Conference Presenters & New Work

What a week and it's only Thursday! I'll show lots of photos and keep the words brief. If you love encaustic I'll link to the presenters at the Conference so you can see the kinds of work represented there. Interspersed will be some new things that I did since returning home. I have an art fair next weekend which is why I've been out of circulation. I'm behind.

Lovely Linda Womack signing her new book for a purchaser. She sold every single book she brought and everyone was buzzing about what a great book it is. You can get one after the 15th on her website. It has techniques, instructions and lots of examples for you to study.

This is Julie Shaw Lutts showing us how she puts her assemblages together. She has a great website for you to visit; all you collage artists will swoon.

The R & F Paint display. Can you say yum yum and bye bye to your buyer's restraint? I went for the paint sticks which are softer and creamier than other kinds in addition to 3 new colors that looked like ice cream. My weakness!

This is Nash Hyon. I couldn't find a website for you but she demonstrated techniques to use on fabric that is incorporated into the wax. She showed us that you can write on it, print on it and alter it in a variety of ways. So many ideas!

Another piece with John's Grandparents in the photograph at the bottom. I love old photographs. If you have family pictures I can use in my work I would love to have them in an email. (Most of mine were lost in a fire last Thanksgiving.)

This is the collage artist Nathan Margalit from South Africa and England. I resonated strongly with his approach (playful and eccentric). He has me using my tacking iron now which I never did previously. Wonderful suggestions from him for making marks on paper to collage.


This is Russell Thurston a completely wild and innovative artist who will put a heat gun to almost anything. He worked with alkyd, powdered pigments (flying through the air!), oil paint, wax paper stencils and pure bravado to create some of the most amazing effects on wax I've ever seen. Very inspiring.


Get a load of my desk. Impossible. No time to clean - I just shove it aside and make enough room for a little piece of work. I owe everyone. I'll get caught up. Just not quite yet.

I'm having too much fun with wax to stop and do what I should be doing.

And making background paper with my carved rubber stamps. I like to get them sloppy wet with acrylic. The sploogie results are better than the crisp ones. Let it drip and run.

Last one. All the photos are from my family collection and that's me in more than one. See you soon!

Encaustic Conference Part 1

I'm safely home from Boston and the 2nd Annual Encaustic Painting Conference is a sunny memory. I've been 6 hours on the plane so you'll forgive this short post. The Conference was extraordinary in many ways. My vision is clearer. My world is larger. As the graffiti on the bathroom wall said, "I'm not who I was yesterday".

This is my beloved room mate who shall remain un-named because I didn't get permission. She saved me from the first day when the rain poured down and she outfitted me in the proper clothes which I did not bring. She was endlessly cheerful and fun; we stayed up late and partied just as I love to do; getting to know another person well is a wonderful tonic. Thank you, Miss A. for making my experience deep and wide. We will meet again.

These are the women I said good-bye to this morning and then quickly walked away from with a lump in my throat. They were beyond kind, especially Ruth who showed several of us all over Boston and deepened the experience by recounting wonderful stories as we took in the sights. The east coast experience is very different from the west coast experience it seems to me and I felt stimulated and fascinated by the contrasts.

This is the spartan room I shared with A. At first it was spartan. Later on it was filled with art conversations and laughter. There were 6 of us upstairs sharing 2 bathrooms, a living and dining room, and a kitchen. We gathered several times to compare notes and admire each other's work. Laptops were passed from hand to hand as we shared websites.

This is one of the demonstrators, Paula Roland, teaching monotype encaustic over a hot box. All I can say about the technique is "wow" and "let me at it". Combined with my printmaking experience I think I am off on a new tangent in the coming days.

I attended around 10 sessions of either demonstrations, presentations or panel discussions in the 3 days of the conference. The teachers were luminaries of the encaustic community. Kay Walkingstick was the keynote speaker and Joanne Mattera, author of The Art of Encaustic Painting, was the organizer of the conference.

More reportage in the coming days. But for now, rest.

I'm a little delirious right now but filled to the eyeballs with new ideas and wonderful memories.

I Met My Hero

This will be my only post from the Encaustic Conference. I am having too much fun. It's a huge busy, every-minute filled carousel. My brain is falling all over itself. I've already broken 2 prs. of reading glasses and lost my checkbook. But here I am with my long-time art hero, Norman LaLiberte. He is amazing. Oh, it is all wonderful.

Go to Linda's blog until I get home.

One More Last Goodbye

When I should be packing I am instead filling out a questionnaire that I found that sounded enticing because it was put together by Marcel Proust. The questions were interesting so I gave it a shot. Here it is:

What is your greatest fear?
I don't dwell on fear.

