IEA Retreat/Portland Open Studios

October is a big month for me every year, but this one has been busier than usual. First I attended the annual  International Encaustic Artists Retreat in Carmel and now I’m in the middle of Portland Open Studios.

The Retreat

For some reason I thought the retreat would be relaxing, but no so much. Thankfully what kept me so busy was meeting new friends, selling books, and opening my mind to new ideas and experiences. It was such a rush to be at “encaustic camp” with 65 other artists, all passionate about our medium. Our wonderful organizer, Cari Hernandez, has some wonderful photos on her FaceBook page.

Portland Open Studios

This beloved annual event turns 10 this year and is  stronger than ever! Visit the studios of a diverse group of 100 artists working in their chosen media including painting, sculpting, blowing glass and much more. last weekend was packed and I’ll be working again this weekend, so if you’d like to see how I paint with encaustic stop by for a demonstration:

Hive Studio
5417 SE Stark St.
Portland, OR 97215
Corner of SE 55th and Stark St.
Oct. 10, 11, 17, 18 from 10 am – 5 pm

I have the Portland Open Studio Tour Guides available for $15, which covers 2 adults for both weekends and the kids are free! Please contact me if you’d like to buy one, or come by my studio on the day of the event and pick one up. You can also purchase them at several other locations including ArtMedia and New Seasons.

This beloved annual event turns 10 this year and is  stronger than ever! Visit the studios of a diverse group of 100 artists working in their chosen media including painting, sculpting, blowing glass and much more. I’ll be working both weekends, so if you’d like to see how I paint with encaustic stop by for a demonstration:

Hive Studio
5417 SE Stark St.
Portland, OR 97215
Corner of SE 55th and Stark St.
Oct. 10, 11, 17, 18 from 10 am – 5 pm

I’m trying something new this year: a silent auction of some of my older work starting at very reasonable prices. There will be at least 8 pieces up for auction ranging from smaller works up to 30″ x 30″! I’m trying to work out a way for those of you who are out of town to have a chance to bid as well.

I have the Portland Open Studio Tour Guides available now for $15, which covers 2 adults for both weekends and the kids are free! Please contact me if you’d like to buy one, or come by my studio on the day of the event and pick one up. You can also purchase them at several other locations including ArtMedia, or online using the link above.

Embracing My Bad Knees

Today I received the shipment I’ve been waiting for, just over 2,000 more copies of my book, Embracing Encaustic: Learning to Paint with Beeswax. I was anxious to get them because I was down to a mere 60 books from the previous two printings, but NOT anxious to get them all down the stairs to my basement for storage. Ugh. Sometimes I wish I had printed a brochure like a normal person.

Thanks to all of you who have supported my by buying this book, and all who have written me such nice notes thanking me for writing it. Please keep spreading the word at least 2,000 more times!

Encaustic in North Carolina: John Campbell Folk School

Beautiful work created by several students in my class including Suzanne, Zoey, Pat, Carol and Nan. Great work everyone!

I’m back from teaching a week long encaustic painting workshop at the John C. Campbell Folk School in beautiful Brasstown, North Carolina. Frontier Airlines managed to break most of my hot palettes on the way over so it was a very rocky start, but it ended with lots of new friends and 8 happy students. One of them even told me I changed her life, which is well worth the price of a few pancake griddles.

I’ve got some photos to share and even a short video tour of our amazing studio, then it’s back to reconstructing my own studio for classes in Portland. Enjoy!

Stephen masks out areas of his painting with tape while Lori experiments with a new color

Carol used alcohol inks on her board before waxing to get a nice effect

Guest artist Mary Farmer discussing her work with my class

Suzanne and Zoey look on as Mary and I ham it up.

My buddy Mary Farmer recently moved to nearby Asheville and was kind enough to join us for a day to discuss her process and approach to painting in encaustic. She brought two of her larger paintings which were a real treat to see in person. Mary is one of the artists featured in my book, Embracing Encaustic: Learning to Paint with Beeswax.

