An ACEO?

I am sure you have seen much chat about ACEOs? Trouble is often you hear about expressions and because everyone appears to know what they are talking about you feel nervous about admitting you don’t actually know what an ACEO is!

Well, do you remember the old cigarette packets that contained small cards which were collected and traded? That’s how ACEOs came about! Originally, termed as an ATC or Artist’s Trading Card, people loved the idea of collecting these cards but unless you already possessed one, how on earth did you start to trade since this was the only way in which to secure others? Answers on a postcard!!!! No, seriously, someone came up with the bright idea that you could call it something else and therefore now you could not only trade but also buy and sell them! Eureka!!

An art format started by an artist on Ebay two years ago it has grown in popularity ever since. This artist is known by “bone*diva” on Ebay, but her real name is Lisa Luree. Here you can see an example of her work entitled ‘Luree tiny Madonna with bird’ which you will find for sale on Ebay.

So, an ACEO or Art Cards, Editions and Originals. They are small at 2.5 x 3.5 inches, or baseball card size. That is the only rule that governs this little critters! They can be created in any medium you wish from a painting to print, from polymer clay to glass. You name it, you make it. It’s that simple!

ACEOs are avidly collected all over the world whether bought/sold or traded and is a wonderful way to collect original works of art at a sensible price.

When I began painting ACEOs in a wax medium called encaustic I found it an exciting way to experiment. There are many collectors out there who all belong to many wide and various groups. Even Ebay has a collectors group!

ACEOs can be presented in a selection of different ways. For instance in an album or slipped into a card as a surprise present! They can be matted and framed to be displayed on the wall either singly or as a collection.

Although the concept of an ACEO is still in its infancy you will find more and more people, like you the reader, learning about them as they are being offered for sale on more and more websites, as well as in some real-world galleries.

Like what you see? Why not check out my Etsy shop or Artfire where you will find a varied selection of ACEOs.

So, what is stopping you? Want to buy or sell an ACEO? Just remember that whatever you do they can become addictive. You won’t be able to stop at just one! Best of all enjoy!

One of my alternative selling venues

Yes, I know!  I am extolling the virtues of selling my goodies in my different selling venues/shops but if I don't, who will?  I must admit it is one of my least favourite things to do and is so time consuming!  I would much rather just play with my waxes and have someone else do the marketing and listing etc.  However, that will not happen so you are stuck with me doing the dirty work.  Someone has to!

Today, I listed quite a few ACEOs and paintings on my Artfire.com shop.  Have you seen them recently?  They certainly vary in subject matter but do suit all sorts of budgets and I do try to make my art affordable for all pockets.

This is an ACEO entitled 'Looking out of the Cave'

 

If you have ever visited UK you may have travelled to Somerset and seen the Cheddar Gorge, a natural formation where many like to walk, climb or visit Wookey Hole which are awesome caves.  In this ACEO I have tried to convey the magnificence of the rock formation that could be found.

Cheddar Gorge, UK

 

 

In complete contrast here is a painting created using the inspiration I have of underground passages, water and caves.

A Journey Below

 

 

 

Like what you see?  Then why not visit my shop on Artfire or my Etsy shop where there are more examples of my encaustic art.  Thanks for looking!

It's not just Pandas who like Bamboo!

Bamboo, the word, conjures up all sorts of images from the actual plant to furniture! It is an extremely versatile plant that is also very strong. Here some can be seen growing in a wood in Kyoto, Japan.

Bamboo is the fastest growing woody plant in the world. The plant is used extensively in gardens, as a building material, and as a food source. Here I come back to the theme of a food source for the giant Panda! Not only this the bamboo pulp is now made into a bamboo fabric which is light and strong and is supposed to have some antibacterial properties!

The plant is often used in painting since it has such an interesting formation of colour, texture etc. The Chinese have always been the masters down through the years creating the most beautifully delicate images.

I do not profess to have those qualities but did enjoy trying to depict an abstract image in different colours for my latest set of ACEOs. Remember ACEOs (Artist Card, Editions, Originals) only have one rule and that is that they must measure 3.5" x 2.5". They can be created using any medium which makes them an exciting and affordable way to collect original art!

Here I have created 3 different ACEOs with the same theme. They can displayed separately or as a set! For further information please visit my store on Etsy.

Bamboo - Purple original encaustic ACEO

Bamboo - Blue, an original encaustic ACEO

Bamboo - Green, an original encaustic ACEO

TADA.... the unveiling!

