Wow. Cavo was cool. I had done this technique on my own in the past, but presenting it in a workshop setting really launched some cool ideas.
I presented ideas on using photo-transfer, collage, and intarsia on the bottom layers of the cavo painting, laying the leaves and stencils on top, and finishing with opaque layers of pigmented wax. The effects were stunning!
Everyone had their own discoveries-
Marianne, a fiber artist, went for crisp edges and vibrant color;
Lynn experimented in color with her usual genius, reversing the cave effect in one painting for a raised relief, and playing with metal leaf;
Elizabeth, a metal worker, burnished her leaf on so strongly… that we had a laugh, it was as if she was working in metal, as the wax took the shape of an actual leaf!
Mershona, an art therapist, oooed and ahhhhed over the wax, coaxing leaves out of the wax like buried treasure for a mind bogglingly layered effect!
And at the end, during clean up, a local wasp gave up the ghost and dived into the vat of wax headlong, giving itself to the wax, so that Elizabeth could fish it out and display it on her finished piece. What a wild ending to a very cool workshop!
Maybe we’ll see you at the next one!
Thanks for dropping in!
-Linda
Santos 