Stephens painting was a class favorite (left) and Lori was fearless in experimenting with color and line (right).

Patty explains the process to some visitors to the class.

Patty tried something a little more abstract here and it really worked (left) while this intriguing piece by Pat (right) was the result of one of her very first paintings.

Nan and Zoey try to finish a few more pieces before the show

At the end of the week each class shows work in the community room so we can see what everyone learned. I was very proud of the quality of art and how hard everyone worked all week. Even with long hours we still managed to have lots of fun!

And finally, here’s a short video tour of our very well appointed painting studio:

Thanks to all of you for a wonderful week!

Featured Artist on EncausticPaints.com

Hey, look at me! I’m happy to be the featured artist on EncausticPaints.com! There are images of my latest work as well as a pretty extensive interview about how I got started and how I work. It would be a great exercise to take a look at these questions and answer them for yourself. I had a great time with it.

Here’s a big “thank you” to Jennifer at  Enkaustikos for taking the time to interview me!

Studio Visit: Stalking the Starns

OK, not stalking exactly, but I have been following them very, very closely since I was in college. The Starns are Mike and Doug Starn, identical twins who work collaboratively on photo-based art and more recently intricate art installations.

They made a big splash on the art scene when I was in collage way back in 19whatever by taking photographs, printing them with lots of dust, fixer stains and other “imperfections” then them ripping them up and putting them back together with Scotch tape. The visual effect was emotional and direct but everyone was screaming about them not being archival and falling apart in 10 years. I was totally torn on the issue until I saw their work in person. After that transformative moment, I spent as many hours with their work as I could for the final 3 days the exhibit was up. I was totally mesmerized! They taught me that you CAN break the rules of your medium, you just have to be open to what might come of it, good or bad.

My husband Bill and I had decided to treat ourselves to a couple of days in New York after the Annual Encaustic Conference and were looking for stuff to do in the area. I couldn’t believe my luck when I found out the Starns were having an open studio event for their latest installation, Big Bambu, while we were in town!

Their installation, Big Bambu, fills their huge warehouse studio

From their web site: “This artwork, in the realm of architecture and performance, starts as a massive tower created from lashed together bamboo poles and brings into space representations of complexity and chaos. Big Bambú will evolve through the continuous rebuilding and rethinking of the structure at all times.

The Starns are directing 8 to 15 rock climbers at a time, who are assembling the structure’s vernacular network in an ongoing action. Big Bambú is consistent with the idea of a self-healing organism; within this “fabric” of bamboo pole network, the artists expect that some poles will stress and fail, but that the structure will maintain some integrity. The tower represents the concepts of self-organization, adaptation and the interconnectedness of all things.” View their 3D Virtual video here.

Sadly, they weren’t there when we were so I didn’t get to meet them, but we did get to see the installation and so much more. Work from all eras of their career was hanging in the space along with several works in progress and some pieces that were in the middle of being packed for shipping. It was fascinating! Here are a few more photos from their amazing studio:

This is one of their color carbon prints which is about as tall as I am

Work from the Blot Out the Sun Series. Work from a later series incorporates clear encaustic medium as well.

Work from Attracted to Light, wrapped and ready to be shipped to the next show

I'm happy to see that even famous artists use regular pillows for packing!

We also made it to the Starns other new work called See It Split, See It Change (above), a multi-part, site-specific installation that encompasses the entire interior of the new South Ferry Terminal concourse, created for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Arts. Look for it at the South Ferry Station, 1 line.

The work features signature Starn artworks including silhouetted images of trees, mosaic maps of Manhattan, fused glass panels, and a stainless steel fence. It’s an easy ride to get there so if you’re in New York go see it!

