Deborah Howard-Page
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(415) 305-6440
NOTE: my Open Studios Weekend #4 CANCELLED: I had to cancel due to a badly broken foot (I fell, but I'll be okay--just gotta stay off of it until the new year) Thanks for understanding!
Sincerest apologies, if you hiked all the way up to my door only to find I'm closed this year :-/
Garden Variety: images of wild birds from a U.K. newspaper compelled me to save them. As I later painted at home, gentle hints at disappearing wildlife habitats crept in: a ghostly tree branch, empty nests, holes in trees, eldritch bracken, or abandoned bird houses. Bits of decorative "wall" paper appear through the wax, hinting at human domesticity; our relentless, invading progression into vanishing wild domains.
I render figures with oil paint over a ground of wax encaustic, melted in layers onto small wooden panels. Bits of gold leaf, bones, feathers, leaves, flowers, fabric, glitter, old wallpaper, origami, or decorative papers are embedded in the wax layers. Once the paint has dried I may add finishing touches of pastels, inks, and/or colored pencils. A luscious ground for oils, melting beeswax smells SO lovely (reminiscent of my Waldorf school days), plus it lends an element of mystery to the finished work.
Most recently, I've been covering empty tiny matchboxes with mixed media collage (vintage photos, maps, paint, etc.), such as Eva #1 (my mother as a schoolgirl) shown on this profile.
