Shadows Reveal, 36 x 48, Encaustic on panel, (c) Linda Womack, 2011

I recently sold several of my encaustic paintings to a local firm for placement and they chose four, including one of my largest ever, to complete a lobby in one of their new buildings. The only problem was that 2 of the pieces were too small. Their logical question was “Can you remake them in a larger size?” My answer to them was YES of course, but I wondered to myself just how closely I could really match the panels.

What Cannot Be Torn Away, 12 x 28 (top) and What Can Never Be Torn Away, 14 x 36, both encaustic on panel, (c) Linda Womack, 2011

These particular pieces had texture on the panels and a watercolor under painting as well as many layers of wax and pigment, so they weren’t exactly simple, but I thought the challenge would be fun — kind of a game — and it was. I was very pleased with the results and I’m happy to say that my clients were as well.

As you can see in the photo above, those two look like twins, while the pieces below have their own personalities. When possible I give them similar names because for me the titles are an important part of my work. For example, the first painting above, “What Cannot Be Torn Away” was my response to the devastating tsunami in Japan and the courageous attitudes shown by so many Japanese citizens interviewed on the news afterward.

Fate Unfurling, 12 x 24, Encaustic on panel, (c) Linda Womack, 2011

Fates Unfurling, 14 x 36, Encaustic on panel, (c) Linda Womack, 2011

As you can see these two aren’t exactly the same but while I might have worked them  a bit more just to see if I could get closer, my client dropped by to see the work and loved it so that’s it, they’re done!

Songs Never Cease, 48" x 36", Linda Womack

I’ve been sick during the last half of December and haven’t had the energy to write a new post so I started reviewing my older posts from years past. I’m glad I did, because I really needed to see this one again. I hope you’ll enjoy it too!

As many of us do this time of year, I’ve been taking a look back at all I accomplished, but also those things that slipped away. I often hear from friends and even strangers how amazed they are at all I cram into my limited time. “You are everywhere!” is a phrase I hear often and while that can be good, it might also be a sign that I’m spreading myself too thin. I think 2012 will have to be more about balance. I made good progress with that last year, but more work can be done, and I have a plan to help me succeed.

One of my big problems is that I have trouble saying no. Big trouble. Can you build a web page for our event? Sure. Serve on our Board of Directors? No problem. Volunteer a few hours a month? Of course. Now don’t get me wrong, all of this is good stuff and I don’t intend to stop doing all of it, but if I ever want to make a living from my art and let the other job go, then I have to be more restrained about where I offer my time and energy.

With this in mind I’ve been trying to come up with a more objective way of evaluating opportunities and requests for my time. My quest is to make a living through my art, so I came up a Quest Test. I’ve decided that before I consider any new opportunity, it should satisfy at least 2 of the following criteria:

Linda’s Quest Test

1. Does it feed my soul/creativity?

2. Does it further my art career?

3. Does it pay me a living wage?

4. Does it improve my health and well being?

5. Is it good for my family?

For example, every year I participate in a city wide art walk. Using the criteria above, it satisfies #1, #2 & #3, but a small sale at a local school won’t be on the agenda this year because when I break it down, it satisfies none of them. So why did I try it at the beginning of my career? Because other people told me it was a “good show.” Maybe it is for them, but now I know it’s not for me so I can save a lot of work for little payoff. Of course with new shows or craft fairs you may have to try them once to get enough information to use the test, but once you have enough info be ruthless!

You may need to adjust the questions in your version of the test. To see if the one above works for you, pick at least three things you’ve taken part in this year that were proven to be a good choice. Now choose three bad ones. Does the test hold up? If not adjust the questions until they work for you. For example, when I started with the test I only had the first three items, but what if I want to exercise regularly or go on vacation? Those would have failed the original test! Items #4 and #5 remind me to enjoy life while I’m getting where I want to be professionally.

So, what do you think? Am I missing any questions or do you have a different way of achieving the same type of result? I’d love to hear about it. I’m open to suggestions.