Back to Portland

Seeing Mt. Hood from the plane always signals that we're home

We’re finally back home in Portland, Oregon, and couldn’t be happier about it. It was a great trip but it was a little too long to be away from our furry kids and the studio. Bill and I both hit the ground running, already behind before we even left the airport. Since then I’ve unpacked and restocked my studio, finished and delivered two new small paintings (photos coming soon)  and taught a full day workshop. I also now have my work showing at one of my favorite galleries in Portland, 23 Sandy. What a week! If I owe you an email please be patient. I promise I’m working on it.

By the way, we had a wonderful time in New York and I promise to post photos as soon as I can. Look for them later this week!

2009 Post Encaustic Conference Workshop

After a wonderful day off with my husband Bill, I dove back into the wax world by teaching at the conference with my Stencils and Embossing class. Photos will have to tell the story this time, as I’m all out of words. Suffice to say that we had a wonderful time, laughing and painting. Thanks to all of my wonderful students for your enthusiasm when I  know you were already quite tired from the conference. Great work, everyone!

View other encaustic conference posts here.

2009 Encaustic Conference Special Exhibits

In the Round featured the work of Kim Bernard and Deborah Kapoor, was installed in the Schlosberg Gallery. This two-artist show was curated by Montserrat’s Gallery Director, Leonie Bradbury who invited the artists to share the space. I’m sorry to have missed their gallery talk, but I can never get to everything I want to at the conference!

The Luminous Landscape, a self-curated group show show, was installed at Montserrat’s invitation in the second-floor hallway gallery. The Luminous Landscape collective is an international group that explores the subtleties of light and terrain via encaustic. Pictured above is my friend and fellow Portlander Kimberly Kent with her work on the left.

"Ah, What Then?" by Supria Karmakar, 2009

Wax Libris was a small exhibition that took place in the Paul Scott Library at Montserrat and focused on book forms, altered books and other small works in which text predominates. I missed photographing this one, but Supria Karmakar was nice enough to send along an image of her work from the show. Thanks Supria!

Cora Jane Glasser and Debra Ramsay offered their show, Material Matters, ingeniously presented in their own hotel room like an art fair! I love this idea which was referred to by many as “the rogue show.” I’m thrilled to have been able to purchase 2 small works on paper from Debra for my collection.

Julie Shaw Lutts had an engaging show called Artifacts at the Kensington-Stobart Gallery at the Hawthorne Hotel in Salem. Her paintings, collage and assemblage pieces  all have their own unique narratives that give you just enough information to get the story started and the rest is up to the viewer. Treat yourself to a virtual tour through her web site link above.

View other encaustic conference posts here.

2009 Encaustic Conference, Day 3

I noticed last night that despite having a great time, people were starting to get really tired, with all of the (excellent!) demos, lectures and gallery openings taking a toll as we ran from place to place. I left dinner at 9:30 and went right to bed. (That last blog post went up at 3 am when I awoke and couldn’t sleep!) This morning people seem like they got some rest and are ready to go again. Every year I have to be reminded to pace myself.

I did the first demonstration of the day on Stencils and Embossing, showing how to use a variety of materials to emboss patterns directly into your wax surface, and then highlight that texture with wax, oil or pastels. I had full house with a very enthusiastic audience so we had lots of fun, I just always wish there had been more time to share my techniques.

Danielle demonstrated how to dip a photograph in wax

Photography and Encaustic, Danielle Correia

Danielle, who teaches for R&F Paints, encouraged us to break the rules of the traditional photographic print and explore the possibilities of combining photographs and wax in a variety of ways. She demonstrated color and b&w transfers and discussed archival papers, printing processes, and layering of photographic imagery.

I found the dipping process to be very interesting and realized that if I tried it on my own I certainly wold have done it too quickly. When you dip anything in wax it has to be in the wax bath long enough not just to coat the item, but to fuse to it as well. As she SLOWLY pulled the paper through the wax bath, she touched the edge of the hot fry pan, fusing the wax as she went.

