Week of August 24
Clarity by TangledSkyStudio
Announcements:
1. Upcoming podcasts:
We’ve been talking about ways to market yourself and your art online. Want to join the conversation before our podcasts get launched? Give us your input here.
2. New Bees Knees:
Melissa has been posting about beekeeping and artists who work with the theme of bees. Learn about an upcoming book “Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper” and more here.
Reporting from the Third Annual Encaustic Painting Conference – Encaustic Sculpture
When I hear the word “encaustic,” my mind immediately jumps to paintings. That is why, until attending the Third Annual Encaustic Painting Conference this June, I had not often looked for, or even paid attention to, sculpture as a medium for the use of encaustic. At the conference I had the pleasure of attending an encaustic sculpture talk by Kim Bernard, who also showed her work at the conference.
Kim covered the work of nine artists. I will share a small sampling of these, hopefully demonstrating the range of encaustic as a sculpting medium.
First up is my personal favorite, Martin Kline. I am mesmerized by his ability to continue such an organic form as wood and do it in such an unexpected way with startlingly bright colors. Be sure to check out more of his work.
Green House, encaustic on wood, 20″ x 12″ x 12″
Sylvia Netzer creates impressively large encaustic sculptures such as this one.
Glen Gary OLY, 29 x 83 x 31
Laura Moriarty has a very interesting technique. She first builds up layers and layers of wax and color on wood, then scrapes the entire thing off and reshapes the wax into beautiful formations.
Skerry, pigmented beeswax, approx. 20 x 30 ft.
You can see more of her fascinating process in this video
Last up is Kim Bernard, who put on this talk and showed at the conference. Here is piece from her Lead and Encaustic series:
Each of these artists brings something unique to sculpting with encaustic. Do you have a favorite encaustic sculptor? Please share in the comments.
Well, this is the last of our reports from the Encaustic Painting Conference. We hope you enjoyed learning a bit through out experience, and we hope you will join us next year at he conference!
Reporting from the Third Annual Encaustic Painting Conference – Encaustic with a Textile Sensibility (Part 3)
Hey there, busy bees!
Welcome to Part III of my report on the great workshop given by Daniella Woolf at the Third Annual Encaustic Painting Conference, Encaustic with a Textile Sensibility. (In case you missed it, catch up on Part I and Part II.) In Part III, we will see textile artists who could use a “medium makeover,” meaning their work/style would suit encaustic well.
Kyoung Ae Cho is a fiber artist who often burns markings into her work. Blowtorch, anyone?
Aura I, Corn leaf, silk organza, thread
Penny Young is a sculptor and installation artist. Can’t you imagine this impressive piece held together with wax?
Clerical Vortex
Clerical Vortex, detail
Next up is Will Marino. Here is a piece from his “paper series.”
Ice Flow, cut paper
Lastly, let’s look at Lisa Kokin’s sewn photographs.
Best Wishes, sewn found photographs, batting, paper
I know I have my own personal wish-list of etsy artists I would love to see use wax in their work. Who do you think should become an encaustic convert?
(As always, click here for Daniella’s online version of the talk.)
Reporting from the Third Annual Encaustic Painting Conference – Encaustic with a Textile Sensibility (Part 1)
While at the Third Annual Encaustic Painting Conference this June, I attended many great talks and demos. One of my favorites was a talk given by Daniella Woolf, Encaustic with a Textile Sensibility. She described a “textile sensibility” as anything that references cloth, so the piece does not have contain cloth, only reference it, to qualify.
This workshop was a wonderful overload of visual stimulation and inspiration (we were shown the work of 40+ artists), so I have decided to do this post in parts. For Part 1, I want to share a few artists who incorporate actual textiles into their work in some way (click on artist’s name for images on individual website).
Daniella Woolf incorporates textiles into encaustic by sewing objects together and coating or embedding them with the wax medium. A piece I find particularly stunning is Beauty at My Feet, which features eucalyptus leaves sewn together.
Cari Hernandez mixes encaustic with silk in this beautiful piece, Four Channel.
Lorrie Fredette combines encaustic, sculpture and textiles in this installation called A Pattern of Connections.
In Part 2, I’ll share artists from Daniella’s talk whose encaustic works allude to textiles. Click here for Daniella’s online version of the talk.
Have you tried including fabrics in your encaustic works? Any other artists who do this that you’d like to share?
Reporting from the Third Annual Encaustic Painting Conference – Tips on Packing Work
Hi again, busy bees!