I wish you all a prosperous, balanced, and happy new year!

* Yes, I’m from Hawai’i, specifically from Kailua, a little beach town on O’ahu

Starting now, you can begin any class immediately–no waiting for a class to begin! If you can buy it, you can watch it right now. What’s more, you have access to all the videos, class notes and community chat for six full months from your day of registration. Your instructor will answer questions online during the first seven days of every month, and you’ll be able to discuss your projects with other students in your class during the entire length of the class.

All classes are under $50 and gift certificates are available for the perfect holiday present.

Portland Visual Art Exchange

Lisa Kaser, Tuque, wax & felt

I was thrilled to be invited again this year to the 6th Annual Portland Visual Art Exchange. A big thanks to Becca Bernstein, Sally Finch, TJ Norris and all their volunteers for all of their hard work!

Over 50 artists were invited to exhibit one piece of original work in a week-long, invitational show hosted at the Littman Gallery at Portland State University (PSU). The exhibit culminated in an art trade and public reception where the participating artists went home proud new collectors from some of the most talented artists in Portland.

I was thrilled to receive a wax and felt sculpture by Lisa Kaser, and my work went home with Bill LePore, Chair of the Art Department and Professor of Art at PSU.

Oakridge Park Opening

Four of my paintings are featured in the third floor lobby of Oakridge Park

Shadows Reveal, 36 x 48, Encaustic on panel

We celebrated the opening of Oakridge Park last week with 45 new apartments serving Lake Oswego area seniors who earn modest incomes. This is my second project with Northwest Housing Alternatives (NHA) who provide a wide range of affordable housing  options and have the foresight to include original art by local artists in many of their projects. I’m honored to work with them through Kent Art Brokers.

The Big 200 Art Show

One of my 10 paintings for The Big 200

A big thanks to Chris Haberman and and Jason Brown for inviting me to be in The Big 200 Art Show (formerly The Big 100), hosted by People’s Art of Portland. I’m guessing that name may change again as there were over 250 artists by last count and over 2,500 art work available at the show.

Invited artists are each given 10 small wood panels and let loose to create whatever they like, knowing that all panels will sell for just $40 each in order to allow just about anyone to afford an original piece of art. This is an exciting show because when the art is hung there are no names included with the work which evens the playing field. Art from a very well known artist may be sitting right  next to that of someone in their first art show, but all you need to care about is DO YOU LIKE THE WORK? I love this idea. The show was absolutely packed and my husband and I came home with 4 beautiful new paintings, all by artists who are new to us. The show is up through January 10 so check it out if you can!

One of my panels in place on the BIG wall, middle row, second from right

“One of my encaustic collage pieces was just juried into a show at Artworks here in Richmond, so I wanted to let you know and thank you for the great online workshops……I used everything, including The Great Undo!* The skeletal leaf was brought into the house on the back of one of my dogs, so you just never know where you’ll get a collage element!”

Work by Jane Porter, a student in my online encaustic collage class

* The Great Undo is one of the lessons in my Encaustic Collage class which shows you how to quickly and easily remove parts of your encaustic painting that you don’t like. As you might imagine, it’s a VERY popular lesson.

This photograph by Lara Blair was already a beauty, but when she cut out the horse and made her own sky with the encaustic paint the movement was highlighted dramatically. As a great example of the sculptural properties of the wax, the mane of the horse is raised slightly, giving the painting more dimension.

This collage, also by Lara Blair, is a combination of photographs on different weights of paper and some faux gold leaf around the top edges.

The work above is by Sandra Nykerk who traveled all the way from Gardiner Montana for this class.  This image of a rock within a rock was printed on tissue paper then highlighted with pastels. It’s a shame how hard it is to photograph encaustic, and I didn’t do this piece justice. It’s so luminous!

This work is by Maro Vandorou. She rarely works with color so the image above is an exception and the one below is more similar to the rest of her work. In the photo of the roses, we poured the wax over the surface of the photograph instead of painting on layers of wax. That gives the image a dreamy feel and a perfectly smooth surface that is very enticing.

