Nancy Goldman Art

Strike

2023-01-25T13:30:00.001-08:00

"Strike"

Image size 48" x 16"

Encaustic

I seem to always gravitate to blues in my encaustic paintings. The encaustics have such a watery look so maybe that is why my palette is so limited. Many times I start with other colors but the blues always work their way in....

Kiss the Shore

2022-09-28T10:56:00.002-07:00

"Kiss the Shore"

Image size 9" x 12"

Encaustic

I had a small cradled board that I wanted to use so I created this painting. Summer always makes me want to paint water so most of my paintings become ocean paintings, even if I start with a different idea.

I added a bit of a shellac burn in the bottom of the painting to give some interesting texture.

White Spray

2022-09-23T13:17:00.002-07:00

"White Spray"

Image size 12" x 24"

Encaustic

I had an encaustic painting that was done a few years ago that I really didn't care for so I decided to paint over it. I have done that with many of my encaustics. That's one of the things that is so much fun with encaustic. A painting can always be modified or completely changed. Having worked mostly in watercolor, I find that very freeing.

Blue Energy

2022-09-07T17:50:00.004-07:00

"Blue Energy"

Image size 12" x 24"

Encaustic

My goal on this painting was to create a calming, yet energetic painting with an abundance of visual texture while having a smooth surface. This is mostly encaustic with a little bit of oil paint added.

2022-08-26T14:03:00.003-07:00

"Pond in the Round"

Image size 23.75 diameter

Encaustic

I painted this in March but have been really bad about posting paintings lately. When I was planning this painting, I wanted to have it painted on a round piece of wood. Since cradling a round piece of wood is not easy, I decided to get a 1/2" thick piece of plywood with a finished side of birch wood. After I cut the shape, I added a 1.75" thick framework to the back so that this will hang that distance from the wall to add interest and dimension to the painting. The framework is recessed to the point that the painting looks like it is floating. I don't know how many layers are on this painting but I kept painting, thinking I was done, deciding that I wasn't, and adding more layers. Finally, I declared it finished and am very happy with it.

Cascade

2022-08-23T18:03:00.005-07:00

"Cascade"

Image size 48" x 12"

Encaustic

I'm really enjoying these long, skinny paintings in encaustic. Don't we all have a wall that needs a painting with this shape? This painting has encaustic, oil paints including some areas mixed with turpentine so that the paint will drip, and shellac burn. Those additions create such great visual texture.

Turbulence

2021-12-06T06:00:00.022-08:00

"Turbulence"

24" x 12"

Encaustic w/shellac burn

Here is another abstract using a lot of blues/browns. I seem to be using those colors a lot lately. They are such a soothing combination. Well, actually this painting doesn't look so soothing, haha. I decided to play around with some shellac burning on this one. When seen in person, it is very dimensional with lots of colorful layers.

Effervescence

2021-11-29T16:23:00.001-08:00

"Effervescence"

48" x 16"

Encaustic

I had fun with these free-form circles. Before adding them I got the background built up with all of the layers that I wanted for depth. Then it was time to play with the circles.

Our Ocean View

2021-11-04T09:02:00.000-07:00

"Our Ocean View"

Image size 48" x 84"

Encaustic

This is the largest encaustic that I've painted so far. I had so much fun working on it and am really happy with the result. Below is a picture of it hanging in its new home.

My clients and I discussed not only the size that the painting should be for the space but also how to break it up into a triptych. We decided that a triptych with different size panels would be more interesting than one with identically sized panels.

Honestly, the reason for making this painting a triptych was so that it would fit into my car for delivery, but I think it is a much better painting because it is three panels.

Here are some close-ups so you can see some of the visual texture.

Cognition

2021-10-25T09:40:00.001-07:00

"Cognition"

Image size 18" x 18"

Encaustic

I really fought with this painting. My original concept was completely different and I wasn't happy with where it was going. I added different colors thinking, "yeah, this will look really good", and being disappointed again...and again.

The nice thing about encaustic is that I can continue to add wax and it just gets better and better. For this painting, I used thin veils of color as I worked so the previous layers could be seen and added to the final result. I am finally happy with it!

Lily Pad Pond

2021-10-18T09:28:00.036-07:00

Lily Pad Pond

Image size 18" x 48"

Oil

Here's another skinny painting but this time it has a horizontal orientation. This is a commission. My clients liked a painting that I had painted that is similar to this but much smaller (10" x 14") and painted with watercolor. They had a specific spot for this painting and a specific size and chose oil as the medium. I love painting something that fits a special space in a client's home.

Drench

2021-10-11T09:26:00.001-07:00

Drench

Image size 48" x 12"

Encaustic

I love a long, skinny format for paintings! This has a lot of depth that isn't showing in the photo. I painted this to enter into a juried show. It was accepted into the show and sold soon after the show ended.

Flow

2021-08-09T10:01:00.002-07:00

"Flow"

Image size 12" x 16"

Encaustic

Here is an encaustic that I painted a few months ago and am just getting around to posting it. I've painted very little in the past year and am trying to paint regularly once again.

It felt really good to do an encaustic. I've really missed working in that medium. This painting has some areas of shellac burning and the white line was inscribed and filled with white encaustic. I haven't done that before and really like the effect.

San Clemente House Portrait

2020-09-05T15:01:00.001-07:00

"San Clemente House Portrait"

Image size 11.5" x 20"

Watercolor

I stopped doing the weekly paintings at the end of June. I certainly didn't think that it would take two months before I posted another painting! I guess I really needed a break.

