sometimes we just need this~

Thank you~in love. trish

I had a great time! The workshop exceeded my expectations....energy,content,inspiration, stimulation etc. What a great group we had too----I hated to say goodbye! 

Hugs,

Marion

did you know you have this magical ability to make people (me in particular) feel good and super duper inspired? That's a wonderful thing! A true gift. 

debs

Thank you so much for teaching the encaustic with plaster class, it was so much fun!  My son is in the Army and left for Afghanistan on Thursday evening, so your class on Friday was the best cure for the blues I could possibly have asked for!  It kept my mind and body distracted and helped me get through one of the most difficult days of my life. Those paintings will always have a very special meaning to me.

Thanks again, that was my favorite class at Artfest!
 Megan

Thank you so much for a fabulous class.  That's the second class I've taken from you, and you are still a "10!"
Kathy

You are an excellent teacher and I very much enjoyed the Plaster &

Encaustic class at Artfest.  After 4 years since my last attending, I went home rejuvenated and possessing new skills that will definitely improve my art products. I produced the most finished products in your class and was thrilled with the results of my efforts. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I look forward to keeping up with your continued success.....and I know you will bring "artjoy" to many people in the future.  

pam erickson

. Not only have you put this workshop together, but your wonderful, unique and special energy has drawn together a fantastic group of teachers and eager students. I hope this is only one of many; and we get to say we were there when it all began. :-D

I truly enjoy your work and have learned a lot from watching your videos. Don’t know if enough people say thanks, but let me take the time to do that. You have helped this newbie find the courage to jump right in!

Flo

Encausticamp was so inspiring!! My mind is a-whirl with ideas. Thank you so much, Patricia Baldwin Seggebruch, for all your work to bring this together. You have profoundly impacted my life.

You have been such a great inspiration and so has my life changed----have worked in the studio everyday since the Monday post EC

I just got you new book, and absolutely LOVE it!! Combined with your first one, I have a wonderful resource to work with :) Your work inspires me to let go and just "Do It"!! I'm donating 3 encaustic pieces to an Arts Council fundraiser this week, and was wondering... If I incised and glazed with an oil stick, then lightly fused, will the glazing hold up to repeated buffing of the surface later on...? Thanks so much Patricia!!

Today was a cool, damp, gloomy day here in Michigan -- a great day to read your

new book -- so I did!  It is fabulous!  I read every page, looked at every
picture and just as quick as I can finish a couple of projects I have going, I
am going to heat me some wax.  Your book was a huge inspiration, provided great
instruction on all the techniques and was very easy to get through.  Very nicely
done.  I do have two questions.  What type of fire retardant material do you use
for your burning steps?  And, what kind of childhood did you have that led to
this pyromania that you seem to be all consumed with?  Just curious.  ;-)
Laurie

It is truly inspirational. I can't imagine what it's like to pull a project together like writing a book with everything associated with it. Good for you.

I am impressed with your attitude and energy. And I love your FB inspirational/spiritual posts. I look forward to them.

Thank you

B

What a beautiful thing, and your writing of it is just as amazing! You are such a teacher in every way. I am so glad I was able to meet you at Inspired this year, and now follow your blog regularly!
Hugs,
Joanne 

gifts from far, far away!

I received this delicious package (okay, I overuse that word for my art and supplies (and husband :)! but, it's just SO true!) in the mail a few days ago~From Tasmania! Is that the coolest!?

All these (delicious!) goodies were contained within~that small, tantilizing package held all this!