Maro’s self portrait was made on tissue paper and adhered to a board with wax, letting much of the clear medium show through.

If you’d like to join me for an Encaustic & Photography class, check the schedule online anytime at http://www.embracingencaustic.com/workshops/. If you can’t get to Oregon to see me I’ll come to your studio via my online classes. Check them out at http://www.womackworkshops.com.

Our online video classes bring an art teacher with international experience right into your studio. Work at your own pace, get personalized instruction, and interact with a community of like-minded artists. Best of all, every class is under $50 US.

I’ve been teaching in-person in my studio and around the country for years, but availability has always been limited to a handful of students per class. At the same time, so many of you have expressed interest in my workshops over the years with the regret that you live too far away to join me. To solve both of these problems my husband Bill and I decided to offer video classes, delivered online.

Here’s How it Works

• Each class runs for 14 days.
• All videos are posted the day the class begins so you can work at your own pace.
• During the class students will have an online forum where they can chat with the instructor  and other students, share photos of their work in progress and post finished work.
• In order to keep class prices so low, the instructor will answer forum questions several times daily only for the first 7 days. For the second week you’ll work on your own but you’ll also benefit from seeing students discussion with one another throughout the duration of the class.

We also have Watch Now classes available. The Watch Now classes give you access to all the same videos and instructor notes from the scheduled class, but with no instructor feedback or community interaction with other students. Your Watch Now purchase gives you access to the videos starting immediately and ending 30 days from the date of purchase.

For those of you who haven’t tried encaustic painting before the new web site even includes a free video on how to set up your own encaustic studio.

Join our mailing list to be notified when new classes are added (click link and look in right column).

Can you help me spread the word?

Please forward this link to a friend or two who you think might be interested. I’ve announced this on FaceBook and Twitter recently too, so if you see those posts please “like” them or retweet. Many thanks…

This event attracts artists all over the world and this year there were 35 states in the US represented as well as artists traveling from Canada, England, Mexico, Brazil, Spain New Zealand. The conference was held in Provincetown this year which allowed for some changes to the format and new venues for post conference workshops.  I think Joanne found an excellent partner in working with Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill and its Executive Director, Cherie Mittenthal, who was wonderful to work with.

PROVINCETOWN

Our first night in P-town was spent at the Lobster Pot with my very happy husband Bill, Mike and Kathryn from Enkaustikos, Kimberly and Judy, my buddies from Portland. This was a great restaurant, not to be missed! They even had a nice steak for me (I’m allergic to seafood). Other restaurants we really enjoyed were The Squealing Pig, Bubalas, and the Portuguese Bakery which had real Malasadas like I get in Hawaii! Our best find was a place called Moby Dick’s in Wellfleet, where Bill said he had the best smoked oysters ever.

We managed to fit is several outings to the surrounding areas and I’m so glad we took the time to do it. Provincetown has so much to offer!

This is the view from the top of the 252 foot tall Pilgrim Monument in the middle of town. The web site  refers to the climb as a “heart-healthy walk to the top on 116 steps and 60 ramps,” which by the way is totally worth it.

We booked a dune tour which took us by the famous “dune shacks,” the simple beach cabins of numerous artists and writers during the past century. You can see one here in the upper left area of the photo. Below are cranberry bogs surrounded by sand dunes. It’s gorgeous out there!

Bill and I also treated ourselves to a sunset cruise on our last night, relaxing in the warm breeze. The Pilgrim Monument is way off in the distance.

GALLERIES

On Friday night we made our way to the several openings at galleries that were showing encaustic work in conjunction with the conference. We visited the Kobalt Gallery (above), Ernden Fine Art,  Bowersock Gallery and my favorite show, Surface Attraction curated by Joanne Mattera and Marla Rice of Rice/Polak Gallery (below).

Later we discovered the wonderful Galeria Cubana, which didn’t have encaustic work but did have some fine paintings we enjoyed very much. Nancy Natale has a nice wrap up of the gallery shows with lots of photos on her blog, so I won’t duplicate her excellent efforts.

