Rebecca Wachtman

New painting in progress My daughter is off at camp for a week.... lucky girl!  And I miss her dreadfully, but to fill the void - I am getting to spend some quality time in my studio!! HOORAY!  Because I normally work full-time, getting long periods in my studio is a very rare thing.  SO what have I done?  Well, I've played with my new camera (hoping to learn enough to get some good bird shots to use as reference for painting), I also have been cleaning and organizing my studio space, AND I've been painting.    Am I getting 8+ hours a day of painting done?? No.  sigh.  It's amazing how so many things crop up to kill my "free" time (sick dogs, household chores, multiple date-nights with my wonderful hubby, and a guilty pleasure I like to call Pokeman Go).     The under-painting for shadows  Here is the beginning of my current painting.  I started off under-painting it with shadows (an experiment based on Jud...

Silk Painting example 1 I'm so excited!! My two workshops are officially posted on Allied Arts Gallery's website!!    They are being offered in conjunction with the new Fiber Fusion show which is opening the previous weekend.  (HOORAY!).   I'm offering a beginning Silk Painting class (Serti method - which means "closing", "Wall" or Fence"...what it really refers to is using a resist to stop the dye from flowing into undesired areas of your painting), and I'm offering a workshop that will let participants play with various forms of Shibori-based resists as well as Ice Dyeing .   Shibori is a ancient Japanese set of binding techniques in which you bind your fabric in different ways to create a wide variety of patterns.  Tie-dyeing is technically a modern version of Shibori.  Silk Painting example 2 Both classes are being offered  on June 11th at the Allied Arts Gallery in Richland, WA.   Introduction to Silk Painting is bein...

My processes for gathering and prepping reclaiming silks for use  in silk paintings and other art projects (part 2 of 3) A pile of lovely silks (shirts, dresses, and PJ's) In my previous post, I talked about buying used silks...                          so now that I have them, what do I do with them? 4)  When I've picked out a group of silk items (like the shirts and dress in the previous post) and I know the silks will work with my preferred art methods.  My next step (other than purchasing the silk!) is to take the silks home and wash them .   I ALWAYS wash my silks. ALWAYS!!!   I can almost hear you shouting - WAIT DID SHE SAY SHE WASHES ALL OF HER USED SILKS?...  WHAT ABOUT "DRY-CLEAN ONLY"??  FYI - There are a few (VERY FEW) silks that don't respond well to washing because of how they were woven... but in general all silks love to be washed...and in nice hot water! ...

me, Aug 2015 Ok, I know this isn't really art-related, but I'm feeling a bit .... confused... about what to do with my hair. This is my hair (and me of course) now - trying on what are about become my new glasses  (thank you, Costco!).  I like my hair this length because I can put it into a pony-tail or up in a little bun, or just let hang loose.  I know it's probably not the most modern look, nor is it as flattering as other looks I've had.  But the benefit of being able to put it up, is that it won't get in my way when working on art (see it is a little bit art-related!) Yes there are blond streaks in it - but only in preparation for putting in streaks of fun colors (historically, I've had purples, blues, and/or aqua/teals in my hair).  I'm not the sort to dye my hair to cover the gray, but I am the sort to enjoy playing with color and my hair is just another canvas! Me, April 2015 (wearing one of my silk pendants)   This was me ...

Paper mache' box supplied by ArtEAST As a member of ArtEast (a fabulous gallery and organization, by the way!), I was asked to participate in their "Fill In The Blank" exhibit.  Where the members (both artists and non-artists), were given  7"x7"x3" paper mache' boxes, and told "Your charge is to fill in this blank box in such a way as to represent yourself, spark conversation and inspire someone to declare ""You've got some explaining to do!"". Here's the blank box on my table (definitely needing filling!) 1/4 sunflower It sounded like a fun project, so of course I signed up!  But then I had to find something to fill it with. I didn't have time to create a new piece of artwork for it... but perhaps I already had something I could use!  As luck would have it, I had just taken apart a painting.  It was a 1/4 flower-face from an attempt to make a whole, interchangeable art piece... but I d...

I have found applying for shows to be an interesting situation.  Did you title your piece correctly?  Do Rejected Also rejected the curators think it in some way, correspond to the theme of the show you're applying to?  Do they like your work or not?  If you're rejected... you never find out why.   If you're accepted, you may hear some positive feedback - but you may not. In light of the above questions, I have decided that IF I am going to apply for shows - I simply must be confident in my work.  If I am not, it will show through my art and my art will not get in. And IF I am confident in my work, then it doesn't matter if I do or  don't get in to a show - because my art pleases me and I know that art is extremely subjective.  This is a weird mindset for me!  I tend to be a people-pleaser/worry-wart.  Usually I tend to obsess a bit on the what-if's.   So to accept that my art may not get in to everything I apply for A...

            I'm so excited about this coming Saturday, July 25th! I've been invited back to the 2015 Port Orchard Historic Home & Garden Tour (with an Art Twist)to participate as an artist "en plein air".   Me, painting during last year's tour I will be displaying (and selling!) some of my  necklaces, wine-glass tea-lights, cards, and bookmarks, as well as paintings.  I will be working on silk paintings and will be demonstrating both the traditional Serti technique as well as the modern Sistek technique  I'll even have some silk scraps for people to try their own hand at silk painting if they want.    I'm planning on a give-away as well... but you have to stop by for a chance to win! Each historic homes and garden will each have an exhibiting artist painting "en plein air" plus there will be art quilts on display at each location as well.  I'm excited to again be participating ...

So as you probably know, I am an avid recycler.   I am NOT perfect, but I do the best I can to recycle whatever I can - from shipping materials (almost always), to jewelry and fabrics, to furniture (especially for my studio!).  But there are times when I simply can not find what I want or worse... when what I want APPEARS to be vintage, but in reality is still from China (reproductions) that still cost an arm and a leg to own.   Antique? (photo per industrialartifacts.net ) Case in point - "old" revolving, tool-caddies/parts-carousels.  You would think they would be easy to find at antique stores etc...and they are.  But I caution you to look them over carefully!  For I have discovered a great many of them are being reproduced from china with a vintage look and have found MANY being sold as true vintage in flea markets and antique stores.  I have a business license and even at wholesale prices, the china reproductions being sold are...

It's less than a week out - the 2014 Sammamish Arts Fair ! I'm so excited about this opportunity!!  I'm working on a new project of flower quads (a big flower broken into 4 quadrants which can hang together to make a big flower or separately as a single panel showing 1/4 of the flower).  I've finished 2 pieces and am working feverishly to finish the other 2 (or more).  I'm also hoping to get some holiday cards made, bookmarks, and a few other new paintings to show.  In the mean time, all of us artists have been busy creating our video selfies (omg I never thought I'd be doing that!) which are now posted on the Sammamish Arts Fair website and Youtube .  And we're all collaborating on an interactive percussion tube-set which will be hanging outside for everyone to play with during the fair.  It sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun!!   I hope you stop by and see me!  I'll be inside the main hallway by the entrance to city hall and will...