Originally named Blossom 4 in the sequence, this piece is more meditative with more muted colors than my previous palettes. It took nearly three months of work to put together. The process was similar to Blossom 3. In this case, I used screen to make a jig. Each leaf is two layers of plaster cloth and some narrow strips wrapped around the edges to provide more stability and a smoother base. I originally planned to mount on a 16″x16″ square panel like Blossom 3, but it just wouldn’t work no matter how I fussed. Then I found round cradled panels on line. Since the panel surface shows under the leaves, I painted and etched most of the panel. I then glued the leaves to the unpainted center.

All of the leaves are layered, black under green, and spring green under purple. Then the design is carved through the top layer, exposing the color underneath. I used an Encaustic Art Stylus to add silver dots. Finally, pigment stick supplies the gold and emphasizes the black. Here is a close-up view of the side of the piece.

Tragedy struck: I went to hang up the work, but the wire had come unwound. The whole creation crashed to the ground and broke apart. After some tears and consultation with a couple of other encaustic artists, I used E6000 glue to put it back together. The great thing about working in wax is you can melt it and rework it. A week later it was whole again. Phew!