Embracing Encaustic

Wow, don’t you love the phrase Catastrophic Failure? Yeah, me neither, yet that’s what has happened to my computer. If you don’t hear from me for a few days that’s what’s happening. I hope to be back with much more interesting news soon. Stay tuned…(sigh)

I just added the two newest works from my Continuum Series below to tide you over. Scroll down to see them.

This is just a short post to share with your the first seeds of my new series, tentatively called Continuum. I started the first piece before the National Encaustic conference and have been working on new pieces since my return. I’m calling it Continuum because the series reflects the gradual growth of my work as well as the philosophy behind it.

I was inspired to start this series after realizing that so many things in life cycle back and show up again and again; certain dates, numbers, patterns and rhythms that catch my notice. These are marks in the history of time which have always been there and will be there long after we are gone. But enough of that for now, let’s get visual.

This one started it all. Continuum #1 (Diptych), 13″ x 27″, Encaustic and mixed media

Continuum #2, 11″ x 11″, Encaustic and mixed media

Continuum #3, 14″ x 13″, Encaustic and mixed media

Continuum #4, 13″ x 13″, Encaustic and mixed media

Continuum #5, 13″ x 13″, Encaustic and mixed media

Continuum #6, 13″ x 13″, Encaustic and mixed media

As you can see I’m working small until I get warmed up, then I’ll start working larger. My 20″ x 30″ and 24″ x 24″ panels should be ready by tomorrow, so I’ll start those soon. Eventually I’d like to get to a few 48″ panels. If you have any comments I’d love to hear them. I’m really excited by this new work and feel like I’m off on a great new adventure!

I took a well deserved day off with the family today, and we went for a hike down to the Sandy River, near 1000 Acres.

Our newest addition to the family, Jack, hadn’t been to the water yet so we wanted to see if he had any interest in swimming. Let’s just say that mystery is solved! After some whimpering on the shore Sadie showed him how it is done and proved to be a great teacher. It was a perfect day of pure happiness.

This photo is of how the day started. “Jack, do you want to go play?”

Sadie and Jack found a friend with a stick. Jack was too nervous to try swimming himself so he whimpered on shore for a bit.

With lots of prodding from Sadie he finally tested the water but wouldn’t go past his ankles.

Our little show-off taunts jack by getting him wet on the sidelines. He’s so close!

He finally jumped in after Sadie. He just swam a little at first, then he really got the hang of it. That’s my boy!

Happiness is…a wet dog in sand. The teacher celebrate her student’s victory!

Here’s our brave boy, now nicknamed Captain Jack!

Tired but happy! Our own little Olympian.

Joanne Mattera just posted a pretty funny summary of the results of the National Encaustic Conference survey.

Make sure you read the last few paragraphs where I was practically crying I was laughing so hard at Joanne’s comments about organizing. I think that sums it all up and should make it clear to everyone how difficult it is to put together an event like this. BRAVO to Joanne and the whole terrific staff at Montserrat College of Art for a wonderful weekend.

This summary also makes it clear what a diverse group we are with a multitude of varied interests. We’ll all have to be patient and kind while taking responsibility for adding any of the more creative events we dream of in 2009, so start planning now.

How will you contribute to the conference in 2009?

Hang on folks, I’m almost done blogging about the conference. Can you believe all of this was really packed into one week? Me neither. As they say on TV: “Don’t miss the last 5 minutes!” of this blog post. There’s a surprise at the end. (Aw, now you went and ruined it…)

So this time we made it into Boston on a day that made sense (meaning NOT Monday when everything is closed). It was a beautiful day and we took the ferry from Salem to Boston. It’s the easiest way to get there even though we had a car, and it was much more fun than fighting traffic and looking for parking.

We started out on Newbury Street in the gallery district because there were several shows we wanted to see. Kim Bernard has a show at the excellent Arden Gallery and it was as exciting as I’d hoped. Her sculptures are the perfect compliment to her encaustic paintings and as usual the show was beautifully presented.

Fawn with work by Melody Postma and a beautiful painting by June Stratton

Over at Lanoue Fine Art we enjoyed the current show, but asked for a special showing of Lissa Rankin’s new encaustic paintings. Fawn was completely charming and full of insightful information about all of the work.

Next we headed over to the Copley Society to see the solo show by Donna Hamil Talman who also had work showing at the conference. We had a heck of a time finding it but saw lots of other fun galleries on the way. Donna pairs digital photography with encaustic and collage techniques in much the same way I do, but with drastically different results. I find her work quite mysterious.