I get to do whatever I want to finish and play with this one; the pages are wonderfully gesso'ed fabric just begging me to scrib and scratch and yes! apply wax to them~

Trace Willans (http://www.soewnearth.com) is a new friend. It's odd to identify someone as a friend when we have yet to make face to face contact, but the internet, Facebook, twitter and the wonderful world of blogging have drawn us together in the like-minded world of art and creativity~that, and the fact that she happened upon the coolness that I was coming her way and teaching in Australia next year! Not only do I have the pleasure of Trace's company in one of my workshops, she's also going to be in an indulgent time I decided to invest in for myself as well (yes, Trace! I believe you're going to be able to be there!) a Dorothy Caldwell workshop in Brisbane :) Here's to new friends! And the cursed blessings-blessed cursing?-the internet and all the opportunities it offers in discovery and connection with the world~

This little nugget shows just some of what Trace does. Her art has been able textile, and clay and dying. These wool pieces have been dyed and overdyed and the buttons are her creations (I'm not doing her creative process nearly the justic they command! I hope to understand and articulate them better after next spring :)

We are collaborating on this one! An accordian style book with the most delicious! binding and lots of lovely, texture in the plaster pages~She and I are speaking something of the same language in our art and I am more than excited in anticipating just what we will pull off with this project!

LOVE the return address :) Made Patrick say 'cool'-worth it just for that alone!

in love. trish

stuff happens along the way~

I made a wish a few days ago. Just a little one; an off the cuff, 'wish I could have'- kind of wish.
It was sent out differently than it would've been just three years ago.
It was sent with intention~
with noteably, truly asking for and seeking after belief in the receipt of~

It was different.

What would've gone off as a longing
or a desire
or a craving
just a few years ago
now was sent as  a believed-for prayer~
an intentional request as part of an ongoing conversation I'd been having with God as I drove the brand-new-to-me streets of Phoenix on my way to ArtUnraveled.

I hear echoes of what would've been my own thoughts in this statement just a few short years ago: the scoffing, the muttering, the inability to accept or identify with this intangible, blind faith.
that's okay. I get that. I've been there. Quite frankly, I cannot believe I am not still there.

That in itself is a whole other story of God's amazing grace.

But I'm in this just little,
almost incedental
prayer answered right now.

I wanted flowers.

In between talking about the upcoming meet-the-artist event and getting to the hotel without finding myself lost in the 107 degree sun~I asked for the comfort of flowers.

I most often feel wasteful when I receive a bouquet; realizing they will be wilted and dead in a few short days of standing on my kitchen counter in a growing-stagnant vase of tap water~

but every so often I want to be that girly-girl and get flowers from her man :)

Plus, I was feeling a bit fragile-entering into this second to last 'big box' art retreat venue. After teaching now for over 10 years and making a living at it for the past two, I still begin in apprehension and doubt and a bit of fear.
Silly.
But I suppose, it keeps me on edge~
and that edge is a good place to be; it's alive~
      again, another story.....

Yet, this edge was a bit different. Peppered with more angst was this before-I-begin apprehension.

I'd determinted at the beginning of 2011 that this would be my last year for the big box; knowing that my spirit and direction was leaning into finding and living in a more meaningful place of connection and depth in instructing and inspiring. Venues where I could invest more deliberately into the individual creativity and connection of each participant rather than the hurried, mere three or six hour buffet of instruction.
These big box hold great value for introducing and enlivening participants to grow their seed of creativity; they hold a valuable and necessary place in the art and craft world. But I think I've had my run at them and there is a different path I am meant to begin to pursue~

So, I nosed-ahead into this second to last big box feeling a bit weary; in the waiting, in the anticipation, in the unknown thrill of risking and trusting~

And I wanted a feel-good warm fuzzy to diminish this rising apprehension.

So I conversed with God about how nice it would feel to be given flowers.

Nothing specific. No timeframe in mind. Just something beautiful and fragrant and given to me intentionally.
A little something that would make me feel appreciated. How silly again. To need to be felt appreciated~
how hard it is to write and admit to this need in this modern world of self sufficiency and independence!
Oh to be torn between wanting and standing strong :)
       Is there a woman who doesn't fight this dycotomy?!

I played the vision of it out as perhaps returning home and having John choose a bouquet of local buds for me as we strolled the farmers market the following Thursday.

