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When you mix colors do you tend to make nothing but mud? There’s a class for that! (and a quick tip below…)
On June 19 from 6 – 9 pm I’m hosting guest instructor and color expert Kimberly Kent in my Portland, Oregon studio to help you expand your painting palette while you develop your color sensibility.
Learn to mix, glaze and see color better. The exercises and techniques in this class will give you new tools for understanding how to mix just the color you need. You’ll work in encaustic paint in this class, but these concepts can be applied to color mixing in any medium. Find out more about my classes or register here.
How to Avoid Making Mud
Here’s a great example of the tips you’ll learn in this class: To avoid making mud, mix two primaries first. Once you get as close as you can to your desired color add the third primary. For example, mix yellow and blue to make green, then a touch of red to get the green you want. Just a few tips like this will have you mixing colors like a pro!
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Linda Womack offers encaustic workshops in her Portland, Oregon studio as well as online encaustic classes at WomackWorkshops.com.
I’ve finally had time to put together some preview videos for our online encaustic classes at WomackWorkshops.com. Take a peek:
That’s right, if you can’t get to my classes in Oregon I’ll come to you online! Get 6 months of access, work at your own pace, get personalized instruction, and interact with a community of like-minded artists. View our class listings and more free videos at WomackWorkshops.com.
Songs Never Cease, 36 x 48, installed at Opus VII Gallery
I love a good art blog and Nancy Natale has got one. Nancy is a visual artist who works in several types of media including encaustic. We only see each other once a year or so at the International Encaustic Conference in Provincetown, but we keep up with each other through email, blogs and FaceBook. Last year she even bought one of my paintings at the conference.
Recently Nancy put out a call for an online exhibit called Art & Music, looking for art influenced by music and I’m happy to have my work included in the show. While choosing which piece to submit I started looking at my art in a new light which I think is a good indication of a strong curatorial theme. The show turned into a fascinating look at several artists work I hadn’t seen before, as well as a new view of my own work.
Here’s how Nancy introduced the show: “Listening to music while making art is a common practice in the studio. All that silence of solitude needs breaking up with melody and rhythm. It keeps us company, gets us singing and dancing, influences our moods and creeps into our art.”
I hope you’ll view the show and then take a look at your work in a new light. Does music influence your art?
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Linda Womack offers encaustic workshops in her Portland, Oregon studio as well as online encaustic classes at WomackWorkshops.com.
Those of you who read my blog on a regular basis know all about my previous visits to the John Campbell Folk School, so I won’t revisit the basics again. Instead I’ll focus on this amazing group of students brought together by my workshop there a few weeks ago. Wow, did we have fun! I’ve got several photos here for you to get an idea of how the workshop unfolded, and what wonderful friendships were forged.
Dru and Louise had very different styles of working, but had a great time working together. Louise arrived in her big truck with just about everything under the sun so when we were missing something everyone asked, “Does Louise have it?” and she usually did. Thank goodness!
Anne and Susan taught wood turning instructor Jim about the basics of encaustic. Jim, along with several other instructors and students from other classes, stopped by to see what all the fuss was about and left with a copy of my book Embracing Encaustic in tow to get started at home.
Here is the whole class on the last day along with some of their favorite work. The photo was taken by our wonderful studio assistant Susi Hall who managed to avoid my camera!
This group was made up of extraordinary experimenters who tried hard to find new approaches to use with their wax. Check out some of their work:
Stacey made this wonderful piece with pins running through balls of wax that were scraped off of other paintings. It's a wonderful reminder that everything doesn't need to be flat!
Lynn brought in a ceramic panel that was bisque fired and added transparent wax to enhance the surface.
Ruth made this wonderful piece look like leather by combining wax, shellac and fabric.
Rodney is vision impaired and contacted me about it before class. I figured out that because I feel the wax as much as I look at it that we should be able to find a way for him to work in the medium. We did! This image uses an image transfer for the figures and the rest was done with a smaller paint brush and his little flashlight to help him see the brush detail as he painted. Nicely done!
Dru made this piece with a hand colored photograph glued to the board then covered with clear medium. I showed her how to use wax crayons and PanPastels on top of the wax for delicate surface details. Dru sold this piece to a student from another class during our show at the end of the week.
Anne worked with cigar boxes as bases for several of her pieces and come up with some interesting designs, a few of which looked like shrines.
We had a critique at the end of class where everyone was able to show off their favorite work in private before it went to the exhibit.
During class I mentioned that my dog, Sadie, needs surgery and I was very worried about her. Someone found a photo of her in my collage materials and everyone worked together on this painting of Sadie, wishing her a speedy recovery. It was such a sweet gesture that they made me cry. Thanks everyone!