The exterior of the museum with interior mural by John Singer Sargent

With our feet failing we hopped on the “T” and were quickly deposited in front of the Museum of Fine Arts. This is a beautiful building filled with a stunning array of art and we could easily have filed our day with this one stop.

After roaming the halls for an hour or so it occurred to me that there was a good chance we might find some ancient encaustic work so we set out on a scavenger hunt. We were getting tired and were just about to give up when I saw the unmistakable image of a funerary portrait reflected in the glass case in front of me. I turned again and again looking for it — I’ve never seen one in person before — but it was like a fun house mirror. Finally I spotted it and ran to the case. You’d think I had struck pure gold by my reaction, and I was glad Bill and I were alone in the room. I can’t fully describe the sense of history I felt in looking at these delicate pieces. These artists struggled then just as i do today to express themselves through their work and that shared experience in powerful. It was such an honor to finally see this work in person.

Portrait mummy of a man
Egyptian, Greco-Roman Period, A.D. 150–175
Findspot: Hawara, Egypt
Height x width: 167 x 35 cm (65 3/4 x 13 3/4 in.)
Encaustic (colored wax) on wood over linen and human remains

Body of man with diagonally crossed wrappings forming a rhomboidal pattern. Panel portrait, rounded at the top, with portrait in encaustic depicting a young man with his face turned slightly to the left. He had dark, curly hair, thick brows, and a full, curly beard, and wears a white chiton and mantle.

Portrait mummy of a youth
Egyptian, Greco-Roman Period, about A.D. 50
Findspot: Hawara, Egypt
Height: 113 cm (44 1/2 in.)
Encaustic (colored wax) on wood; linen; and human remains

Mummy of a child with diagonal cross bandaging; decorated with gilded buttons. The encaustic panel portrait shows an adolescent with dark curly hair, large eyes, and pudgy cheeks. His lips may have been gilded to ensure the power of speech in the afterlife.

I’ll save you some time if you go: these are in the Egyptian Funerary Arts Gallery. This was really one of the highlights of our wonderful, waxy vacation!

View all of my posts about the National Encaustic Conference here

OK, I just stopped crying i was laughing so hard. My husband Bill joined me for the fun of the National Encaustic Conference and posted his take on the lobster dinner that I wrote about in my last post. Check it out on his blog, Words For Writers, and you’ll see why he’s the writer in the family. Here’s a taste to get you started:

“Last week about this time, I set out in a rented car packed full of strangers in search of a seafood shack that someone had heard about. “It’s where the locals eat,” was the whispered rumor. Ooh. If there’s anything I like better than wearing a bib and cracking open an exoskeleton, it’s doing it local style. This particular locality was Essex, Massachusetts. My car was full of conference-dazed painters looking for booze and a good time after the close of their shindig.” Read the rest here…

View all of my posts about the National Encaustic Conference here

First, let me warn you that I’m not even close to done with blogging on the conference. I had to take a break because It was time to make Embracing Encaustic available to purchase online and I was inundated with orders. Nope, not in any way complaining, just a little overwhelmed. In just the first two days I mailed 150 books to 5 countries! Thanks so much for this amazing support. But back to the conference…

One of my favorite parts about the encaustic conference is the chance to meet, face-to-face, so many of my colleagues who I usually only communicate with via email. I love my email but there’s no replacement for real human interaction. I was also able to meet lots of new friends, not only during the sessions I attended during the conference, but after hours when we had time to digest and discuss what we experienced during the day. Here are a few photographs of those events.

Mary Farmer & Kimberly Kent (left), Catherine Nash and my husband Bill Womack

An impromptu discussion outside of the Miles Conrad workshop

Dinner with Joanne Mattera and friends (left), Sheary Suiter joined us on the ferry to Boston

Lobster dinner with the girls (left)…and the boys. Bill again and Ted Loomis.

It’s easy to get involved in the after hours discussions at the conference. If you are in the main building when the last session lets out just hang around for a few minutes and inevitably someone will call out, “Who wants dinner?” Don’t be shy. If no one else is asking you can start up a group. Word travels fast since we all want more time to get to know one another in our short weekend in Beverly. You’ll have new BFF’s in no time.

View all of my posts about the National Encaustic Conference here

I’ve spent every waking moment since returning form the encaustic conference getting ready for this day, and I’m thrilled to announce that Embracing Encaustic is now available to purchase online! I am completely blown away by the response already. Thank you so very much for all of your enthusiasm!