CONFERENCE

The conference itself was excellent again this year, with so many wonderful events going by almost in a blur. I’m including some photos below to give you a flavor of the event, but you really have to attend to understand the importance of this conference to those of us who work in wax. I hope you’ll be able to go sometime.

This year I was on a a panel called Mastering Media, a discussion about marketing the art we’re all working so hard to make. I spoke about getting my book, Embracing Encaustic, from and idea into reality and many of the successes and bumps along the way. The audience seemed to really like hearing about all the craziness that went on behind the scenes. My fellow panelists were (from left) Jeff Schaller, Nancy Natale, me,  Cherie Mittenthal and moderator Joanne Mattera. Thanks to Corina Alvarezdelugo for allowing me to use her photo here.

This was our little posse for the weekend. Back: Kimberly Kent, Bill Womack. Front: me, Judy Wise and Jess Greene.

Lisa Pressman gave a wonderful lecture with a behind the scenes look at several encaustic studios.

Greg Wright had the crowd cheering for his demonstration of working with shellac, inks and powders to make patterned effects. “Do you want to go a few minutes more?” he asked…

Jackie Battenfield, author of the excellent book, The Artist’s Guide: How to Make a Living Doing What you Love, was our keynote speaker. She got the crowd all revved up and organized in thinking about what we should be thinking about next in our careers.

Here’s part of my work in the hotel fair, a new addition to the conference line up. I’ll bring more next time, now that I see how much we all love to shop!

David A. Clark went all out with new work just for the hotel fair and a true installation style. Brilliant! Lisa Pressman has more photos of her room, which includes a piece I bought from Marybeth Rothman. Can you guess which one it is? It will be included in my next post along with my other purchases.

POST CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS

There so much to do before, during and after a class, especially one that you travel to teach. Because of that many teachers will offer to assist a colleague on a pay it forward type of arrangement as I did this year.

I was the assistant for Charly Weissbach’s Mainly Metals class at Castle Hill during the post-conference workshops. Charyl taught her students how to work with most things metallic, from paint to powder, pigment sticks and even metal leaf. Charyl was the assistant for my friend Kimberly’s class last year (see below).

Kimberly Kent had an adventurous class again this year with plein air painting in encaustic. See the little camp stoves and torches they are using? It’s not for the faint of heart, but if you’re up for traveling with your wax it will allow you to paint directly from nature. And who is that little rascal in the cap? Yup, our own Joanne Mattera trying something new.

And that’s a wrap for this post on the 5th International Encaustic Conference. Nancy Natale and Lynette Haggard surprised Joanne with two huge cakes and a card signed by all to thank her for her efforts in making each conference so special. Nancy is pictured here with Cherie and Joanne on the right, wearing special hats for the occasion. Indeed, thank you Joanne!

View my posts from all 5 conferences here.

Upon A Singing Wind, 24" x 24", Encaustic, oil, fabric, foil

Usually the show comes first, and then the catalog. This time the process happened in reverse beginning with Daniella Woolf’s book called Encaustic with a Textile Sensibility which featured 4 of my paintings. This “gallery between pages” showcases the work of more than 20 artists from the US and Canada who paint in encaustic with techniques often used in printed textiles or woven cloth. That book is the basis for this unique exhibit.

Kimball Art Center
Park City, Utah
June 4 – July 31, 2011

My work, Upon A Singing Wind, was started while a friend was in hospice and finished shortly after he died. My work often reflects on the residue of our lives and what impressions are left after we are gone. In this case the frayed fabric pieces were the perfect material to  represent how my friend was slowly untethering from this world. After he passed I added the last bit of fabric to signify his departure from a life well lived. Though we will miss him,  the image is meant to be seen as more joy than sorrow, with all the chaos of this world far below his newly released spirit.

I’m honored to have my work in such amazing company, alongside several artists I’ve admired for years. If you’re in the area I hope you’ll be sure to see the show.