Week of Aug 31
Sailor Boy by Bumblebellydesigns
Announcements:
1. Approaching deadline:
If you haven’t seen the approaching deadline for the Encaustic Group Show (in Chicago), see the details here. Deadline: September 10.
2. Wednesday blog posts:
Co-leader Kathryn Dart reported on the annual encaustic conference in several blog posts here. Every Wednesday she’ll be posting new content, so be sure to keep an eye out for her weekly articles!
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.
Week of August 3
Beautiful by LVHDesigns
Announcements:
1. Marketing your art in a tough economy:
What networking and marketing tools do you use to promote your artwork? Flickr, Twitter, Facebook? How do you get your work out there and sold in a tough economy? Have you ever wondered if having a Ning account will help you at all? (or don’t have a clue what that is?)
If you have questions and thoughts for us on this topic, we want to hear from you! You can respond directly to this email, or join us in our team forum here. We’ll put together a series of helpful podcasts on building up a web presence / marketing tips based on what you said + things we have found to be helpful. Thanks and we look forward to hearing from you!
2. Object Challenge results:
Be on the lookout for a post soon about the BEE team’s summer Object Challenge results! Thanks again to all who participated!
Week of July 27
Bella Bird by SoulArteEclectica
Announcements:
1. Marketing your art in a tough economy:
With many of us trying to make ends meet in a struggling economy, we’d like to put together a series of helpful podcasts on building up a web presence / marketing tips. We have opened up the forum for discussion on things like social networking sites, Flickr, Twitter, etc. We will compile any notes, questions and suggestions from you all (along with what we find), and put together a podcast series set to launch in about 3 weeks. Thanks and we look forward to hearing from you in our team forum here.
2. New features on our team site:
Believe it or not, we are still giving out secrets and tips from our time spent at the June Encaustic Conference! Be sure to look for Kathryn’s articles on workshops, presentations, tips, etc now posted weekly on our website! And you may have noticed our newly added page “The Bees Knees!” Co-leader Melissa Hronkin will keep us informed on all things bee-related!
One A Day Project
Letter from the Desert, by Veronique Latimer (as part of the One A Day project)
Annoucements:
1. Forums and podcasts on web presence:
We’ve been getting some great discussion in the forum about if having a portfolio site is helpful….. we’re hoping to do a podcast series very soon on marketing yourself as an artist by building up an online presence. If you haven’t joined the conversation, you can join us our team forum here. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions you’d like us to report on in our podcasts (specifically, on web / techie stuff), let us know. We’d love to get feedback so we can make this upcoming podcast series relevant and helpful to all our lovely BEEs!
2. Summer Object Challenge update:
If you had signed up to participate in our summer object challenge, please be sure to finish your pieces (and include a photograph and mini description) to Kathryn (via email – barnes.kathryn@gmail.com) asap. We’d like to compile the challenge results soon. Thanks and we hope you have had fun with the challenge!
3. One A Day project update:
A few of our team members have taken up the challenge to create one piece of art a day for at least two weeks! Veronique Latimer (as seen above) among others has taken up the challenge! Please be sure to check out members Kari Young and Melissa Hronkin’s blogs to see their one-a-day works as well. It’s exciting to see how these artists have pushed themselves over the summer!
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?
The Buzz #11 – Podcast with Melissa Hronkin
Click here if you’d like to subscribe to the The Buzz podcast on iTunes!
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
Week of July 6
Blue Lotus Water by ReneedeMontaigne
Annoucements:
1. The Buzz (Podcast): If you haven’t checked out our latest podcast, be sure to tune in for an interview with Tangledskystudio! To hear this one and previous podcasts, click here.
2. Summer Object Challenge: For all participants, there are a few weeks left to finish your pieces! Please include a photograph of the work, and a brief description to Kathryn at (barnes.kathryn@gmail.com) by July 31st.
3. Team Forum: New poll question this week in our team forum: “Do you have a portfolio website? If so – is it helpful in terms of marketing your artwork?”
4. Ad Space: if you’d like to promote your work, your website, etc with an ad space on our team site, please contact us at info@beeswaxteam.com to set it up.
5. Calls for Encaustic Art: Deadlines are quickly approaching for some of the upcoming encaustic shows. See the Resources section for more information.
Popsicles and beeswax,