Joanne Mattera presents a copy of Embracing Encaustic as a prize for On The Edge

Our encaustic community is one of the most supportive groups I’ve ever been a part of, and that has never been more clear to me than this past week. At the encaustic conference I was teaching two demos, attending classes and trying to (wo)man my vendor table at the same time. At times it was chaos. I wasn’t always there when people wanted to purchase books so sometimes they helped themselves, leaving the appropriate money in exchange. Of course the inventory worked out perfectly in the end, with not one book going astray. How many people would expect that? It’s an amazing community and we are better artists for it. Thank you!

View all of my posts about the National Encaustic Conference here

I’ll admit it, I was a little hesitant about applying for the Kay WalkingStick Critical Feedback Workshop. I hoped if I could get in I would get valuable information from her that I would not likely have a chance at again. I was right. Kay accepted only 10 people from the pool of applicants and I was honored to be one of them.

On Monday we gathered in the assigned room, all feeling a little nervous with our art and souls laid out for her to review. She had asked each of us to bring a CD of our work, but also at least one actual piece, explaining that you just can’t have a substitute for seeing, smelling and feeling the work.

Each of us went in turn talking a bit about our work and answering Kay’s questions about our intent, our process or our symbolism. I won’t discuss any specifics of what was said in the class because it was all so personal, but I can share some of the questions Kay asked of us so you can ask them of yourselves:

1. Do you spend at least a couple of hours in the studio every day? (about half of the people in the room were able to say yes, but Kay said that was better than she thought it would be.)

2. What is your goal for your art career? (Have your work shown in a museum, pay your bills and feed your family or somewhere in between — it’s all valid)

3. What are you looking for when you go to look at art? Does your work fulfill that need?

4. Who is your favorite artist and what do you expect their art to do for you?

5. What subject do you want to investigate?

6. How to do conceptualize your work? How do you begin (through color, image, idea)?

7. How are your pieces related to one another, if at all?

8. What symbolism are you trying to convey?

9. Who is your audience? What do you want your audience to see?

Later in the day Kay met with each of us individually and I was thrilled (and relieved!) to hear that she heartily encouraged my plans for a new series (based on the work above) and helped me focus the path I’ve laid out for the next several months. When asked if I should try to work some of my ideas out on paper versus complete paintings she said, “Don’t just work the ideas out any way you can, work them out EVERY way you can.” Excellent advice. I feel like I now have new tools for evaluating my own art and how to become more focused in my work.

View all of my posts about the National Encaustic Conference here

Days 2 & 3 of the conference were no less hectic than the first but just as much fun! I am a vendor here and also presenting two demonstrations, so I’m always late for something. I don’t know what I was thinking. My husband Bill helped me out on the first day but after that I’m on my own. That was out deal, he needs a vacation too! BTW, he’s taking full advantage of his time alone and went exploring yesterday only to find himself in Maine around lunchtime. Must be time for lobster rolls!

These two days were filled with hands on demos, slide lectures, panel discussions, show openings and more stuff to buy! (Pictured here are Piper and Hylla Evans of Evans Encaustic.)

When we registered we were able to choose 3 events a day to attend in small groups, then there were larger gatherings where everyone was in the same room. Here are some highlights:

Mary Hart - Text Into Wax

As you might imagine Mary’s demo was all about incorporating text into your work. She went over a variety of collage methods and how to scribe directly into the wax both freehand and using stencils. I was already familiar with these techniques but it’s always nice to see how another artists does the same things I do because I often learn some thing new. Mary uses oil paint directly through a stencil onto the wax, adding Liquin to her oil paints so they will dry faster. She also likes printing to Mulberrry paper using her inkjet printer and says if you sut it to size for your machine you won’t need to attach it to a backing paper to run it through the rollers. I’ll have to try that one soon.

Paula Roland

I’ve seen encaustic monotypes demonstrated before, but never by the master, Paula Roland. She has been responsible some really exciting work in this area. I’ve known Paula for a while but we are often teaching at the same time at these events so it was a pleasure to finally see her teaching this in person. Paula works on a “hot box” set to 160 degrees and paints directly onto the surface of the palette, then presses down art paper to make the print. Sometimes she prints multiple times on the same piece of paper, layering her wax into it. They are quite beautiful! I’ve tried this and it’s much harder than it looks.

My Masks and Stencils Demo

Aside from attending demos and begin a vendor, I was also a teacher at this conference, offering my Working with Stencils and Masks demo twice during the conference. Both sessions sold out withing weeks of sign up so there were a lot of people who couldn’t get in. In light of that, I’m making my hand out available for download online to anyone who wants it. It’s set up like the gallery section of Embracing Encaustic, where you see an image of art work then there’s a small description of how the artist made that piece. I think there are 13 artists represented here and they are totally different from those in the book. They were compiled specially for my conference demo. Enjoy!