Well, as promised, the picture is now hung!

My husband got out the ladder. Have you ever tried standing, safely, on a ladder that has been extended on the stairs? Very scary. Having placed a towel at the top to protect the wall from the ladder making any marks we discussed the height at which the painting should be displayed. Once that was confirmed, he put two screws so that the painting could balance nicely and it would be easier to keep it level and straight.

Once the screws were in place I handed him the painting after having made sure that he still liked it!

Carefully the painting was lowered onto the screws, levelled and once we were happy with the positioning the ladder was safely removed.

And, so my friends, thank you for your patience! Now is the time to stand back and view my latest, largest encaustic entitled 'Flora'.

Although initially the painting was to be for us, I have decided that if accepted favourably enough it could well go on sale! Then the headache of how to pack it!!

See how the light changes the images as it picks out the metallic wax. Remember if you want to see any picture in more detail just to click on the individual one to blow it up!

Let me know what you think. Honestly, I won't be offended if it is not your cup of tea but I really would be curious to read your views.

Thank you for looking!

EEny, meeny, miny,mo.....

Having just finished creating my latest encaustic painting I now have a difficult decision to make.  To which shop do I post it?  Do I list it in Artfire.com?  What about Artgallery.co.uk?  In the end I decided to stick with Etsy for the time being and list this encaustic in my Etsy shop, On A Whimsey.

For those of you who are feeling the cold today including me I think this painting will give a warm feeling.  Hope so!!

Once I had completed it I had to put my thinking cap on to make another important decision!  What title to place on it.  Then like a bolt of lightening I thought of that wonderful group called Simply Red and realised that would be my title for this encaustic!

So, ladies and gentlemen, may I present....... drum roll please.....

Simply Red

Painted on box canvas this painting needs no frame since the sides have also been painted.  Measuring roughly 11.5" square and 1" deep it would not look out of place in the home or office.

 

Here are a couple of pictures showing the side angle to demonstrate how the sides have continued with the main theme and colour.

Another new venture!

Another new venture... well, it is the new year and what better time to start out on another new one?

This time I was tipped the wink about an American site which is now also in UK called Zazzle.  Interesting name so I checked it out!

On this site you can upload your photographs of your paintings etc and they do all the work after which you take a percentage which you decide upon.  So, you can upload pictures that would be suitable to transposing to T shirts, aprons, mouse mats, mugs and the list goes on and on.  Even magnets, key rings and then they do greeting cards etc.

How could I resist?  Now you can see some of my paintings and photographs.  Some you will recognise, others may be new to you.  My Red Flower looks good on a T shirt, a mug or anything else you can imagine whereas some other images look good on a mouse mat.

This one was entitled 'Looking through the Coral'.  It was an ACEO, still is actually but I thought it could be fun as a mouse mat!

 

 

Here we have some of my fantasy mystery castles.  Sometimes when you have to do those boring old spreadsheets it can be rather nice to drift away into fantasy land whilst gazing at your mouse mat.

 

For a more restful scene I loaded this picture I took during the autumn whilst on a wander around Sheffield Park, a National Trust park, where we often visit.  Bet it doesn't look like this at the moment with temperatures  at 4 or 5 degrees below freezing!

If you are interested in seeing more why not pay a visit to http://zazzle.co.uk/onawhimsey where you will see quite a selection!

Last day of 2008

Whilst we spend the last few hours of 2008 reflecting on the past year, our mistakes, our joys and achievements, we should still be looking forward to another wonderful year ahead.  Life is what we make of it with a little luck thrown in!  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't so well.  It's all trial and error!

I am not trying to make light of situations but just feel you have to try to think ahead..... you know, the light at the end of the tunnel idea again?

Well, whilst you are all doing that I decided to have one more listing on Etsy for 2008!  Actually my shop On A Whimsey is just over a year old and I am pleased with what I have achieved so far.  I have loads of ideas in the pipeline for 2009.

Meanwhile, I digress!  Here is my latest addition to my shop.....

Pastel Pansies - giving us the hope that a lovely spring is just around the corner!

I love the delicate petals that pansies have with their meaningful centres which seem to give them all a soul!  Here I used my new hot air gun to swirl the different colours around the canvas.

That just leaves me one more thing to do and that is to wish each and everyone of you a very hopeful, good, healthy and happy New Year!!

Thank you all for your continued support - I do so appreciate it and look forward to seeing you and meeting new readers in 2009.