What is your current state of mind?
excited about going to Boston tomorrow

What is your favorite way of spending time?
creating art, studying art, talking to artists, reading, visiting with friends & family

What historical figure do you identify with?
none

Which living person do you most admire?
my husband

Who is your favorite fictional hero?
Lao Tsu

Who are you're real-life heroes?
my mom, William, Ellen, Nancy

What is your most treasured possession?
cannot choose one - my house and everything in it?

When and where are you happiest?
Mornings at my journal

What is your most obvious characteristic?
creative energy

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
my hyena laugh

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
cruelty

What is your greatest extravagance?
workshops & travel

What is your favorite journey?
workshops

What do you most dislike about your appearance?
I don't dislike my appearance

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
honesty

On what occasion do you lie?
I don't exactly lie

Which words or phrases do you overuse the most?
the word “love”

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
nothing at this point, I yam what I yam.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
getting away from my past; the poverty of spirit, ignorance, meanness

Where would you like to live?
where I do live

What is the quality you most admire in a man?
a kind heart

What is the quality you most admire in a woman?
experience in many of the areas that we have in common

What is it you most dislike?
man’s inhumanity to man

What is it you most value in friends?
common interests & good hearts

How would you like to die?
I’d rather not

If you could choose an object to come back as, what would you choose?
a tree or if it has to be an inanimate object then a stone

What is your motto (words that you live by or a mean a lot to you)?
all you need is love

Who has been the greatest influence on you?
my early school teachers who singled me out for love and encouragement and gave me a long term vision for my life

That's it. Now I REALLY have to go pack!!

With a High Heart

I'm so excited. Thursday morning I rise at an ungodly hour and swoop by Linda's house to pick up her and her husband and then the three of us will be on the same flight in adjoining seats to Boston where we will attend the 2nd annual Encaustic Conference at the Montserrat College of Art. I'll be staying in a dorm room on campus with a room mate just like in college and for 3 days will attend demonstrations, hear speakers and talk wax with other addicts, I mean artists. Oh, the joy of it all. (The above piece is titled "Persimmon" and is 7 1/2 x 12 inches on wood panel.)

Yesterday I painted background pages in my journal so I'd have plenty of room for taking notes. I used rollers, stamps and very thinned down acrylic on raw paper. It was fun.

After filling many pages I made a salad and steamed asparagus dressed with basalmic vinegar and went to my daughter's official Birthday party.

This is my happy Birthday girl showing her beautiful smile. She pointed out that I had taken dozens of pictures of the dogs and none of her and after all, whose birthday was it?

Here is one of the spoiled rotten dogs in question. Cousin Moose and Cousin Coobie get so excited to see each other that they can't stand it. They are best friends, just like my daughter and her sis, above left. Look away if you dont like doggie kisses.

Here is Nate, flinching away from a smooch from Shellie's husband Rich. Bravo, it got a big smile out of Nate!

And my precious Farmer John who is out planting more seeds, more more more all spring until the garden is ready to swamp us with produce. The sun is out for a few moments, in an hour we leave for yoga, I'm ready to pack my bags and life is very exciting in June. Where did those lazy summers go when all I had to do was swim and climb trees? That was so very long ago. I had no idea then that life would turn out the way it has or that I would end up so blessed. I am not a girl who takes good fortune for granted.

Painting and Teaching

I just realized a couple of encaustics slipped by my notice. The square one is 12x12" on a deep box and the long skinny one is 12x24" on the same type of deep box.

My daughter's birthday is on Monday and she said all she wanted for her birthday was for me to come over to her house and paint over her ugly kitchen doors so that's how I spent the day.

Here are the ugly doors before. Notice the completely unacceptable blotches. Had to go.

I brought over a load of paints thinking it would take a lot to cover the door but I was wrong. The entire operation took only 4 hours or so with a big mexican food lunch and then ice cream to break up the fun. The sun came out so Shellie pulled weeds in her yard while her sweet dog Moose (enormous black lab) and savvy white and black cat (Sam) kept me company inside.

Every so often Shellie would come in and snap a photo of the progress and give me helpful advice. Then my other daughter Steffi came over with her friend Susie and they had ideas too, like "add dinosauers" and "where are the peasants". Uh, thanks, guys.

I had to talk Shellie out of a stone arch, a pathway and a water feature; what does she think I am, a PAINTER? Hard enough to fake your way through a mural painted with chip brushes without adding features. (Hey, I just found the color doo-dad on my menu bar.)

While I painted I drank green tea and listened to loud music and had a thoroughly blank mind. Just dibble dibble here and dabble dabble there until the doors were covered with paint. Then step back and scratch my chin.