Or even, (it could happen?!) my Patrick coming in from time roaming with friends and pushing forward a bundle of stems he'd plucked for me in his exploration~

I did not even fathom what was to come~

Making my usual stops when traveling-Trader Joes for essentials, hardware store for propane tank and shellac (TSA doesn't like to find these in my bags....), local grocery for vitamin water as I try to ween myself off of diet Pepsi....I was stopped by the gregarious, twinkly eyed greeter at the Fry's Marketplace.
I could mention here of how I had no intention of stopping in at Fry's; that I'd never been to this market before and truly had all I needed from the other stops.
But it was just across from Trader Joe's and I was intrigued; and had time to kill. So I made the extra stop.
Go ahead; scoff again-nothing happens for nothing :)

I thought only WalMart was known for these octegenarian guideposts-but alas the idea seems to have spread and upon departing he called out~
I ignored his first prompt of 'ma'am?' and kept walking with the crowd of other departing shoppers not really registering his focus on me
until the second, 'ma'am?'
     as I turned with several other bag toters
he reached forward with  a single red rose and said,
'can I give you a flower?'

Yes, I stood in dumbfounded, slack jawed awe.
I tear up even now in the days-later writing of the experience.

I'm certain he must've thought me a bit off; perhaps entirely off.

It was all I could do to not break down in tears of wonder and delight and hug this angel for God's gracious attention.

Just this simple. Just this rich. Just this good.

God does that. God did this.

He reached down into my little, mundane to do list, amidst all of the world's comings and goings, and connected me to another....
answered my little,
truly silly, prayer.

And the result was so much more.

Not just a flower in my water bottle to keep me company the week-long in Phoenix as I ticked off the near final days of these retreats
and grasp faithfully for the anticipation of the unknown redesign of my make-a-living life~

He gave me hope.
Gave me strength.
Gave me assurance.
I am on the right path. He is with me. I will not fail.

God does that. God did this.
You can think otherwise; that's free will-God has given that as well.

But I need no greater proof.
This small miracle is enough.

And yet, in anticipation, I await another~
Small miracle.
Because he is this good.
He promised this.
I choose to follow his will alone~and I win.

All the blessings and miracles and gifts he has at his disposal.
I win.

You can write it off an happenstance;
serendipity;
just a lucky day.
That would be easy to do and so acceptable in this world.

But I know better.
Exceedingly and abundantly~
Thank God; there is no other way.

And, if in this small desire of my heart,
think what he is working in the big spirit wishes that sing to me everyday!

Hang out with me for awhile;
I dare you.
See what God has working in me, and decide for yourself.

What've you got to lose?
in love. trish

EncaustiCamp 2011....

EncaustiCamp 2011 I bow to you :)

It occured to me, just this morning, why after two weeks I haven't been able to come to this blank white spaced blog window and write about EncaustiCamp.
I've tried! I've opened the 'new post' box no less than a dozen times, stared at it in earnest, then gone to a participants blog or an instructors musings and posted them instead....

ECamp 2011 was so above and beyond all my wildest dreams for it. I can't seem to wrap myself around the whole and put the experience into words that service as a nice bundle of thoughts, tied up with a beautiful ribbon and put away in a tight package.

It's not that I don't want to write about it, or that I am ill equipped to do so; I love to put my thoughts and emotions out here to share unabashedly! But with EncaustiCamp it's been different.
And this morning it dawned on me as to why.
I can't look back.
ECamp 2011 carried a weight and measure like nothing else I've ever done or been a part of. I compare it only to giving birth. The crazy, beyond-pain process of bringing new life into the world; only to get through the process and feel so deeply, so passionately, so emphatically filled by the power of love and connectedness that you will do it again; gladly and without apprehension of the still-lingering pain that is required in the bringing-forth process.
That's what it is like.
That's what the whole of EncaustiCamp was like for me.
That big. That amazing. That miraculous.

And I thought I was done at four children :)))

And I can't look back and summarize or compartmentalize what it was and how it felt in any sensical way. I can only let myself be carried on the tide of all of it and continue on to more creating and growing and building.

I think it's how it's meant to be.

When something this big, this substantial, this miraculous is born the thanksgiving, homage and respects-paying to it are best done in the looking forward.

