Encaustic Altered Books Workshop October 17-18: Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA
I had the pleasure of teaching an Encaustic Altered Books workshop this past weekend. The students were so vibrant and full of fun and wonderful creativity! --they worked to the very end.
The photographs are by Susan Feller
YOWSA...
Goodness, it has been months since my last post-
Whats up with that? -- right, life.
Well, I've been working hard to complete 10 new pieces for a group show back east this fall- it has been all about encaustic sculpture:: shadow & light. I'm very excited about the new work, moving work off on the panel has felt very liberating.
I'm also in full-swing preparing for the IEA annual Retreat & Conference, October 1-4 in Carmel Valley, CA. This is my third retreat to co-ordinate and direct- this year Tony Sherman will be giving the key note address. The event is a full 3 days with amazing guest lecturers- to see more: http://iea2009retreat.blogspot.com/
A wonderful workshop weekend...
This past weekend I had the pleasure of teaching an intermediate encaustic workshop at Kala Arts. I had 15 fantastic students, who were all eager and enthusiastic about exploring a new range of techniques and materials in their encaustic work. We worked on everything from fiber sculpture, multi-panel large scale work, experimental supports (metal and plexi), works on paper, and more.
This was my first class to teach for Kala, and I found the staff to be so helpful and supportive- many thanks for that, I'll be back in October teaching a 2-day encaustic altered books class.
3rd Annual Encaustic Painting Conference, Beverly MA
I've just returned from a whirlwind weekend - to present at the conference. The conference was in full swing Friday the 5th through Sunday the 7th - followed by wonderful post conference workshops.
I flew out from the West coast Saturday, arrived for the opening of Beauty & its Opposites. It was wonderful to see so many friends! The work in the show was lovely - Paula Roland's 3 suspended works on paper were wonderful. Elena De La Ville had a wonderful award winning piece in the show, and there were several inspiring pieces by Gregory Wright.
It was so great to catch up at dinner with Alexandre Masino & Yechel Gagnon. They are both such amazing artists that bring lovely enthusiasm, excitment, and inspiration to the conversation - what a joy and pleasure to spend some time together.
Kandy Lozano and I were roomates Saturday night (thanks to her generiosity!). It was so fun to hang out into the wee hours of the night, previewing her lecture materials for the next day (she gave a wonderful talk on large scale painting).
I was up for an early breakfast with -- can I just say: one of the most entertaining people ever!!! -Richard Frumess- and Pamela Blum, lovely artist -professor- and spouce :) They are two of the most wonderful people - too smart (need some caffine to be alert when in conversation with these two!) - kind and supportive beyond words. I am SO excited about their presentations at this years IEA Retreat & Conference in October.
Conference Presentation
I presented to a full house, so many wonderful waxy folks came to hear about techniques. I could have used another hour or two, so much to share! A HUGE thanks to Kimberly Curry, she was attending the presentation - but helped me out with such generous assistance, thank you.
After lunch I attended Cynthia Winika's presentation on working with paper, so great to see such a verity of work.
Wax Libris: an invitational group show of encasutic and text
I participate in Wax Libris, contributing one of my encaustic altered books. The show consisted of works from 9 artists and was curated by Joanne Mattera.
"As we take in more and more of our information from electronic sources, the tangibility and materiality of books remains deeply satisfying. At least that's the premise of this small show in the Paul Scott Library on the first floor of Hardie, which features handmade books, altered books, book objects, and two-dimensional works with visual or textual narrative." - Joanne Mattera
In the Round: Kim Bernard & Deborah Kapoor
Both artists presented wonderful work that showed harmoniously together. I am so drawn to the sculptural form of each artist's work, the luminosity of wax in a 3D form plays with shadow and light in exciting ways.
wrapping it up...
