This collection of cows was part of the ensemble of about one hundred paintings I created during the six-week period in 2012 when I took the best Syracuse University course of my life – Encaustics with Davana Robedee.

They are 12″ x 12″ encaustic & collage paintings on 1/8″ masonite board that are now mounted onto cradled hardboards.  Previously I had them mounted onto 18″ x 18″ chalkboards.  This made the presentations much larger.

They look so much better now.  Fresh and new.  I also added collage materials to some of them.  I did the same thing to the encaustic horse paintings – I will share those tomorrow.

I had originally created several cow stencils to be used in connection to a farm animal project I presented to first graders many years ago, so I had several stencils.  Davana encouraged me to play with the animal shapes to allow for a more dynamic flow and this lead to the upside-down and backwards stuff.  I know that some of them are rather unsettling.

Finding an audience for non-traditional constructions can be a challenge if I allow it to be, so I won’t let it be.   I really love how weird they are.