Do you know Chihuly?

in college my main interest was in jewelry design but i also had the opportunity to try glass blowing. talk about process. i was just thinking about this as i viewed the Dale Chilhuly four dvd set which if you haven't seen-you should-especially the one filmed in Venice. why should an encaustic painter be interested in Chilhuly? he's a master artist (kind of the mario batali of glass) that has gone beyond the difficulties of the process and his own physical limitations to pure creation. in Venice he works with two very different master glass blowers to create the most amazing work. the process of blowing glass is one of the most difficult, if not the most difficult to master in part because of the heat, the weight of the glass and the speed needed while working. there are similarities between glass and wax-they both become liquid with heat, solid when cool, the way they capture light, how translucent, how transformative. Chihuly has a lot to say about the creative process that applies to all artists. he often tells his students "...you are making something no one has ever seen before". what are you making?

Second National Encaustic Painting Conference

despite the weather attempting to melt us & our wax, the conference held this past weekend in Beverly, MA was experienced & enjoyed by over 200 participants. bravo, Joanne. & if you missed this one, next years is already planned for the same weekend in june. my advice-sign up early to make sure you get the talks/demos that you're most interested in. this year we also had Linda Womack do a  signing of her just published "embracing encaustic" book which i will write about as soon as i get time to read it (we need more books on this historic medium that is being used more & more by contemporary artists). many of the demos were taped & i will pass along that info when available. i hope that those who attended my demo-warp, weft & wax are inspired to try some of the techniques i showed & as always, comments, questions or additions are welcome.

Art History

process and materials. that's what much of what encaustic painting is about. Robert Rauschenberg certainly used materials-metal leaf, dirt, newspapers, fabrics, tires, all kinds of found objects, what some people would call junk. i imagine him in the '50's, Jasper Johns working downstairs, walking around his block in NYC and creating one of his "combines" from whatever he happened to find. Most art historians credit these combines for his place in art history. but in the 1960's when other artists started using the same materials Rauschenberg moved on creatively and began his series of silk screens, at first on canvas and combined with paint. did he and Andy Warhol talk about the process they were both using albeit with different results? Rauschenberg once said that his goal was "to make a surface which invited a constant change of focus and an examination of detail." certainly he achieved that. his  was one of the largest retrospectives by a living artist ever exhibited at the Guggenheim in 1997. i am so glad i was able to experience it and have the exhibition catalogue signed by the artist. now might be a good time to take another look at his work.

Robert Rauschenberg passed away on the 13th of May. he was 82. he will be missed.

Tools

The right tools enable  you to make the process of painting more subservient to your creativety and content. many encaustic tools have been adopted/adapted from other fields and i am always on the lookout for new tools.  many encaustic painters use heat guns but there are those that swear by torches. a variety of palettes are also now available. sinopia who now owns kremer has two tools listed for the encaustic painter- a small iron and a metal, heated brush. i have just started working with these and so far, for my process, like the iron. not exactly a tool but necessary is the surface thermometer. the high  tech version of this- the laser thermometer- is fun to use and really works well (thank you bb & pr). correct plus or minus 2 degrees. instantly. it won't enhance your creativety  but will tell you how hot your painting is.

ps-upcoming workshops at silvermine guild arts center-

may 10, may 31 and june 21

catch up/process/changing times

it's great that many of the paintings in the jasper johns show now at the Met are not behind glass. it allows the viewers to really see his encaustic techniques. i am wondering what, if anything, will be the influence of this serene show? a majority of the work is encaustic-will more people learn about this medium, will more artists explore it, will we see more interiors done in gray?

also currently at the Guggenheim is "i want to believe" by the chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang. see this show. talk about a process using heat. Cai uses gunpowder and fuses on large sheets of paper to create his large drawings. destruction, transformation, matter, energy, politics, history and science are all expressed in this work of various media. he is also one of the creative people planning the open and closing ceremonies of the coming summer olympics. can't wait to see what that will look and sound like.

a polaroid just isn't fast enough any more...the polaroid company-which really isn't the company since the company went bankrupt and another company bought them for their name-has announced that they will stop making polaroid film next year. many artists use their film but don't know about this. the film should be saved. each photo is  unique, a quality as far as i am concerned and if you don't know about polaroid transfers onto water color paper it is a great process that can also be taken further with hand coloring or by using encaustic on top. for further information just google save polaroid film.

Heated Palettes

nowadays there are a variety of palettes to chose from for the encaustic painter. still many artists just starting to work with this medium would like other, less expensive options. one choice is to make your own palette-i often talk about this in my workshops as this is how i started and many of my students seem interested in also starting this way. in its most basic form-

purchase an electric hot plate (hardware stores or the large chains with kitchen depts.).

find a metal shop in your area and ask them to cut you a square of anodized aluminum sheet 1/4" thick ( i started with 12" square, kind of small and it wasn't even anodized which prevents a black film from forming on the heated metal surface). also have them drill a 1/4" hole in each corner.

get a 1"diameter wood dowel. measure the height of the hot plate and add 1/4"-this is the measurement to use to cut the dowel for the legs.

use screws from the top to attach the legs.

set over the hotplate and you are ready to start. 

it is also handy to have a small level to check  your palette-if it is not level the wax will run over the side and burn on the hotplate.

one more thing-you should use a surface thermometer to monitor the temp. of the palette-very important for safety and health reasons.

i used this palette for about five years and did many large paintings during that time although now i do use the r&f palette. every artist has different needs and i would suggest looking into the other palettes that are now available.

coming events

so many artists working with other media are investigating encaustics to add to their process and work. i will be having a one day workshop on encaustics with photography on 3/15 at silvermine guild arts center. if you have not seen the two combined take a look at the recent work of the Starn twins.

microcosms, a show of my encaustic work and that of friend and fellow artist Roger Mudre who works primarily with acrylics (but he does have an encaustic set-up so one of these days...) will be at the Kershner Gallery in fairfield from 3/30-5/18. the opening will be on saturday, april 5 from 5-7. I will also be doing an encaustic "show and tell" sometime during april. my work in this show will be an expansion of my "elements" series-this time focusing on h2o.

another talk will be at the second encaustic conference in beverly, ma on june 7. more about that to come with images. the talk is titled "warp, weft and wax".

and finally i was selected to have a solo show next september at silvermine arts center. tentative title-"mapping the genome".

ps: at times encaustics seem to have a mind of their own. in regards to that i like this quote by Tanguy "i found that if i planned a picture beforehand, it never surprised me and surprises are my pleasure in painting". so let yourself be surprised.