Joanne Mattera

We have seen some wonderful art shows already this conference, but we were treated to two more on Sunday night. We were treated to a show of original work by the author of The Art of Encaustic Painting and Conference Director, Joanne Mattera. In my opinion her breathtaking Silk Road series can only be truly appreciated in person. I did my best with these photographs, but if you ever get a chance to see the real thing don’t miss it.

The Diptych Project

I was also able to see the second half of The Diptych Project: A Collaboration in Wax, which matched 36 artists into pairs to work collaboratively on 2 encaustic paintings. The objective was for each pair of artists to make two diptychs (a diptych is work made up of two panels). I had previously seen only the work that showed in Oregon, but this was the rest of the show. There were many fine pieces to see, but if you missed either show you are still in luck. Nancy Natale has complied a book in either softcover or hardcover.

View all of my posts about the National Encaustic Conference here

Wow, what a day! The number of images I have from this day alone is a testament to all how many events were happening one after another. Welcome to the Second National Encaustic Conference (virtual edition)!

Vendor Room

Bill and I went on duty as vendors as soon as registration opened at 11:00 am. We were at one of several tables in the room where vendors were selling paint, panels, books and services. Many companies are offering terrific show specials so I found time to do a little shopping. The energy in the room was amazing and by the end of the day we had already sold 2/3 of the books we brought for the whole conference!

Julie Shaw Lutts - 3D Assemblage

Julie Shaw Lutts offered the first demo of the conference, so conference founder Joanne Mattera took a few minutes at the beginning of her talk to thank everyone and make a few announcements, but then it was time to play.

Julie showed us how she makes her thought provoking assemblages with images and found objects. She often glues inkjet prints to flat wood bases then uses a jigsaw to cut them into the desired shape, then uses epoxy or wood glue to attach them to her boxes. One thing I found interesting is that she has three hot plates going at once, one each for heating paint, warming tools, and for warming the boxes and objects before waxing them.

Julie prints images onto mulberry paper instead of the tissue paper I use because it gives her the same effect of the paper disappearing into the wax leaving just the image visible, but she can feed the paper right through her inkjet printer without attaching it to another backing before hand. Gotta try it!

Eileen Goldenberg - The Tea House Project

I have been familiar with Eileen Goldenberg’s Tea House Project since she described to to me over a very cheap bottle of win at last year’s IEA Retreat, but I was really looking forward to getting more information on how the project progressed and better yet, how Eileen secured grant money to make many of the paintings. First she told us a little about grant writing in general then offered a few specifics on how she obtained her funding. It was a grant from the San Fransisco Arts Commission based on her proposal to create work inspired by a book by Ellis Avery called The Tea House Fire. Her proposal included teaching under served populations about the history of encaustic painting and several other outreach activities.

Eileen then showed slides of distinctive points in the progression of this series, which ultimately ended with 255 variations on her theme. Seeing her progression through all the stages of these paintings made me very aware of the fact that I don’t investigate my images very deeply, often trying one thing then flitting on to another. Recently I’ve been feeling the need to take one general thought or theme and try many variations before moving on, allowing my brain and body to fully investigate what it might naturally evolve into. I guarantee you I will NOT make it to 255!

On the Edge - Show Opening

Next we headed over to the Montserrat 301 gallery for the opening of “On The Edge” curated by Laura Moriarty who oversees the R&F Gallery in New York. Honestly, the show was so packed that we could barely see the art, as you’ll see from my photos. I hope to go back later in the week to give this fine work my full attention. Joanne Mattera gave out several awards, and prizes included copies of my book Embracing Encaustic.

Norman LaLiberte - Show Opening

I know, it’s hard to believe there’s more, but we’re not even close to done (and my feet were screaming by now).

Last year I had work in the Hot Stuff show at the conference and it was purchased the night of the opening by Norman LaLiberte. I hate to admit it, but at the time I had no idea what an honor it was to have my work in his collection. Since then Norman and I have corresponded a few times and he was generous enough to share his work with me through several posters and museum catalogs he sent me, along with wonderful hand typed letters. Tonight I got to see it all in person at his solo show in one of the galleries on the Montsertat school grounds. It is a beautiful show and I was pleased to be able to congratulate Norman in person. He’s quite a character and drew loads of adoring fans.

Kay WalkingStick - Keynote Address

Last but nowhere near least, was the excellent keynote address by Kay WalkingStick. Kay has had over 30 solo shows, nine of them in museums. The first was in 1969; the most recent was in 2007 at the June Kelly Gallery in New York City. She has been an active part of the renaissance of Native American fine art in the US.