This painting is a commission of a home in San Clemente. I haven't painted a house portrait for about a year and a half. I really enjoy painting them but had forgotten how stressful they can be to paint. It's important for me to capture the look of the house, add artistic license, and have the clients be happy which causes me to overthink my decisions every step of the way.

This is a poured painting, which I think adds a lot of beauty. The glow that is achieved by pouring thin veils of blue, yellow, and red in many layers gives a cohesive look to the painting. I poured paints for about half of the painting and switched to direct painting. This home is beautifully landscaped and having the plants as a focal point was important to the owners. It would be hard to achieve the color and detail of the plants in a completely poured painting.

Artichoke Study

2020-06-29T14:02:00.001-07:00

"Artichoke Study"

Image size 6" diameter

Acrylic

I love these round, handmade watercolor papers. I attached a piece of rice paper using matte medium to it to give an interesting texture and seal the paper. I painted it using thinned acrylics.

For the past 12 years, I've posted a painting each week and I've decided that I'm taking a break. The original reason I started doing it was to make myself paint more often. Lately, finishing a painting each week has become more of a chore than a joy. I would rather be working on projects at my house than having a deadline for a painting right now. I haven't really been happy with most of my paintings lately so I've decided to paint when I'm inspired and not have any deadlines. I guess I'm getting lazy as I'm getting older.....

Falling Blues

2020-06-22T19:31:00.003-07:00

"Falling Blues"

Image size 13" x 19"

Acrylic

I found this wonderful handmade paper that has a very textured surface in my pile of watercolor paper. It didn't have any sizing in it so I sealed it with Matte Medium before painting. I think you can see the texture of the paper in this photo. The paints found their own direction to move on the paper and because I sealed the paper, I was able to get some good darks.

Fiery Sunset

2020-06-15T17:43:00.001-07:00

"Fiery Sunset"

Image size 9" x 12"

Encaustic

I was playing around with encaustics again this week. I'm not a fan of orange, but with the purple/pink mixed in I think it gives a nice effect.

Sky High Palm

2020-06-08T19:03:00.000-07:00

"Sky High Palm"

Image size 22" x 22"

Watercolor

First, let me say that the border on this is not crooked as it shows in this photo. The paper is warped and I couldn't get a good picture of it. I'll flatten it tomorrow and post a new photo.

This is a poured painting that was a problem from the beginning. I used a piece of 300# paper which, in hindsight, wasn't a good choice. Too much of the paint is absorbed into the paper which makes it harder to get darker values. On top of that, this paper has lost its sizing which was not immediately noticeable, but that made it even harder to get the darker values. My final layer was the border and I got that dark value by using paint that was not diluted very much at all.

It really doesn't even look very much like a poured painting to me so it was a lot of wasted extra effort. Oh well, I'll try again with a different paper and see what happens.

Water

2020-06-01T20:45:00.000-07:00

"Water"

Image size 3.75" x 6.5"

Encaustic, watercolor and alcohol inks

I had this small piece of paper that was cut from a finished watercolor painting. I loved the colors in it and couldn't bring myself to throw it away so I covered it with encaustic clear medium, added alcohol inks, and more wax. It was a good experiment.

Remembrance

2020-05-25T16:41:00.001-07:00

"Remembrance"

Image size 10" x 8"

Encaustic

For Memorial day I decided to paint an encaustic using patriotic colors. I think the dull colors that I added to the red adds a bit of drama and interest.

Hazy Vista

2020-05-18T17:34:00.001-07:00

"Hazy Vista"

Image size 5.5" x 7"

Pastels

This is a quick little study in pastel. I used a sanded paper that was pretty smooth. I think it was Uart, but not sure. It was an 800 grit paper. It was a nice surface to use. It had enough tooth to grab the pastel and apply several layers but not so rough that it ate my pastels.

Blue Beyond

2020-05-11T17:07:00.002-07:00

"Blue Beyond"

Image size 15" x 15"

Encaustic

This week, I continued using wax colors already mixed on my encaustic palette. I did empty a few tins of color, but still have many more to use up before starting fresh.

This color palette is much more to my liking. To me, these colors are very soothing.

Split

2020-05-04T17:33:00.002-07:00

"Split"

Image size 24" x 12"

Encaustic

Here's another encaustic for this week. I was playing around with different opacities in the different wax colors. Of course, they don't really show in the photograph. These aren't colors that I would usually use for an entire painting, but I decided to use up some of the tins of color that I had on my palette. I was getting too many colors and need a fresh start. Next week I will probably do another encaustic painting and use up some of the blues and greens on my palette. I'm excited to mix up tins of new colors but don't have room for them yet.

Crashing Wave

2020-04-27T18:09:00.001-07:00

"Crashing Wave"

Image size 15" x 22"

Watercolor

I painted this as a study for a large encaustic that I want to paint in the near future. I need to cradle the board and then I will be ready. I've always loved the visual power of a crashing wave and wanted to reproduce the photo that I took many years ago.

Spring Growth

2020-04-20T17:12:00.001-07:00

"Spring Growth"

Image size 8" x 9"

Monotype

I was experimenting again this week with printing inks. I left too much ink on the glass and it turned out really dark. I had planned to use colored pencils as I had with last week's print, but the print was too dark for that medium. I decided to use pastel but the paper I used is very fragile and it started pilling and getting very fuzzy. Even with the pastel I still couldn't get the onion to feel light enough so I added some gouache as a final accent.

I need to find a better printing paper to use in the future if I want to add a lot of color.