It was three below zero in Syracuse today.  I did not visit my favorite trees on a hike – I draw the line at eleven degrees, thanks.

I spent the day completing my encaustic trees collection.  These paintings are 6″ x 8″ encaustic & collage mounted on 11″ x 14″ chalkboard, and framed.

I added oil pastels, vintage stamps, keys, embroidery floss, checkers, cedar chips, ribbon, 1963 pennies and French bobbins – from France!

I am so in love with them.  It is such a weird feeling – so happy to have completed them, proud of myself and the choices I made, but also sad that it is over.

I feel like I should expand the series.  I created twenty-four of them, twenty-four different tree shapes.  Do I make twenty-four more with twenty-four different shapes?  Do I reuse the shapes and change the colors, as I did with the lotus collection?  I don’t know yet.

I don’t even have a plan for where I will exhibit them.  I am scheduled to show at the East Syracuse Free Library this May through June, so, maybe there.

I am actually still waiting for a back order of frames (four are technically not framed – I just set them in a broken frame in order to photograph them).  Once they get delivered, all the paintings will be stored away and I will vacuum and reclaim my living room floor, and my dining room table – until the next project presents itself. <3