An artist bought one of my blank journals at a Christmas bazaar one year.  We started talking about our different practices and she told me she painted with oil paints and cold wax.  She suggested I try it out.  Not knowing anything about oil painting or cold wax, I stretched my brain and creative curiosity.  I watched a few videos on the technique and then gave it a whirl.  I had a palette knife, cold wax and a small selection of oil paints.  I find when I am not well-informed in a subject or technique, yet find myself trying it out, I just let it happen with no expectations or clear vision.  I just want to 'see what will happen' and see if I like the process and the outcome.  I could feel myself resisting as I laid down the wax-infused colours on a piece of masonite.  When in this zone of creating, there is always a feeling that it's time to stop; I looked; I was unsure; I set them up to dry; I re-visited them often trying to decide, decipher, articulate what I had done and what I was seeing in each piece.  Eventually I liked what I had done and was able to 'see' into each piece and give them titles.  I then turned them into book covers.  





One piece, in particular, stayed with me and I put it on my wall instead of on a book.  


Over the years I have found the urge to go back to the paints and create more book covers.  This time, when the call came, I decided to create a large book, to answer my never-ending question: 'what is art?'  This time I used both oils and acrylic paints.  

I find when I use the oil paints, regardless of my creative vision, I always end up with paintings of forests.  One creative vision was to have one line through the center of the page and then build a house above it... . When I finished, it was a painting of a wild fire.  Thus the result of being in the creative zone and letting it flow.  



Sunrise Above The Old Cabin
 oil paint on water colour paper



Autumn Forest 
Oil paint on watercolour paper


Wild Market 
Oil paint with cold wax on water colour paper 


Wildfire 
Oil paint and cold wax on water colour paper 

When I paint with acrylic paints, anything is possible and I usually create abstract images influenced by illuminated manuscripts and artists from the early 20th century.  


Sunrise 
Acrylic paint and ink on canva paper 


Dance
Acrylic paint and ink on canva paper with Asemic writing 


All In A Day 
Acrylic paint and ink on water colour paper 


Downtown/Uptown 
Acrylic paint and ink on canva paper 

Mary 
bbinder999@gmail.com 









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