Cynthis's extraordinary Firecracker book

Paper and Encaustic, Cynthia Winika

Cynthia, who also teaches for R&F Paints, showed us an amazing number of ways of working with paper and encaustic, include collage, transfer, dipping, pouring, working large, presentation techniques for paper pieces and applications for book arts. One of my favorite projects of hers was the Firecracker book where she paired another artist’s poem with her book pages created by setting off fireworks on sheets of paper then infusing the pages with wax.

Joanne's slide lecture on Wax at the art Fairs was a popular event

Wax at the Art Fairs with Joanne Mattera

(This talk was the next day, but as that was my “day off” I’ll include it here.) Joanne shared with us some of the painting and sculpture she saw at the art fairs in Miami Beach—not necessarily by “encaustic artists,” but by a range of painters and sculptors who have engaged wax as their means of visual expression.

I appreciated Joanne taking the time to show us the thought provoking work of these artists, many of whom I was not familiar with, but also to show us the setting in which work at art fairs is shown. It was an enlightening talk for me since I have never been to an art fair, and made me both want to attned and run away at the same time. It’s the same longing I have to attend the Olympics someday except for the cost and crowds!

Joanne is the founder of this conference and it would never happen without her tireless work on behalf of a medium she loves. Thank you Joanne, for all of your hard work year after year! And if you have not yet discovered her insightful art blog, and especially my new favorite Marketing Mondays articles, you are in for a treat.

View other encaustic conference posts here.

2009 Encaustic Conference, Day 2

Please note: My internet connection is terrible from the hotel so I’ll get up what I can when I can. Links and other notes may need to be added later. Linda

Conservators in Conversation
Conservators repair and stabilize work, ancient or even relatively new, which has not withstood the rigors of time, storage, harsh handling or other stresses. The conservators on the panel have worked with encaustic objects and paintings–including ancient Fayum portraits, waxen murals, wax sculptures, and contemporary paintings. Contemporary artists can better plan for the future by learning how these experts have addressed problems from the past.

The panelists:
. Pamela Hatchfield, Conservator of Objects, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
. Carolyn Tomkiewicz, Conservator, Brooklyn Museum, New York.
. Kate Smith, Conservator, formerly of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
. Mimi Leveque, Conservator, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem
. Panel moderator: Joanne Mattera

My favorite quote this session was from Pamela who shared, “Jasper Johns once said he’d be a far richer man if he were the conservator of his paintings rather than the painter.” She also noted that one of the problems she’s faced in conservation is complicated corrosion issues when metal comes in contact with wax through metal armatures in sculpture or even certain metallic pigments.

Color Mixing, Hylla Evans
Why do mixed colors separate? Why does each color group behave differently in wax than it behaves in other mediums? What is a basic working palette ? This Q&A session was enlightening, discussing the use of split primaries and revealing the characteristics of certain pigment families and how they behave.

Stories Embedded in the Wax: Narrative in Collage, Elena De La Ville
An artist who works in a variety of mediums, including wax, Elena presented the work of 10 contemporary artists who use narrative collage, focusing on the storytelling element in their work. I was not able to attend this event, but Elena was kind enough to include several of my paintings in her talk.

Screen Printing, Jeffrey Hirst
This demo explored developing a hybrid image by using oil paint and oil stick screenprinting combined/ fused with encaustic painting. Screen printed imagery ranged from small fragments to full-scale images, and multiple printings were done on each painting, with the printed element functioning above and below wax surfaces.

Encaustic Collage Painting, Nathan Margalit
This demonstration included ways in which various forms of paper are altered through the use of the wax medium in combination with other media like printmaking, and assorted materials: gouache, chalk, oil pastels, watercolors and color printing inks, and how these prepared materials are applied and integrated into the surface of the work.

Show Openings

The openings for The Opposite of Beauty and Wax and Wane: Creation/Destruction, an experimental exhibition curated by Miles Conrad, were held in the 301 Gallery. They are both excellent shows and were very well attended.  The Opposite of Beauty was juried by Nicholas Capasso, Senior Curator at the DeCordova Museum. My friends, Gregory Wright and Elena De La Ville won the top prizes for their insightful work.