I was on an evening flight back home Sunday - being in attendance for about 24 hours... Kudos to Ms. Mattera for a wonderful conference, she seamlessly weaves her magic around the entire event - seeming to be in two places at once - smile on her face- and remembering every detail. She gave so much by way of offering 5 encaustic shows during the event, a wonderful selection of vendors, and a fantastic range of workshop choices.
May 15 2009 - a day as installation assistant!!
I had the pleasure of helping out a bit- lending a hand to Miles on his last day on installation. He has created an amazing (and a little creepy - GOOD creepy) interior room made entirely of SOAP. Yes, soap. Goodness, it is a work to behold, walk around and contemplate. This work was created for his SFAI MFA graduate exhibition. The work can be seen May 15-23 at the Herbst Pavillion in Fort Mason Center, SF.
May 10 2009
I have updated the blog from last weeks Esalen encaustic workshop- lots of photos of all of the wonderful students:
http://esalenencausticworkshop.blogspot.com/
Esalen Encaustic Workshop April 26th- May 1st
I am co-teaching this week, a week long encaustic workshop in Big Sur, CA.
It is an amazing location, our studio overlooks the ocean- we listen to the waves as we paint!!
It is a lovely group of students- so talented and enthusiastic!
We are starting day 4 today, can't wait!
Artrageous! 2009 Montserrat College of Art
Montserrat College of Art has an annual auction which benefit college student scholarships - Artrageous 2009: held this Saturday May 9th.
The auction offers donated artwork collected by invitation only, I have donated a painting "glow 1" - encaustic 6x6 ::::: I hope it sells well for the college!!
Here is a link with more info:
http://www.montserrat.edu/auction23/artists.php
April 2009: solo show at Esalen
I have a show up at Esalen in Big Sur, CA -
I'll be co-teaching a week long encaustic workshop at the end of April -what a lovely and amazing place to be able to teach! --yes, I am very excited to go have lots-o-fun!
R & F Handmade Paints: Encaustic Works '09
I am honored to be a part of this year's exhibit, R & F's Encaustic Works '09.
They have created a beautiful catalog, here is a description:
Catalogue from the seventh international biennial exhibition sponsored by
R&F Handmade Paints that ran March 29th - June 19th, 2009.
Juried by artist Heather Hutchison, the show is an eclectic mix of artists working in the medium today. The exhibit was held at The Castle Gallery, College of New Rochelle, New York.
for more catalog information:
http://rfpaints.com/8-Store/RFStore6Books.htm
waxing and waning...
I have found myself back in my studio...really getting to the business of working. Our "outer world" can feel so huge and distracting at times, I have found that my time and energy have been needed in other parts of my life, leaving me exhausted and feeling rather "empty"...unable to give myself to my work. In the last 5 months I only managed to eek out bits and pieces of work...nothing that tapped my being. I am so connected to finding myself in each painting that I make, that not having that expression for nearly half a year has felt daunting. So, here it is...my latest Work. I have found my voice was not missing, only taking a pause.
after a very long pause... December 2008
I've just returned from Art Basel, Miami.This was my first large scale Art Fair experience...The basic layout has Art Basel in Miami Beach at the convention center, with surrounding hotels hosting shows as well. Across the waterway in Miami, more shows were being held in the Wynwood area etc. I was there for 5 full days, and went to 14 shows (repeating a few). I was in attendance with lovely friend and Art Basel veteran Lissa Rankin.
Personal highlights...
I had the great pleasure of meeting and chatting with artist Bernd Haussmann on a few occasions... he and his wife Anna were such a delight, I appreciated Bernd's enthusiasm and conviction that artists move forward in their work (when often feeling contracted with the influence of world/cultural troubles)
http://www.berndhaussmann.com/ to see his lovely work.
I had the absolute THRILL of getting "up close & personal" with some of Kiki Smith's amazing work! I had this very special opportunity while visiting Dennis Hull of the Brodsky Center (Bridge Miami Beach).