The Muse .... She has returned!

My long suffering friend has returned! My Muse. Oh, I have been truly lost without her and have just drifted along with no real ideas or aim regarding my encaustics. This is really unusual for me but now I hope to be all geared up again.

At least with all those Christmas preparations over and done with I now have more time to devote to creating again. What really helped was that I was given a hot air gun with variable heat settings as a Christmas present. This would make hot air work so much more easy to do rather than fight with my hair dryer all the time when the hot air and wax had lives of their own!

Anyway, my first creation for quite some time has now been completed and I have listed it on http://onawhimsey.artfire.com

It is entitled The Eyes Have It. I love flowers and I guess I often look right into their centres and imagine I can see into their souls through their eyes. Using several layers of colours I moved the hot air gun over the box canvas. To add detail I used another small iron attached to the hot stylus to create the flower aspect. The final detail of the eyes was added with the hot stylus. The grasses around the painting which were also taken around the sides were added with my encaustic iron. So, there you have it. A touch of fantasy with some thought thrown in for good measure!

The birth of an encaustic

When an idea comes into my head I just want to get the waxes out, support and decide which tools I am going to use.  Once I am nearly at the completion stage I wish that I had taken some pictures to demonstrate the process of how one of my paintings become the finished product.  Always, too late so I was determined to remember this time!  Some of you may remember this post from my other blog which will gradually be 'run down' since I find blogger more user friendly!

To continue, with this in mind I have used my latest encaustic and remembered, just, to take pictures along the way.

Step one was to take a blank, white canvas that had been triple primed with gesso and to decide whether I would use it landscape or portrait.  For this exercise I decided on portrait style.

I wanted to paint a flower using my iron, hairdryer, stylus and tissues.

The top of the painting would need a yellow background. Next I wanted some depth of colour.  To do this I used a hot iron, tipped it up with the point heading for the canvas and melted some wax on it so that splodges of wax would fall in dots overall.  Now to heat up the hairdryer and blow on those spots so that they would blend  and I also used some tissue to blend even further.

Each layer of spots would be blown and pushed around with some tissue until I got the effect I was looking for.

Bit by bit more depth is achieved by adding darker colours on top of previously lighter ones.

In this third picture you can see the different coloured layers producing different effects.

 

 

 

Now the time has come to heat up my mini iron.  This is inserted into the stylus which can heat up different sized tools to create different effects.

As you can see I have started to paint an idea of a flower using the mini iron.  The painting continues to evolve although I am not totally certain of the final direction the waxes will take me!

At first I thought of a poppy flower and here is where you will see the dilemma I have put myself in..... should I continue or just stop!  There is always the time to decided to walk away from the painting or to add just that little bit more.  If I were doing this on support card I could just redo the whole thing and start again.  However, painting with wax on canvas is a little more permanent.

Well, I just couldn't resist it!  I went that bit further and now have changed the whole structure of the flower.  I stopped using the mini iron for a while and started with the hairdryer again.

The shape of the flower was beginning to evolve but it needed some finer work to be done on it.  Now, I really had to be careful not to overdo it so that it would be completely spoiled.

I added, using the nib of the hot stylus, some stamens and detail for the centre of the flower.  It was very nearly finished.  Again, I carefully heated the centre to try and soften the look.

Here we are!!! TADA!!!!

The completed painting!  What do you think?  I find the ragged edging to the flower helps make it more interesting.

So, you see, you never really know where you will go with encaustic art.  The waxes decide the final outcome for you and to try and go against the flow just will not work.  Believe me, I have tried!!

Welcome to my newest blog!

For those of you who know me you will remember that I have had a blog using Wordpress.com for quite a while.  This blog is still active but since there are numerous constraints using that platform I have decided to duplicate posts and insert them into blogger.  Hence this new blog!

If you would like to follow me just glance to the right of this screen and click the 'follow me' button so that you won't miss out on any new information in the future.

As the days go on I will be posting descriptions here to help explain encaustic art - my favoured medium.  Just as a taster here are a few of my paintings for you to consider.

This one is entitled Spilling Over.

As you will see in many of my paintings, water elements have a great influence in my life.  I love the depth of colour within the shadows and the vibrancy that draws you in which can only be achieved in this amazing medium of painting with molten wax. 

This was a painting I created for my daughter.  Although the camera has caught the light in the centre it seems to enhance the rest of the painting, don't you think?

Remember to make this blog one of your favourites so that you can follow me during my journey with encaustics!