Artists Next Door blog
Welcome to Solterre Studio: Italian for Sun(Sol) and the land (Terre), the 2 things I need for my painting subjects. I like to say that my art is “fresh from the garden.” I grow a garden for all seasons. I can paint in it through the warmer months, then paint the view from inside my living and dining room windows in the winter, mostly aspens. I paint with watercolor, acrylic and encaustic.
My new “Living on the Porch” series is done with melted wax and watercolor, 2 of my favorite things. I found this batik technique in a 2005 “Artist's Sketchbook” magazine article by Kathie George. It's basically the same resist method as traditional batik on fabric, but with the use of paraffin wax and watercolor layered on rice paper. After several layers of wax on the flimsy rice paper, it becomes rigid as leather. The batik is placed between newsprint and ironed to remove all wax. I really like the effect of the crackling and a not so perfect image. The mood and atmospheric results suit my nature!

If you'd like to see the video of me in my studio with this unique process click here:​ artistsnextdoor.weebly.com/carol-welch.html