist and attempting to recreate it, not simply as a copy, but as a way of understanding the decisions behind the work. I tried a few YouTube tutorials on watercolor, and while they were helpful, I’ve learned more from these two master studies than I ever expected.

There is something very different about slowing down and trying to reconstruct another artist’s decisions. Instead of simply looking at a painting and thinking, I like that, I have to ask myself: Why did they put that shape there? How did they get that color? Where did they place the light? How did they create that sense of depth? What did they leave out? I feel like I am literally in their shoes.

It turns out that studying the masters this way is teaching me exactly what I felt was missing from my formal education – not just what makes a painting successful, but how an artist gets there. Of course I have to add my own spin, so I have been doing watercolor interpretations of some famous oil paintings. That’s why I stated these are “sort of” master studies.

And, after decades of figuring things out on my own, I’m discovering that sometimes the best way to learn is to call on the masters show you the way.

Here are process photos from my study of Picasso’s “Fleurs” (1901).

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Next, I’m working on a study of a small bouquet by Manet. I post process photos on Instagram/Facebook a couple times per week if you want to follow along.

A Happy Ending

Collectors, Digital Art, Events, Gallery, Inspiration, Motivation, Process, Uncategorized / By wolfpupstudio@gmail.com

(posted 04/18/2025)

I’ll start my post with a happy ending:
My largest encaustic art work entitled “Where Now Meets Then” has been accepted into the Gates Mills, Ohio, Art Show, and is on display through April 27, 2025. See the Art for Sale page for location and hours.

Now for the beginning:
The inspiration for this piece was the cover of a Jan Brett book I bought for my daughter years ago. I discovered the children’s book author and illustrator in our weekly visit to Hudson Library looking for books to intrigue a preschooler. I was fully intrigued this time – I fell in love with Brett’s art work accompanying the familiar fairy tales which I had been so enthralled with as a child. I still keep many of them in my studio, and often gift her books to my favorite young people.

One sketch I did looking at her book “Beauty and the Beast” which had a large tree trunk and branches with a few plump roses placed about the tree. A couple years ago, after looking at my sketch again, I went a step further and conjured an image through Ai synthography. This was a more gnarly, textured large oak tree with several roses like big apples nestled all about the boughs. I digitally edited one Ai image to make it my own style, then used it as a reference for my largest encaustic piece.

The 24 x 24 inch blank wood canvas had been sitting in my house for well over a year. I was frozen on what to do with it for a long time – I knew once I had this tree idea on paper I was ready to work big.

I prepared the canvas surface with a couple coats of encaustic gesso, then layered it with encaustic medium. I quickly learned when working on a large encaustic, it’s necessary to work in smaller sections in order to add and fuse the wax properly. Next I had to transfer my reference image to the wax covered canvas. I used the grid method, and drew it in nine separate sections. Once the drawing was complete, I went back over it with a needle tool in order to create deeper lines.

After the lines were carved, they magically came alive when I covered the canvas with black powder pastel. The powder sinks into the carved lines when wiped away to show a fairly detailed drawing.

The oil and powder pastel pigment palette changed quite a few times, adding frustration to the process at certain points. I ended up keeping the leaves various shades of green and blue from the start, but the trunk and branches were gray at first. They morphed in to a bronzy brown and taupe mix which I really think looks great with the walnut frame I chose.

The roses were initially bright red, then became coral and then orange. I finally settled on yellow once I decided to keep the scheme more analogous. Adding some gold metallic pastel also gave the tree a sense of being a monument. Changing the roses to yellow was the point at which I really started to connect with the piece in a deeper way. The yellow roses said “remember” to me, so I began to think of those blooms as beautiful memories situated on a weathered tree of life.

The background had been a light blue sky for most of the time I worked on the piece, until the yellow roses were done. This is where my intuitive autopilot kicked in. You can’t plan for the intuitive work or explain it, but other artists surely know what I’m talking about it. It’s a bit like when you’re driving somewhere and after you arrive you can’t recall any of the specific motions/turns that got you to your destination.

I also do not recall how I came up with the title exactly, but I often read poems online to get the best words or phrases for my art titles. Emerson is a favorite simply because he wrote a lot about nature, coinciding with my muse. All I remember is after reading an Emerson poem I settled on “Where Now Meets Then.”

The tree is life now, the roses are the best of memories, and the sunrise and barely finished landscape in the background is what is ahead in life. Or, perhaps it’s a sunset and the landscape symbolizes a past that is mostly forgotten. You decide, and finish the story your way.

Making Encaustic Magnets

Inspiration, Midjourney Images, Process, Uncategorized / By wolfpupstudio@gmail.com

(posted 01/27/2024)

Over the past few months I have made several 1-1/2 inch encaustic magnets. I like to present them as gifts or a small items to sell at events, and a lot of people like them! I began with bee images created in Midjourney, then I added butterflies. I thought I’d share how I make these little pieces.

First the round images are digitally honed using Midjourney AI and Photopea (basically Photoshop). I like to change the backgrounds to showcase some of my other work, including landscapes, florals, and botanicals.

After printing them on plain white paper, the next step is to cut them out and adhere them to the round wood pieces.

Once dry, I carefully paint the edges and backs – usually black, but in this case I’m using gray chalk paint.

After the paint dries completely, it’s time to adhere the little magnets. I have tried a couple different brands and finally found some with good strength – weak magnets are no fun. One thing I didn’t think about when I did my first batch was that it was necessary to place them far enough apart, otherwise the magnets will travel a bit to get closer to one another until the glue dries.