I am here again to report back to you some helpful tips I picked up at the Third Annual Encaustic Painting Conference this June. Our first post was on keeping work archival by only introducing color-fast materials in the work. In this post, I will be sharing some information we received on safely packing and shipping encaustic works.
The first full day of the conference opened with a panel on conservation, Conservators in Conversation. The panel featured Pamela Hatchfield, Mimi Leveque, Kate Smith, and Carolyn Tomkiewicz. After an enlightening talk on the preserving of ancient wax works, they opened the floor for Q&A, which focused primarily on how to conserve our own work, particularly when shipping. We were told that if at all possible, nothing should ever touch the surface of any painting. This can be difficult for your every day artist (especially when shipping on a budget), so here I present some of the practical packing tips that came out of this conversation:
- Do not pack paintings with glassine; it turns to sandpaper with humidity, which is obviously bad for wax surfaces!
- Cardboard (acid-free), polyethylene, and polypropylene are safe packing materials.
- Corrugated plastic sheets (coroplast, for example) is also a good packaging material.
- Create a slip layer between your work and the packing materials using plastic shopping bags. When the pieces shift, the two layers of plastic bag move against each other instead of your piece against say, cardboard.
For more information on conservation, check out the American Institute for Conversation of Historic and Artist Works.
What packing and shipping tricks have you found work for you?
Week of July 13
Annoucements:
1. New co-leader and upcoming podcast!
Our team continues to grow and get more involved, so we asked Melissa Hronkin to join us as a third co-leader! Melissa Hronkin will have a lot to contribute to the team from both a beekeeper’s and an encaustic artist’s perspective. She’ll be writing interesting articles (look for a new section called THE BEE’S KNEES), and will be in charge of our annual February fundraiser “For the Love of the Bee.” To get to know Melissa more, you can check out a previous podcast, a skill share on beekeeping, her etsy shop or her blog! Melissa also did a presentation at the June Encaustic Conference, and we’ll be sharing that with you (via Buzz Podcast) later this week. Thanks everyone – and welcome aboard, Melissa! :)
2. Forums:
There’s a growing forum on our team page, so in an effort to consolidate, look for us on our team forum, rather than the etsy forum. You can still find us in etsy forums here (search for “beeswaxteam” in the to find us) but our focus will be on staying connected via our team forum here. We’re continuing the discussion this week on the question “Do you have a portfolio site? If so, is it helpful in terms of marketing?” We’d love to hear your thoughts!
3. One A Day project update
Although not everyone has been able to begin the project yet, 2 of our members have – with beautiful results! Please be sure to check out members Kari Young and Melissa Hronkin’s blogs to see their one-a-day works. Beautiful stuff Kari and Melissa!
Summer heat and melted beeswax,
Reporting from the Third Annual Encaustic Painting Conference – Tips on Keeping Work Archival
Hello Bees!
In keeping with our podcast theme this summer, we would like to report some of the wealth of information we gathered while at the Third Annual Encaustic Painting Conference this June. Today’s topic will focus on the importance of using archival materials in artwork.
I began the first day of workshops with a Color Mixing demo with Hylla Evans of Evans Encaustics. The workshop began with a Q & A on archival inks and pigments. She stated that anything that lasts less than one hundred years is “performance art.” I agree that our art should stick around for awhile! Here are some tips I picked up from this workshop:
- “Archival inks” for printers are not always art archival. Always check with the manufacturer before use.
- Laser and inkjet prints are not archival.
- Dye-based inks will fade, but pigment-based inks will last longer.
- Cheap copy ink (black only) is archival if carbon-based.
- India ink is archival; just allow it to dry before adding anything on top of it.
- Black “Sharpie” permanent markers will last but color markers will not. Hylla recommended only Sharpies, not other permanent marker brands.
If you have any other tips on archival inks or materials, leave them in the comments!
Kathryn
Third Annual Encaustic Conference Video
This will give you a quick glimpse into what the conference was like. It was a blast meeting several BEE members in person and learning a TON about encaustics and all things wax! :)
Enjoy,
The Buzz #9: Linda Cordner
Shannon and Kathryn interview Linda Cordner, at the 3rd annual Encaustic Conference! Click to play directly from the site, or download to listen. Images and weblinks will appear as we reference different things.
Linda talks about her involvement with New England Wax and the Luminous Landscape show exhibited at the conference. Apologies for the background noise – we were all sitting in the grass, enjoying the summer weather.
Click here if you’d like to subscribe to the The Buzz podcast on iTunes!