In my case, in the doing it again; only better.

So that is what I do. What I've been doing since returning; actually since finishing the final moment~Looking forward to the next.

There is something bigger than just encaustic in it. There is something bigger than just sharing art. There is something bigger than just connecting and inspiring.
When I try to grasp it, it feels too big, too grandious for this one small human form
...so I pull back.

But, as long as there is this sense-of something so much bigger than 'just'- I will do it again.
As long as there is this inexplicable joy spent, I will do it again.
And as long as there is room for miraculous, yes even in encaustic, I will do it again.
As long as it's in me~
in love. trish
www.encausticamp.com

drum roll please...........!

As my second book Encaustic Mixed Media hits the book shelves, I am offering this little lesson I learned in the writing of it~ Enjoy!
And, all new followers and comments to this post will be put into a drawing for three free books! So make sure and share your thoughts so I can look forward to sending three lucky winners a signed copy :)

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore,
is not an act but a habit.
Aristotle

I do not profess to be excellent; far from it. But then, what is the definition? Is excellence a once and done goal to be reached or is it something we strive towards in each and every moment of your lives? Over and over again; seeking to be excellent in this awakening, excellent in this hello, excellent in this next encounter, excellent in this next task.
So in this definition, I am excellent! because I strive to repeatedly make excellence a habit of my day.
And today I give to you a bit of this excellence. Today I give to you the piece of me that strove to be the best encaustic artist and author for this book, Encaustic Mixed Media. Today I give to you the excellence of my habit to prove the versatility and malleability of beeswax to be above all else.

I will have moved to a new place by the time you pick up this book and read my words. I will have moved into a new habit of excellence and begun to work towards a new level of experimentation, or encouragement or excellence. I will look to the words and works of this book, in its most excellent form at release, and see the change that has occurred since then; surely being much too discriminating and determining it not at all the excellence I’d thought on this day of writing!

But that is the beauty, or the bane!, of excellence.
If one is to truly be so, to strive for this habit in character and performance, one has to be prepared to look back from a newly achieved level of excellence and accept the place that was called excellent the day, or week, or year before.
So it is with humble pride, tremendous gratitude and wary release that I give you Encaustic Mixed Media.
Putting all of my current heart, soul and effort into making it the all that it can be; the excellence that is it’s potential-knowing that there will be a new level to share with you as I grow in my habit to be and become most excellent. In love. Trish
A quick peek into just some of the where I am moving as I live excellent now, in this day :)

icon

http://pbsartist.com/icon

i·con
–noun
1. a picture, image, or other representation.
2. Eastern Church . a representation of some sacred personage, as Christ or a saint or angel, painted usually on a wood surface and venerated itself as sacred.
3. a sign or representation that stands for its object by virtue of a resemblance or analogy to it.
OH! How I wish my photography skills-or lack thereof!-did justice to these! They fall so flat here on the PC screen...
But alas, I share just the same.
Definition number three: A sign or representation that stands for its object by virtue of a resemblace or analogy to it. Ahhhhhh. I like that :)
I've tried to achieve the better part of that definition here in this series. And a bit, in the foundation series. More than a circle; more than a mark, a mark made with intention and direction-with the objective of recalling something real and found in the earth to the viewer.
A first for me, truth be told!
I've always worked abstractly; going off route here and there as I went through a journaling series, and as little pieces of a series give voice to some semblance of reality.
But never all that indicitive of realism.
Until now. This definition speaks to me.
I don't want to recreate; God got it right the first time; I feel no need to attempt what's been done so beautifully before me!
I want to indicate, to point to, to take your mind, heart and spirit to, some thing, or place and causes you to sing!
Or, to weep.
Whatever it be, I have sought recognition in this series through the determined look at the definition of icon.
So I introduce you to this latest fun.
My current studio passion.
The analogy of what I see, and want to share with you.
Bringing me to singing~or to weeping, along with you.
because I get to share!
Lucky lucky me :) in love. trish