Here they are at the end of the day. She's going to live with them a couple of days and then see if she wants any changes but she was very pleased and glad to be done with the ugly "befores".

Now a little update and reminder about a great retreat scheduled for October. I'll be coming to Cedarburg, Wisconsin to teach at the Raevn's Nest. This is a first year effort by Kim Rae Nugent to create an artful gathering in the midwest for all of us who love to get away and make art; I have never attended a class where I did not learn something wonderful or meet great people or have my spirit renewed by the experience. Check out the site and see if it fits into your fall schedule; I've never been to Wisconsin before and I'm so excited to teach there.

You have some wonderful teachers to choose from and many interesting classes in a historical setting at a gorgeous time of year.

The gathering promises to be intimate and fun; I've heard several people say that the midwest could use a great retreat so now is your chance. I hope to meet some of you there.

All A Dither

I've lost my focus this week, there's no getting around it. I figured the one thing that would be good for me would be to get back into the studio and work. Well, this hodpodge of images looks to me like the inside of my head; the earnest desire is there but the mind keeps jumping around.

I keep stacks of inkjet prints of photographs and of sketches I've made on a table in my studio, really they are in a heap rather than a stack and from this disarray I grabbed whatever floated to the top for these images. Each one is 8x10" and they are executed on matboard which stays flat and holds the wax well.

The drawings are carbon paper transfers from sketches on tissue left over from previous work.

Some of the images are ones I've used before like the one of my mother and her cousin. Most of our family photos were lost in a fire at my sister's storage building last Thanksgiving day to my great sorrow which makes those that remain all the more precious.

I'll close with an exerpt from a wonderful book I'm reading, 'Trust The Process' by Shaun McNiff. He says, "There are more people writing poetry than there are readers of poetry. This is a good sign for the world soul, but expectations need to be adjusted. The stage for poetry has to be relocated. If we accept the home and small community gatherings as places for sharing art experiences, creative expression takes on a new potency, in line with its true power to change the world through the aggregate of microscopic acts. . . . If the celebrated artists of the moment are ultimately insignificant in the broader history of creation, this should teach us that there is a place for every person within the creative process of a civilization."

All of our small acts add up. Isn't it wonderful?

Play Day

We are drowning in rain here in River City; you always know when Rose Festival is in town because it is invariably dank and wet. But the roses. Oh my heart the roses. They are splendiferous here even in the soggy shade of May. I was feeling blue until I decided to post and visit with you. Now I feel uplifted. So here are a few flowers for you.

We had a mighty windstorm a few nights ago that smacked down my favorite iris but she is blooming her heart out from her smooshed position. I love her sunrise colors, so soft and moody.

My trellis rose that blooms in abundance all summer. All my roses are fragrant. That's the main test for living in my garden. You have to smell seductive.

I love this iris shot because she looks like a dancer with the leaves all posed around her so prettily. Dancing while smooshed. You go girl.

Peace. So colorful when it opens and then fading to a softer shade. We accept her occasional blackspot in the same way we accept the mis-steps of friends; we love them for their other stellar qualities. This I work to balance out with Oprah's good advice to step away from mean people. It's a balance.

Yellow azaleas are fragrant, did you know that? This one smells heavenly. I tiptoe out several times a day to make my rounds of all the fragrant flowers. No one will ever say I didn't smell the roses.

The grass is growing very fast and green in the walnut orchard. A few of these were shot on a sunny day awhile back. The cows and goats can't keep up with the lush meadow across the lane.

The rhubarb is whispering "Rhubarb Crunch" and I am listening. Once a year I eat this rich dessert with ice cream to my heart's content. It is a July 4th tradition although Bossy's Tres Leches Cake has got my attention too. It is my favorite cake and I've never made it myself but her recipe is tempting me.

And so we close the garden tour with a nod to the Pink Rhodies. They are a soothing balm for life's harder moments; they soften us and help us believe in hope.

It's been awhile since I posted journal pages although they get added to every day. Ponderings about every every every thing that falls under my radar. In my journals I am the Queen of Everything and my thoughts are the thoughts that matter.

What power. Ack, this one is rather hideous looking. Well, sorry. Maybe I'll wallpaper over it with some yellow daisies next week. They keep changing even after I "finish" them.

This encaustic painting is 20x24" on a deep stretcher wooden cradle. I've ordered a big supply so I can keep going. One of my favorite comments was that the abstract paintings have less of 'me' in them and I agree. I've always thought of my 'me' paintings as hot and now these abstracts as cool. Unemotional. Impersonal. They just exist as sentinels like the atoms and other mysteries that surround us. Things to make you wonder.

And by the way, thank you an extra bunch for your comments this week. For some reason they have moved my heart more than usual; I am so deeply touched that you take time to respond.