Tonight she shared with us a retrospective of her work from the 1970’s forward, talking in detail about her interest in symbology and her Native American roots. She emphasized that the medium needs to serve the message and not the other way around, which is why she work with wax, oil, acrylic or gouache depending on what’s appropriate to the piece. She was also adamant that everything in your paintings should be there for a reason.

I’ll be taking a full day workshop with her on Monday so I’ll have a lot more to share then. Let me just say that after her talk it’s clear to me that I’m very lucky to have been accepted into her workshop where I expect her to challenge me in just the way I need right now. I’m very excited to talk with her one-on-one about my work. Oh yeah, and a bit nervous!

We’re Still Dancing/Taos Variation, 2006, oil/panel, 32″ x 64″

Road Trip - My Show Opening in Oregon

Why can’t I ever seem to be in Oregon during one of my own openings lately? Tonight is the opening for a show in Newberg featuring several members of the Oregon Chapter of the International Encaustic Artists. I’ll have to get down there to see it when I return!

Encaustic Group Show: Road Trip
Newberg Gallery, Newberg, OR
June 6 - 29, 2008

View all of my posts about the National Encaustic Conference here

Bill and Judy winging their way to Boston

Here I am, FINALLY, in Beverly, MA for the National Encaustic Conference! I flew over with my husband Bill, Judy Wise and Sheary Clough Suiter. Judy and Sheary are staying in the Montserrat dorms, but we hosted Jhina Alvarado in our hotel room and we stayed up too late but had fun talking wax.

Dinner with Bill, me, Judy, Sheary at Beer Works in Salem

We had dinner at Beer Works in Salem where I tried their excellent watermelon beer. We went for an after dinner walk in Salem and found an amazing bookstore with floor to ceiling tomes.

50% off everything, but how to choose?

We hosted Jhina Alvarado in our hotel room because she got in too late to check in to the dorms and we stayed up too late but had fun talking wax. The conference starts promtly at 11:00 am tomorrow and I’m very excited! More photos soon.

View all of my posts about the National Encaustic Conference here

Wow, what a busy weekend! We had a great book release party on Friday for Embracing Encaustic: Learning to Paint with Beeswax and lots of friends came by to wish us well. If you couldn’t make ti to the party here in Portland, here’s a taste of the fun.

My husband Bill was instrumental in getting this book to press so it was a real family celebration. We had books for sale at the party but they will be available to everyone else online by June 15. First we have the really BIG party at the National Encaustic Conference next week near Boston. I plan to blog about the conference most days I’m there, so watch this space for updates from the road. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m thrilled to announce that Embracing Encaustic has arrived! A closely packed palette was delivered right to my door, then all 30 boxes were lugged into the basement in many painful trips…

For those of you in Portland, please come celebrate with me in my studio with a book release party this Friday. I’ll have champagne and chocolate on hand, along with a few of the other artists who have work in the book.

Friday, May 30
6:00 - 8:30 pm
The Hive, 5417 SE Stark St.
Portland, OR

Here’s a map to my studio, which you enter from SE 55th. Feel free to pass this invitation on to friends. Please RSVP so I know how many people to expect, though if you decide to come at the last minute I’ll always be happy to see you.

Can’t make this party? There will be more on both coasts. See the list of additional book release parties for Embracing Encaustic. The next party will be in Beverly, MA at the National Encaustic Conference.

* * Embracing Encaustic will be available to purchase online by June 15 at www.embracingencaustic.com * *

We had our local International Encaustic Artists (IEA) meeting last night as the temperature reached almost 100 degrees. This is unusual for Portland and even stranger because I still have sweat pants in the wash from when I was so cold a couple of weeks ago!

We welcomed a new member, Karl, and enjoyed the work he shared with us. Judy Wise and Melinda Fellini gave us the scoop on the recent IEA retreat in Carmel while we tried to cool down with a nice beverage. I also shared the first copies of my book, Embracing Encaustic, which arrived the day before. Below is guest artist Andrea Benson reviewing her work in the book.

I have a few advance copies, but the bulk of the books have yet to arrive. It will officially debut at the National Encaustic Conference in Massachusetts on June 8, and by June 15 it will be available for purchase at www.embracingencaustic.com.

Our demo this month was by Susan Freedman who has a new stencil cutting tool we all wanted to try out. It’s made by Fiskars and makes cutting stencils with paper a snap! We we’re all duly impressed by how easy and accurate it is. I think what she had is an older version of the Ultra Shapexpress. It’s around $20 and from what I saw it will be worth every penny.

We were also delivering our work for the show Jim Talt arranged in Newberg next month at the Newberg Gallery (more on that soon!), so that spawned various impromptu critiques as the night wore on…

Read the rest of this entry »