The two funniest comments from the week:
1. That looks like a hamhock!
2. That girl ‘aint right.
Both said with a smile, and both well received. Yes, it was an extraordinary group, and it was my pleasure to be a part of it. 
Many artists already use the excellent forum hosted by R&F Paints, but now we have a new blog to look forward to in 2009 as well. Below is a great video they posted recently showing how they make paint and pigment sticks, or visit their new blog.
In case you can’t get to Portland to see Andrea Schwartz-Feit’s encaustic show at Butters Gallery (closing Dec. 20), here’s a taste of it through an excellent interview by Eva Lake.
It’s always fascinating to me to hear an artist talk about their work and feel the enthusiasm they have for their subjects, but it’s something I rarely get to experience. Here’s a pretty good substitute!
You can find many more interviews on Eva’s blog or on KBOO radio’s Art Focus program Enjoy!
Weather Alert! I’m still having my open studio tonight from 5 – 8 pm but the weather might not cooperate so please be careful out there. I’ll have my books, art and some necklaces priced from $10 – $50, perfect for gifts.
My studio is located at 5417 Se Stark St. Portland, Oregon. It’s near the corner of SE 55th and Stark, but the studio entrance is on 55th. View a map here.
If you want to buy art, tools or gift certificates for workshops and can’t get here tonight, just email or call me to make an appointment for another time. (503) 348-9139.
Here are some of the tools I have available right now:
Metal letter stamps used for embossing words into the wax surface, $10
Micro and mini torches for delicate areas requiring a tiny flame, $10 - $15
Heat guns, attachments and cradled Claybord panels, from $15
And of course, gift certificates in these pretty bags are available in any amount!
Another great option for filling these bags or as stocking stuffers would be tickets to my Working in Wax lecture in February. More details are below.
Tickets to Working in Wax, $10
Join me at 23 Sandy Gallery on February 7, 2009 for Working in Wax. This lecture will be a rich visual introduction to the history, tools and techniques of encaustic painting, along with an overview of contemporary artists working in this ancient medium. I’ll share images of several of my paintings as they were being created, showing some of the steps involved in building up the layers of wax and other media.
There will also be a screening of Sister Bee, a lyrical and beautiful documentary about six women beekeepers who encounter startling beauty and spiritual truth in their work with honeybees (Running time 30 minutes). Tickets are $10 and are available in my studio or by mail. Limited to 25 people.
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 »
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…
As many of you already know, I’m participating in 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). In January I posted an image of my first panel, but now both sets are done!
Here’s my panel for the Oregon show, with the full diptych below.
My half of the Growing Pains panel, with the complete work below.
Growing Pains (Diptych), 24″ x 38″, Encaustic, wood, tissue on wood panel. (Left panel: Linda Womack. Right panel: Sara Ameigh)
I was paired with Sara Ameigh and her panel is on the right. Her work is so different from mine that I had a tough time figuring out what to do on my half. I knew my side would have to be simple and calm to balance her side, but I couldn’t decide what to do. After 3 months of consideration my side came together in just three days. (Three very longs day, mind you!) and I’m happy with the result.
I extended the black line from her panel into mine and echoed the orange color and the round shapes in her work with the image of the flower buds in mine. It is titled Growing Pains because that relates to my botanical image trying to exist within the chaos that surrounds it, but it also reflects the process Sara and I had to go through to make a collaborative work like this. It’s pretty tough to work collaboratively when you can never be in the same room! Our finished work for the Maine show is below.
What Lies Beneath (Diptych), 24″ x 38″, Encaustic, wood, tissue, dried leaf, on wood panel. (Left panel: Sara Ameigh. Right panel: Linda Womack.)
The completed diptychs will be debut next week Friday (April 4) in Portland, ME and Portland, OR. The east coast exhibit will be held at Whitney Art Works in Portland, Maine, while the west coast works will be shown at Brian Marki Fine Art in Portland, Oregon. Each artist’s work will also be exhibited as a part of this year’s 2008 National Encaustic Conference in Massachusetts this June. (To see posts about the 2007 conference go here.)
Yesterday I had two classes in a row, both doing Wax Image Transfers. I had initially scheduled only one class, but so many people wanted to try it I eventually added another. Needless to say the enthusiasm was pretty high going into the class, and everyone left with something they loved.
That’s not to say there weren’t some frustrating moments. Transfers require some patience and they don’t always work on the first try, which is why I encourage students to bring multiples of all of their images. I have a sad little copy machine available for emergencies but it’s needed more and more encouragement as the days go by just to make one little copy. We’ll see how long it lasts!
