Description

Arizona I & II, 7″ x 11″ oil and cold wax medium on Arches Oil paper.  Matted to 12″ x 16″ with white acid-free board and foam core backing, ready to frame behind glass. Sold as a diptych.

These two pieces of artwork were created during an oil and cold wax workshop with artist Leslie Miller in Tubac, Arizona a few weeks ago. This was my first in-person workshop in over two years!!! How wonderful it was to be creating amongst others again.

This diptych came to me on the last day of class. I had several layers of wax and marks down from the previous day. I was unsure how to bring the piece together, but had the sudden inclination (and braveness!) to cover the entire work with solid colour and try to mark a horse figure into the wax. I layered translucent earth tones and warm white, then, scraped back to lower layers in specific areas and marked in the horse with a chopstick. Much to my surprise what emerged completely captured the earth, warmth and feel of the Arizona landscape. I had bought a few pieces of turquoise jewelry the day before and magically their unique colour weaved into the work as well. Isn’t it amazing how when we are in a creative place in mind and soul how open we can be to the power of our surroundings?