nature art

Holly Days 2023 at The West Woods

Events, Gallery, Midjourney Images, Photographs, Portfolio, Suncaustics / By

(posted 11/15/2023)

On November 3rd & 4th, I was busy selling my art and jewelry during the Holly Days Artisan Boutique held at the West Woods in Geauga County, Ohio. I have done a couple markets per year since 2021, and this was another success!

The event ran a few hours on Friday evening and most of Saturday. This was the first time I used my new gallery wall (a white folding pegboard) which held many of my original pieces on cradled wood canvas. The table was then freed up to hold a few more larger works, some jewelry, and a white lighted tree decorated with ornaments.

All around me the other vendors had beautiful displays of some art and lots of Christmas themed decor and candy. It was great to get the holiday season rolling so soon after Halloween. My husband was kind enough to come along and help me unload, set up, and make small talk with everyone. He even picked me up a delicious burger from Manna Food Truck at the end of the night. He’s a trooper and I’m always so thankful for his help!

I debuted all thirty-one birds of the Birdtober 2023 project at the event and sold twelve of them. I even got some orders for more ornaments including a bluebird, two herons, and a monarch butterfly. Since I was asked to create these birds, I decided to list them on Etsy – currently there you can find the bluebird, the blue heron, and the hummingbird in the Ornaments section of the shop. They are made to order so if you want them for gifts, get your orders in soon!

I ran another art giveaway at this event. Two of those who signed up for my email updates got the chance to win their choice of Birdtober ornaments. One winner chose the common tailorbird, and the other chose the goldfinch. I sent those out this week. If you’re interested in getting my studio update emails (about one per month), click here to sign up. If you change your mind, it’s easy to unsubscribe.

Art that Sold

The art pieces that sold at Holly Days were quite varied in subject and process. Following is the bulk of them with a comment on each one – they are in no particular order.

“Woodland Raccoon,” 8×8 in. wood canvas. This is the 2nd or 3rd version I’ve done. People fall in love with the face of this masked creature.

“Generations,” 10×10 in. wood canvas. I like this one so much I want to do more versions of it in the future. Ever since I read about “Hibaku,” the ginkgo has been a favorite tree of mine. Click here to read more about Hibaku.

encaustic wax painting ginkgo leaves

“Hinterland No. 7,” 8×8 in. wood canvas. This is not a picture of the exact one that sold, but it is another one of which I’ve made multiple versions. I like to place the fox in different settings and keep it somewhat transparent and ghostlike.

“Lilies of the Valley III,” 8×8 in. wood canvas. This is a piece done with Midjourney AI. After covering it with wax, I embellished it with some oil pastel. I did a similar one which is quite popular on Etsy.

“Orphic Landscape I,” 10 in. round wood canvas. This was an encaustic painting I did using a Midjourney AI image as a reference. A lot of AI looks surreal and I think that aesthetic comes through clearly in this one.

“Summer’s Edge,” 8×10 framed. This one was hard to let go. It ended up selling before the show even opened! I absolutely love making suncaustic works and plan to do many more – they always seem to bring out the best of my creativity.

“Moreland Meadow No. 8,” 9×12 in. wood canvas. This landscape always made me think of Ireland since it somewhat mimics the colors of the flag. It’s got some gold and it’s just about to reveal a rainbow. Moreland Meadow was a favorite place of mine that was captured in a few photos in 2020.

These last three on 6 in. round wood canvas were part of a Female Bird Series I did last year. I painted them with watercolor, then covered them with encaustic medium.

As always, I’m very happy when people stop by and look and ask about my work. I’m so grateful to those of you who liked my work enough to take it home. If you ever see a piece you’d like me to recreate, or have a request for something new, please reach out to me via email: rachel@wolfpupstudio.com

AI Meets Encaustic, Part III

Inspiration, Midjourney Images, Process, Uncategorized / By

(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

Midjourney Art by Rachel Rivas-Plata
Midjourney Art by Rachel Rivas-Plata
Midjourney Art by Rachel Rivas-Plata
Midjourney Art by Rachel Rivas-Plata
Midjourney Art by Rachel Rivas-Plata

Midjourney Art by Rachel Rivas-Plata
Midjourney Art by Rachel Rivas-Plata
Midjourney Art by Rachel Rivas-Plata

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.

Related Stuff

Midjourney AI Meets Encaustic Wax Part I
Midjourney AI Meets Encaustic Wax Part II

Nature Arts Festival at Big Creek Park

Events / By

(posted 08/14/2021)

Last weekend, I had a wonderful time showing my art and jewelry at the Nature Arts Festival at Big Creek Park in Chardon, Ohio. Thankfully, my art was accepted into the juried event, which gathered many, many artists from NE Ohio and beyond. I had requested an indoor table and ended up sharing one large room with a jewelry artist, Anne Nelson, who does some incredible things with metal. I also met another encaustic artist, Stacy Cook, and I very much enjoyed seeing her work and hearing about her process. I had a great conversation with another jewelry artist, Cynde Hujarski, who has a really unique style. Many thanks to my husband, Raul, who is becoming quite the art show professional! Once the event began at 10 am, I was pretty much tied to my table. I was hoping I would get more time to venture outdoors to see the other artists – I’ll have to make it a point to do that next time. I did have a chance to see the work in Carlene Holtz’s tent outdoors. She had some really beautiful floral art done on glassware. She is also the owner of MC Art Studio on the corner of Bell and 306 in South Russell/Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Full disclosure: I have some pieces in the gallery there, and it’s a very charming space, so check it out!

Inside, we had a steady stream of visitors, some purchasers, some browsers, and some friends and family. It was very nice to be able to inform people on what encaustic is and the versatility that it brings to my artmaking. Being indoors was definitely a good decision on my part, because it was terribly muggy outside and I believe it rained for a bit as well.

As always, it was so nice that my friends and family came to see me – I appreciate it so much! And it was very nice to meet some fellow artists as well as local patrons who enjoy nature-inspired art. The beauty of our parks is irreplaceable and I love that people are so passionate about spending time outdoors and observing nature. I can literally get dozens of ideas from a few pictures that I take on a hike through the park. Here are some photos of my display, before and after, along with photos of some of the items that sold.

  • “Luster Leaves”
  • “Sunflowers”
  • “Electric”
  • “Moreland Meadow No. 6”
  • “Moreland Meadow No. 4”
  • “Her Royal Highness”
“Through the Trees”
“Pattern Revealed”

The best part of selling my work is that allows me to share a portion of my profits with NAMI of Geauga County. I gladly made the donation today. I’m looking forward to my next local show … I hope to see you there!