I met the absolutely delightful sculpture Todji Kurtzman and company... we met at Red Dot and continued to cross paths daily...he creates amazing large scale bronze sculpture
http://www.todjikurtzman.com/I had a great chat at Red Dot and then brunch a few days later with energetic and insightful Joanne Mattera
http://www.joannemattera.com/Overall assessment: well worth the effort, to be able to see SO many artist's work and gallery owners in one concentrated area is a real treat (it could take months to try and see that much going to individual galleries)... a fabulous way to meet artists, see a wide range on new work, and have the chance to meet enthusiastic gallery and art representatives. I'll list the shows that I attended in a side-bar... I certainly had some favorites. I really enjoyed Art Miami on many different levels... a great representation of contemporary art, great lay-out of dealer booths, well lit, etc. Pulse was an exciting show that had a great variety of mediums and aesthetic styles... Aqua Wynwood had some wonderful galleries and fabulous work... the food was also great there! Many gems were found at all of the Fairs... I'll break-down a few with images...
July 30, 2008
new work in my blendings series...
I'm enjoying slowing down the process...stepping back from a larger work to think about scale, and enjoying the fluid movement of having a brush in hand.
In studio: working on my blendings series: encaustic, paper & resin
such joy working in the studio...
today I finished the surface treatment for a painting titled "soft", it is a part of my blendings series that combines encaustic/paper/resin.
July 19th:Kira painting...
Today, my 5 year old daughter joined me in painting...
she made her first encaustic work!
July 13th: Encaustic 3D workshop with Miles Conrad
This weekend I found myself having so much fun with dear friends! I joined the workshop held at Wax Works studio in the tiny town of Corralitos, Ca... just South of Santa Cruz. Miles came for the day to teach his unique style of creating encaustic 3D objects (he gave a 3 hour demonstration earlier this year at the IEA Retreat, I had been thinking about his process ever since!). Miles is an amazing instructor, his level of preparedness, articulation, and enthusiasm is inspiring. Wendy, Judy, and Daniella created a lovely environment in the studio...offering a rose water spritz for mid-day refreshment! I'm looking forward to seeing how these techniques will find their way into my own studio practice. Most of all, it was a great joy to spend the day playing, having time and space to play with materials in a new way was positively invigorating
June 30th... encaustic color wheel & color theory
A little over a year ago my Mom came and spent the day in my studio. She had just finished a color theory class, and it harkened back to my college days. I realized that I had never created an encaustic color wheel (only one in oil)... so last summer, we spent the day working a traditional color wheel from the basic primaries. Yesterday as I was "cleaning" my studio, I saw this lovely tool gathering bits of dust and gave it a prominent spot in my studio. It reminded me of all the possibilities...I love color. Most of my work is about exploring color, so being reminded of all that can be created from a handful of color is a joyful reminder of "possibilities".
HOT HOT HOT...pool coolness
BIG thanks Peter and Troy!
your pool is divine!
a lovely day spent swimming and taking a break to watch the deer roaming in the "back yard"--- your home is artful inspiration!!
a week away...
This past week I traveled to Beverly Massachusetts to participate in the second annual encaustic conference held at Montserrat College of Art, I was there to talk about the IEA/NEW diptych project...
http://montserratencausticconference.blogspot.com/I flew back with dear friend Daniella Woolf, and we met up with Miles Conrad at Logan...we went directly (well...as direct as 3 adults and one GPS system can when traversing the land of Celtics...was that an important game???...sure were a lot of "green and white" folks out in the street...they were EVERYWHERE). We finally arrived at the ICA to see the Anish Kapoor show that had just opened...
http://www.icaboston.org/ ...what a great show of work.
Prior to the start of the conference, Daniella and I went to Cambridge and stopped at a lovely gallery...I loved the work of jewelry artist Nora Fok. We arrived late to the opening of the "On the Edge" show...a juried show that was a part of the Encaustic Conference. I was honored to receive honorable mention for my work.
