Update on news and Dragon Boat Painting by Minnesota Mixed Media Artist Terry Honstead

Gosh, it has been so long since I have posted anything, I am not even sure if I know how to do it anymore!  (That is REALLY bad!!)  My life has just been crazy this past year.  If it could have happened, it probably did!  Anyway, I just got done with the yearly studio cruise and it was lots of fun and very successful considering that I now live way out in the country, instead of right in town!  I believe there were about 26 artists that opened their studios to the public this year.

Even though I have not been posting, I have still been painting.  This past summer I taught myself how to do encaustics and that was a lot of fun.  I made all of my own paints since it is much cheeper that way.  I even had some pretty good results on some of my paintings!  I should post of them one of these days, but to do it right, I should explain everything and I do not have the time right now.  They are so much harder to photograph than my other paintings.

This Dragon Boat is a painting that I should have finished a long time ago, but other things kept getting in the way.  I finished it today and am really happy with how it turned out.  It is a 15 x 12 in. watercolor, done on Arches 140# watercolor paper.   You can find it online at terry-honstead.artistwebsites.com  or email me about it at honstead@paulbunyan.net.

"Flower Stem" Encaustic Floral Painting by Minnesota Mixed Media artist Terry Honstead

This 12 x 6 Encaustic painting was done by first painting coffee filters with many colors and then cutting them into the pattern that I wanted to use for the picture.  Lastly, it was fused to the wax that I had already applied and fused to my support.  It was an experiment and I think it worked well!  I will probably be using this mixed media technique more in the future.  As always, you can see more of my work at terry-honstead.artistwebistes.com or email me at honstead@paulbunyan.net.

"Springtime Arrives" encaustic painting by Minnesota mixed media artist Terry Honstead

This 6 x 12 encaustic painting is my forth attempt at using this challenging medium.  I like it, but I do have a lot to learn!  It is totally different from anything I have done before!  I find that a lot of the time, things bleed that I do not want to bleed!  I will keep trying!  I have learned that it is much easier to do when the weather is warm.  On cold days, the wax hardens very quickly!  To see more, check out my website  terry-honstead.artistwebsites.com or send me an email at  honstead@paulbunyan.net

Encaustic #2 Abstract Mixed Media painting by Minnesota artist Terry Honstead

I finished another encaustic painting today.  Actually two of them!  These were lots of fun to do.  I did them each a little different than the other, but still made them so they could be used together.  I have an opening to an art show tomorrow from 5:00 - 7:00 and I may take them with me and just set them out somewhere.  I think they really need to set for a while to harden more.  This painting has eyelets in and I used oil sticks in both of them as well as metallic foil.  the first painting is 5 x 5 and the second one is 6 x 12 although it looks smaller on this page.  You can see more of my work on terry-honstead.artistwebsites.com or email me athonstead@paulbunyan.net.

Encaustic #1 landscape painting by Minnesota mixed media artist Terry Honstead

This little 5 x 5 encaustic artwork is my very first encaustic painting.  For those of you that do not know what encaustic is, it is painting with a mixture of beeswax and damar resin.  You cook the mixture until it melts and then you get the clear medium.  I also made my own colors out of dry powdered pigment.  That is just one of the ways that you can make the colored wax.  I really enjoyed making it all myself!  This is actually an ancient way of painting that is permanent enough to still have some of it around that was done over 2000 years ago.  If you are interested, look up Fayum Portraits online.  It is all quite fascinating!  Anyway, I am hoping that this is the beginning of something I will really love doing!  If you have any questions, feel free to email me at honstead@paulbunyan.net.

View From Above abstract landscape by Minnesota mixed media artist Terry Honstead

This was an abstract landscape painting ( 5 x 7 )that I finished today.  It is from a study that I did from a picture of the Grand Canyon.  It was a new technique influenced by Gustav Klimt.  It was lots of fun to do!  I may do several of these in the near future!  To see more of my work or to purchase, you can go to terry-honstead.artistwebsites.com or email me at honstead@paulbunyan.net.

"Color My World" Abstract Landscape by Minnesota Mixed Media Artist Terry Honstead

Two 30 x 24 stretched canvases make up this  abstract mixed media landscape.  There are many layers in this and it actually started out a lot more realistic, but I didn't like it.  The colors were not what I was looking for so I just put on more and more layers!  This seems a lot more springy!!  It can be seen on my website terry-honstead.artistwebsites.com or you can email me for more at:  honstead@paulbunyan.net