I have to say my favorite class at the Art of the Carolinas was Lisa Boardwine’s Cold Wax and Oils Abstract painting. While I loved all the classes, and the kindness and preparedness of all of the instructors, the abstract classes resonated with me the most.
Lisa’s class was so terrific because she spent a lot of time demonstrating, guiding, and reviewing the work of the students. Cold wax and oil suited my style and I think I did quite well for a neophyte (if abstract is your thing as Joe always says to me… poo on him!) 😉
The thing I enjoyed the most is Lisa’s glowing personality that comes from a truly passionate and loving place. Her enthusiasm and her warm kind spirit filled the room.
I started my project on a 16 x 16 Davinci gessoed panel board that I purchased at the Jerry’s Artarama tradeshow shop onsite. I taped the edges to keep them clean. I really love when art just glows from within, even under multiple layers. To do that, Lisa recommended covering the canvas with a 50/50 mix of cold wax and Indian Yellow oil paint using a Messermeister silicone bowl scraper. I added more layers of color, including Asphaltum, Titanium White, Buff, Celadon Green, Ash Blue, a Pink, a Red, and an Indian Orange. I wrote the other colors down and will put them here in a bit. I believe they were mostly all Charvin but there were a couple Daniel Smith and perhaps a Williamsburg brand paint.
In addition, we used Gamblin cold wax, brayered over textured wallpapers, and affixed tissue paper and gold foil as a mixed-media collage. Another technique we used was to spray Gamsol on the surface, wait 50 seconds, then scrape over the painting with the Messermeister to achieve an interesting splashy droplet texture.
I finished two of the paintings in class and then completed two more at home. I’ll post images of the two pieces I did prior to the class with zero experience in the media. I purchased the materials and watch a few videos before the class so I could some with a frame of reference before attending. Here are my oil and cold wax designs, some photos from the class, and a couple of Lisa’s cold wax artworks:
I enjoyed learning from Lisa so much I became a Patron of hers and have joined two of her invitation only facebook groups. Please purchase her art, take a class, and consider supporting her on Patreon too! Visit her web site at https://www.lisabboardwine.com/.