Daniella and I were dorm-mates...
oh...back to the days of sharing a common bathroom with your fellow floor-mates and sleeping in a twin bed...
the Diptych Talk went very well, I was inspired by a dry pen board in the room...I asked every one who attended to pick a side of the board and start drawing...they wanted instruction, I said "pen to board". After 4 or so minutes, I had each group switch sides and resume drawing on previously created work...at the end of the exercise, they had a brief experience of working collaboratively with little direction...a great primer for the Diptych project...
http://thediptychproject.googlepages.com/ I gave the talk with NEW artist and creator of the Diptych Catalog Nancy Natale (she did an amazing job organizing and presenting the show catalog ... www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/242524 ).
our curiosity lead us to Providence Rhode Island on Monday...
Who knew how cool Providence is???
What a lovely city...we had a great lunch and enjoy walking about.
Alexandre Masino gave a post conference workshop, he allowed me to sit in for his opening presentation in the morning...he is a FABULOUS teacher! He was so well prepared and had step-by-step visuals that fully helped illustrate his process for creating lovely and delicate still life and landscape paintings. Check out his web site for examples of his gorgeous work:
www.alexandremasino.comHis partner Yechel Gagnon traveled to the conference with him, she is a lovely and delightful artists as well;
www.yechelgagnon.com She creates amazing carved plywood sculptures as well as works on paper. It was such a joy to spend time with both of them!
Tuesday afternoon I had a most enjoyable solo fieldtrip!
I ventured North to Plum Island and walked on the beach...next I took the back roads to Rockport. Rockport is so precious it looks like a movie set...but it is as it appears, lovely and sweet! I checked out some galleries and walked about on the quaint streets.
I had met Lynda Cole last year at the "ahead of the buzz" workshop @ R&F paints...we reconnected at the conference and caught up over a LOBSTER dinner (I was in Massachutess after all)...after dinner, Lynda took us to a gorgeous beach Wingaersheek...the sunset was so lovely, the perfect bit of rejuvenation before flying home. Check out Lynda's work:
www.lcole.com
After a very full week, we headed for the airport at 5:15 am for an 8:18 flight...
Had a little diddy at the airport...seems I had a birthday while I was in Massachucettes...seems my drivers licence expired on said birthday, making my photo ID invalid...Home Land Security did their job well, and detained me for a "search"...perhaps I sould have requested a MALE inpector...all was cleared and I went on to board my flight in plenty of time.
this past weekend, my good friend Daniella came from Santa Cruz...lots-o-fun!!!!!
I met her in San Francisco, we had gastronomic delights at the Ferry Building :) Then moved on to check out galleries in the ever delicate balance of feeding the parking meters....luckily, Daniella came with her big bag of quarters. On Sunday, we went to our fellow artist and friend's studio to share techniques...had a field trip after lunch to a craft store and collected an eclectic range of items to work themselves into some new work. Perhaps, the highlight of the entire visit was watching Daniella and my daughter do headstands in the living room!!!
after many different ideas of how to spend New Year's eve, I did the unexpected and painted in my studio! I created a wax based (of course) vision board...it turned out to be just what I needed to celebrate the start of the New Year.
oh my gosh...hundreds of tamales were made over the course of 6 hours...it was my Dad's annual tamale making fest, my cousins/aunts/sister/nieces and nephews all participating (well, some more productively then others)...my Dad had made all of the meat filling for 2 days before we arrived...by the end of the day 6 tall pots sat steaming tamales on the stove. I have since delivered bagfuls to expectant friends. consumerism was kept to a minimum this year...very nice. Kira enjoyed her first ice skating experience...kept her wee ankles straight!
I flew to Tucson to attend an art opening...I stayed with new friends and gallery owners Miles & Ryan. They have a lovely home, filled with great art--of course! The gallery is spacious with a wonderful workshop space too
www.conradwildegallery.com Getting to have lunch with California friends Cynthia and Daniel was a great treat and surprise.