Wax and Wane is an experimental exhibition installed in Frame 301, the window space at the 301 Gallery. Conceived by artist and gallerist Miles Conrad, director of the Conrad Wilde Gallery in Tucson, it features an installation of the small dimensional objects made by his “Off the Wall: Encaustic in Three Dimensions” class at the conference in 2007. As conference founder and director Joanne Mattera explained, “You know the wax part of the title. As for the wane, we’ll see; it’s a sunny window.”  As you can see, even by opening night some of the objects had dropped from the wall because of the heat, but had not melted. The exhibition is under the direction of the gallery’s assistant, Maggie Cavallo.

View other encaustic conference posts here.

2009 Encaustic Conference, Day 1

I’m here and the Third Annual Encaustic Conference in Beverly, Massachusetts has begun! I promised you all that I would blog on each evening of the conference, but in order to keep that promise AND my sanity it will have to be far more photos than words. Here’s a sampling of the events I attended today.

Strategies for Showing and Teaching in a Difficult Economy, Cherie Mittenthal
Cherie is the Director of the Castle Hill Center for the Arts in Truro, Mass., she talked about how non-profits continue their mission to work with artists and the community even when times are tough. It was an intimate chat where photography didn’t seem very appropriate, so you’ll have to trust me, she was there! What struck me was when she asked how many people in the room were at the conference for the first time and at least half the group turned out to be. It seems in the tougher economy everyone is looking for new ways to generate income, but one clear message from the discussion was that you have to EARN your credibility as a teacher before you can expect someone to pay for your expertise. This often comes in the form of teaching free classes or doing demos at art stores until it is second nature. I’d like to add that teaching is extremely hard work and takes much more time in preparation than actually teaching the class, so it would be a costly mistake to think of it as an easy way to generate more money.

Sue Katz

What’s the Big Idea? Meaning in Our Own Art, Sue Katz
in talking about art, our own art–what does it mean? What ideas, process to concept, generate the start of a work? How do our thoughts change along the way? How do materials help or hinder our intentions?  How/when do we choose a title? These questions were asked but not quite answered in the short time we had to meet, but attendees gave it a good try. There was some agreement that the best place to look for meaning in your art is in your personal history. Someone else suggested keeping a book of art that affects you and to try to figure out why it speaks to you. I think the most important point was that you don’t need to know what you are painting about in order to paint. Just get in there and do it even if you have to figure it out later.

Barbara O'Brien

Keynote Talk : “In Defense of Ambiguity: The Poetics of Encaustic”
Barbara O’Brien was here as a panelist at the 2007 Conference, and made a deep impression on the attendees who overwhelmingly requested her back. Her talk discussed how the major art movements and theories of the second half of the 20th century created an unsympathetic arena for a critical reading of encaustic works of art, and how she overcame her own prejudices about reviewing encaustic works. She declared that she is a true convert in love!

And of course, the vendor room where I spent money like a drunken, waxy sailor!

Andrea from Wax Works in Canada

Mike from Enkaustikos showing their new paint that comes in tins, Hot Cakes.

Luscious paint choices from Evans Encaustics

Darin From R&F Paints. Check out their new web site!

Miles from Conrad Wilde Gallery in Tucson, AZ

If you are/were at the conference, please add your impressions by making comments! More tomorrow…

View other encaustic conference posts here.

Pat Wheeler at Oregon College of Art & Craft

Pat Wheeler's work, made during the week of our class

After a long day of travel I’m finally here at in beautiful Beaverly, Mass., for the annual encaustic conference.

Look for blog updates here starting tomorrow, but first I want to share images from the class I took last week with Patricia Wheeler, The Architecture of Memory, at the Oregon College of Art & Craft. (BTW, the internet connection here is terrible so I’ll have to keep this short.)