The next day, the pieces are ready for the encaustic medium. It’s brushed on lightly twice, then fused with my heat gun.

Since I can put any image on them, you can see just how versatile these are. Contact me for pricing if you want me to make a custom set with a photo of your choice, or even a logo. Wouldn’t these make the most unique wedding and party favors? I think so!

Neighbors

Inspiration, Photographs, Process, Uncategorized / By wolfpupstudio@gmail.com

(posted 05/20/2023)

I painted a piece inspired by one neighbor who happens to be a horse. It’s interesting to me that “neigh” is part of the word “neighbor,” and I have a horse as a neighbor. I’d like to know the connection between the two words if there is one. But that’s not very important to this story.

When I was a kid, I used to walk along route 534 and other roads in Windsor, Ohio, quite a lot. One of my earliest memories is when I ended up one early morning at our Amish neighbor’s farm up on a hill, west of our place. I was probably 4 or 5. The kids must have taken me on a tour of the farm because I remember coming very close to a massive bull behind a fence – I can still picture his huge head and the shiny bull ring in his wet, fleshy nose. I also remember being in their dawn lit kitchen and seeing a few of the young Amish girls. They were standing in a row at the sink in gauzy white gowns with their long hair draping their backs. They must have been washing the breakfast dishes. It was like seeing a row of angels in real life to me, and I’ll never forget it.

We had another neighbor down the south side of the road who was a retired history teacher, Mr. Loomis. He and his wife lived in a beautiful brick century home. On days I roamed, I would end up at their house more often than they probably liked. I sat next to Mr. Loomis in their front room while his wife made dinner. I even stayed once and ate with them, although it could have been more than once since I barely recall. He would mostly talk to me about history of course, especially local history since he was a descendant of a pioneer family in Windsor; my family were original settlers there too. Across the road was a barn where they kept a horse – a white pony actually – named Starfire. It was a real treat if he took me to the barn to see Starfire, and I would often stop to see her when I was older riding my bike past their place to Mespo.

I had some other neighbors who caught my curiosity as well. A teenage girl invited me to play with my Barbies while she smoked and played records in her room. To this day when I hear “Tiny Dancer” I think of her. Another Amish neighbor gave me ripe strawberries from her garden when I walked by as she was weeding. I barely ever see my neighbors now. I need to get out more.

When I lived in Hudson a decade ago, I craved living in the country again. We lived in what I call a fish bowl since all the back yards faced each other. One neighbor seemed friendly, but became less liked when he reported us for having an uncontained pile of yard debris. A teenage girl behind our house spent some time with my daughter, which gave her some fond memories. I would often drive by areas with pastures and farms longing to live among the peace and beauty, raising my daughter in a more laid back community. We finally found the perfect place in Auburn Township in 2014. And to make it even better, our neighbors happen to have two horses. For years I’ve been able to look out my window and see horses grazing behind the white fence – it’s quite picturesque.

Earlier this year, I noticed our neighbor across the road was putting up a fence. I figured they might be adding livestock or maybe even goats or llamas. But, I was so happy to see a few weeks ago a new horse was there behind the fence. This horse seems very friendly though. Every time we are outside with the dog he stops eating and comes to the fence to watch us, like he is saying hello. One early morning I saw a man walking down the road stop to interact with the new horse, most likely feeding him too. Even though he’s a tall chestnut colored horse, he reminds me of Starfire in his demeanor.

This new neighbor has been my obsession the last couple weeks in the studio. I set out to make an image that is simplistic with the calm, country feeling you have when you’re in the most beautiful parts of northeast Ohio. The piece began with encaustic medium over an encaustic gesso base. I then did most of the image in oil pastels and a bit of walnut ink.

As you can see, it has taken me a lot of time and trials but I’m happy with the result. The encaustic painting “Country Neighbor” represents my gratitude for all the farmers, horse and other livestock owners that are in our community. They make our surroundings so much more enjoyable, tranquil, and serene. I hope by painting this it will bring that same feeling into someone’s home. Follow this link to my Etsy Shop.

I’m excited to paint more horses. I drew them a lot when I was a kid. When I sit at my computer in my studio, I have a great view of my new neighbor – I can see him right now grazing between the trees. One of these days I’ll have to go introduce myself.

AI Meets Encaustic, Part III

Inspiration, Midjourney Images, Process, Uncategorized / By wolfpupstudio@gmail.com

(posted 05/14/2023)

If you have followed me at all lately, you can tell I am having a lot of fun working with the AI system called Midjourney. I’ve “conjured” well over 200 images using it. I’ve had it create patterns, botanicals, landscapes, round images, abstract art, portraits, and the list goes on. Quantity over quality is definitely where I’m at in the process. I have experimented enough to find a niche of a certain style that feels right, for now.

Painting with words is how I can best describe the process. You type in descriptive words on your own or copy those of the art pieces you like – they are constantly being produced by other subscribers out of the general system. Most of what I see on Midjourney when I scroll through other artists’ work has a futuristic/science fiction look similar to the first one below, but I do my best to avoid those results because my goal is to be unique of course. Overall, Midjourney is to an artist a brilliant way to quickly draft an image of a piece one is thinking of, but can be frustrating when the words aren’t interpreted the same way by AI.

Midjourney Images

What makes AI fun, but like a roller coaster, is the rapid pace at which I can create images. But, to make art that truly represents my purpose and aesthetic has taken me a very long time and quite a few errors. I’m excited to continue to share what I’ve conjured using AI. The work I’ve done lately has a strong visual presence. I don’t like these enough to use them in my encaustic, but they’re quite appealing and show yet another avenue of my individual creativity.

Midjourney Images

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