In any case, everyone left class with at least one success and lots of new knowledge on how to chose an image that will transfer easily. That’s part of what I love about teaching classes in small groups instead of on-on-one, you often learn as much from the challenges your fellow artists face as you do from your own difficulties.
Take a look at the amazing variety of work that came out of the two classes:
I’ve just added a new page to my blog that will have the images from recent workshops. Look for the “View Workshop Photos” link above, or click here to see it. The most recent images are from the Encaustic Intensive Workshop yesterday. We had a great time! Take a peek…
In just the last few weeks I’ve had three different artists contact me to discuss naturally dyed beeswax and non-toxic pigments. Honestly I don’t have any experience with these materials, but I’m very interested! After a little research we came up with several resources that might be of interest. I’ll list the below for you to check out.
If you have tried using any of these in encaustic paintings or know of other resources please leave a comment here so we can start a discussion. I think this will be a popular subject, and we can certainly save some time by sharing our knowledge.
Willow Tree Toys
Artemis Plant Dyed Beeswax
These high beeswax sheets include soft tints of primary and secondary colors. Colors include green, transparent, pink, brown, yellow, carmine, orange, dark blue. These beautiful beeswax sheets have been colored by natural plant extract from buckthorn berries, madder root, indigo plant, weld leaves, lac-dye, coreopsis flowers, and catechu acacia. Imported from Denmark. This product is also available at EcoChoices.
Stockmar Crayons
Stockmar crayons are made of non-toxic and sweet smelling beeswax. Long lasting and brilliant in color, they are a favorite for parents, children and schools. This combination set combines the best of Stockmar crayons – 8 stick crayons and 8 coloring blocks contained in a sturdy tin. Stockmar wax crayons meet the highest artistic standards. Through the addition of pure beeswax as a binding agent, the light-resistant pigments display their purity and full brilliance. Because they are mixed with wax, the colors are able to be used in a wide range of interesting coloring techniques – more than any other coloring material. The natural transparency of the wax and the lack of additives result in a high degree of opacity like that of watercolors. Set include one stick crayon and one block crayon in each of the following colors: 01 carmine red, 03 orange, 05 lemon yellow, 07 green, 09 blue, 11 blue violet, 13 red brown, 15 black.
Earth Pigments
Non-toxic Pigments
All of our pigments are environmentally safe, non-toxic and easy to use. Compatible with all mediums, these colors are permanent providing a strong depth of color. All of our pigments are ground to 50 microns for ease of mixing. They contain no chromium, cadmium, mercury, tin, arsenic, radium, lead or other hazardous materials.
What have been your experiences with these products? Please share your knowledge here.
Wow, what a wonderful class we had to day! Five lovely women, all fearless and ready to wax. OK, there was a little fear initially of working with the propane torch, but everyone left confident and with really beautiful work. Take a look…
Here’s my studio, with everyone (wo)manning their work stations
Some of you have already heard me talking about a big encaustic show coming to Oregon this April. Well, it will also be seen in Massachusetts, Arizona and Maine with possibly more stops to come. Here’s the scoop.
A brainstorming session at the 2007 National Encaustic Conference resulted in an exciting collaborative project between New England Wax (NEW) and International Encaustic Artists (IEA) of which I am a member. As a result, I’m participating the The Diptych Project: A Collaboration in Wax, which will match 36 artists from each group into pairs who work together on encaustic paintings.
The objective is to make two collaborative diptychs from each pair of artists (one artist from NEW and one artist from IEA). A diptych is a finished work of art made up of 2 panels. The completed diptychs will be exhibited this April in Portland, ME and Portland, OR. The east coast exhibit will be held at Whitney Art Works in Portland, Maine, while the west coast works will be shown at Brian Marki Fine Art in Portland, Oregon. Each artist’s work will also be exhibited as a part of this year’s 2008 National Encaustic Conference in Massachusetts this June. (To see posts about the 2007 conference go here.)
Linda Womack, Untitled (Diptych panel 1), 2008
24″ x 19″, Encaustic, leaf, image transfer, photograph on tissue
Last night I finished my first panel (above) and will ship it, along with a blank panel the same size to Sara, my art partner in Maine. I’m including some of the copper leaves and notes on the colors of paint I used so she will have a way to tie her panel in with mine through color or imagery. Sara will respond to my painting with one of her own on the blank panel and that work will be shown on east coast. Then we’ll do the reverse and that pairing will be shown here in Portland, Oregon. Other stops around the country are being arranged. I’ll post more images and information as it becomes available.