I’ve wanted to take her class for three years now but have never been able to make it happen. This year the dates were tough, the week before this conference, but I decided to go for it and I’m glad I did! I’ve been using joint compound as a textural base in my paintings off and on for a couple of years, but I knew Pat could help me talk it to a new level. The work below is not encaustic — we worked with thin acrylic washes and cold wax — but many of the techniques I learned last week will be compatible with a few changes.

This is the work I created during the week. Love those edges!

One of my paintings in the early stages, with the acrylic under painting and a first coat of joint compound

Dayna Collins starting a large panel. Click the photo to see more on her blog.

This tree on campus fascinated me. The trunk is wrapped with bright red yarn!

Steph Brockway making an image transfer

My first attempt, 8" x 8"

The largest of my panels, 30" x 30"

That's a dried artichoke in the niche, along with image transfers of the same plant

This might be my favorite, very different for me.

Working in Wax at Bedford Gallery

I have three art works in a juried show in Walnut Creek, California. The Bedford Gallery is hosting a wonderful show called Working in Wax with more than 80 encaustic painters represented in a wide variety of styles. If you are in the the area and share my love of wax, don’t miss it!

Here is a nice article on the show with the details below:

The Right of Nature, 13" x 13", encaustic and mixed mediums, 2009

Working in Wax at Bedford Gallery
1601 Civic Drive in Walnut Creek, CA
Through June 21, 2009
View images from the show
(My work is shown in the 6th photograph)

Juror Statement

Encaustic paint has luminous translucency, a succulent surface, and warms to the touch, like human skin. It offers a wide range of applications, such as using the pure encaustic with no color, adding pigments for rich color, creating texture, casting in molds, collaging with photographs, and making sculptures by combining it with wood, steel, and other materials. I believe this is why we love the wax; it gives us endless possibilities for expression.

Selecting well conceived, beautifully executed, and visually satisfying art works was my vision for this show. I was looking for artists who give us a glimpse into their emotions and lives. Though the focus of this show is the material, what is vital to art is the expression of the artists, and it is their visual language that shines through.

Eileen P. Goldenberg, Juror

Studio Visits: Kristin Swenson Lintault & Ted Loomis

I met Kristin Swenson Lintault last year at the Annual Encaustic Conference and was thrilled to hear that she lives so close — just a few hours away in Seattle. At the time she had just finished her new studio and we got to talking about ventilation — a boring topic to most but infinitely interesting to encaustic painters for some reason. Anyway, she described this system she and her husband had devised and I knew I’d have to stop by in person some day to see it. I finally got my chance when I was in town for the Betsy Eby talk and I asked Kristin to let me share my visit with her online. Thanks Kristin!

Kristin's meditation spot in her studio

Her beautiful book collection, including my first edition in the upper right corner!

On that same trip I met up with another friend from the conference, Ted Loomis and his wife Megan. Ted is a BIG personality who I was immediately drawn to at the conference, plus he stood out as one of only a few men attending. (Why is that?) He and my husband Bill really hit it off too and we became fast friends. Here’s a peek into Ted’s studio.

Ted's studio is perfect for working large, like his new painting Big Rock Candy Mountain.

I'm always fascinated by other artists tools and paints

Megan is also an accomplished artist working in pastel and glass.

Betsy Eby at Winston Wachter

If you are anywhere near Seattle, Washington, treat yourself to an exhibit of new work at Winston Wachter Gallery by one of my favorite artists, Betsy Eby. Her encaustic exhibit, Abundance, is radiant and inspiring, capturing the rhythm and movement of nature.  I felt like I was being absorbed into her paintings, which I had never seen in person before. Betsy gave a wonderful talk at the gallery, telling us all about her childhood in Seaside Oregon and the artists and experiences that have influenced her art .

Ted Loomis and Kristin Swenson Lintault joined me at the gallery

Betsy Eby discussing her work with a collector

Betsy's latest work was inspired by the boulders near her summer studio