As the temperature hit an unheard of 102 degrees in Portland last week I had a decision to make. I was facing a three day workshop that had been sold out for months in a studio where at least 3 griddles and various tools would be contributing 200 degrees or more for each of the six hours a day we’d be in there. I snapped. It was time to buy an air conditioner!
Of course when you wait that long you don’t have the benefit of a sale, no matter what the sign out front says. My helpful hubby and I motored on down, bit the bullet and bagged us an air conditioner. Of course then we had to install it in that heat, hoping it wouldn’t trip the breakers in my studio. Apparently my math was good this time and since we were able to find a unit that only takes 7 amps it turned out OK. Better than OK, really, because look at what my VERY happy students were able to produce in 3 comfortable days in the studio:
This was a very unusual 3 day class offered because I had three out of town visitors who wanted to attend my full range of classes — from beginner to intermediate to advanced — all in a short visit. There were 3 classes covered: Beginning Encaustic Intensive, Beyond Basics (my intermediate class) and Advanced Encaustic Techniques. I welcomed Thea and Sylvie from Canada (in black aprons) and Suzanne from Sacramento. Also pictured is Brenda (sitting) who lives in town and has taken many classes from me.
Everyone created so much work over the three days that we eventually moved to additional tables outside to make a ‘safe zone” for finished work. Even that area was eventually taken over when we decided to spread out and use oil sticks and oil paints outside as the temperature finally cooled to an agreeable 76 degrees on Monday. Everyone left exhausted but happy and I took a very long nap. What fun!
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August 20, 2008 at 7:49 am
Thea
Wow, Linda, you are so fast, posting all those photos and our adventures the day after the course!
I had a fantastic time and cannot stop thinking of all that we did. It just spins in my head and it will take a while to settle down…..
Thank you so much for all your teaching, sharing secrets and for the A/C, which we could not have done without…;-))
Hope to see you soon, perhaps even before the next Encaustic convention?
Lots of hugs from Canada,
Thea
August 20, 2008 at 8:54 am
Bridget B.
Oh, Linda! This looks GREAT! And congrats on the A/C – in Portland, you don’t need it until you need it – and when you need it, OMG, look out! It’s good you got it, or those poor souls would have been fusing their paintings just by breathing on them . . . 😉
August 20, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Carmen McCullough
102 degrees? Bet you thought you were still in Arizona! 🙂
I so enjoyed your Beeswax Intro class at Art Unraveled.
(I’m from Minnesota and it has been 85 degrees here.)
What’s up with that? I keep showing people your book…at least the part you signed for me. You are a celeb!
September 23, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Amanda
Hi Linda, I’m quite intrigued about this A/C in the studio. I would have thought that A/C and encaustics would have been a no-no due to the fumes. How does your set-up work? I live in sub-tropical Brisbane, Australia and our summer temps are in the 90s with 60%+ humidity, so A/C would be a dream come true.
September 23, 2008 at 7:04 pm
embracingencaustic
It seems wrong, doesn’t it? But I don’t run it with all the windows closed. My a/c unit has a vent I can open or close. I keep it open to send fumes outside while at the same time keeping my screen door open to the outside so I can get fresh air. My vent fan is also running so we get a good mix of fresh, cool air. It’s not the most efficient set up but I only need it a few days a year and my students are VERY happy.