The Encaustic Studio

I am happy, once again, to recommend Daniella Woolf's new book, The Encaustic Studio, from Interweave.  I talked about her book in a post called "Putting in the Hours" last month, in which I highlighted some of her advice for artists in general, not specifically encaustic artists.

Besides putting in the hours, Daniella talks about the Power of the Container, by which she means setting parameters, limiting your options.

"If I give myself free rein and infinite options with which to create, I can't move... But if I give myself a few limits, I am golden".  

"I have learned to limit my options, perhaps by color... or medium, but there must be some parameters for my work.  I call this having a container".

So, inspired by Daniella's book, and in the spirit of "Scribble Painting", I went to my encaustic studio yesterday and worked with a limited palette on paper, using lines, repeated circles, and repeated squares.

Encaustic on Paper, 8"x8"

Encaustic on Paper, 8"x8"

Postcard 1, Encaustic on Paper, 4"x6"

Postcard 2, Encaustic on Paper, 4"x6"

Postcard 3, Encaustic on Paper, 4"x6"

 Read about the workshop I took with Daniella last January.  She was such a generous, fun, and informative instructor, I'll be working off what I learned from her for months.  The Encaustic Studio includes a DVD, so you can feel like you are taking a live workshop from Daniella too!

I will be teaching encaustic workshops this summer and fall at the following venues:

• Plaster and Wax at Art Unraveled on August 6.
• Plaster and Wax at Art and Soul on October 2.
• Introduction to Encaustics at Art and Soul on October 2.
• Paper and Wax at Guilford Art Center on October 13 - 14.

Thanks for visiting.

Putting In The Hours

I just got my copy of Daniella Woolf's new book, The Encaustic Studio, published by Interweave.  It is a gorgeous book, full of techniques and ideas, and a very thorough introduction to encaustic material, safety, and practices.  I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to get started in this exciting medium.  Plus, it comes with a DVD (brilliant move, Interweave!), so you can see Daniella demonstrate the processes.

Daniella's insightful chapter on Studio Practices and Creativity inspires me to recommend the book to any artist struggling with the Inner Critic, the Inner Perfectionist, the Inner Procrastinator, in short, any artist at all!  One passage that really hit home for me is her section on "putting in the hours":

There is something that happens in our bodies when we put in the hours.  Confidence appears, fear lifts, and we have a sense of empowerment... One day the process becomes easy and natural, and you'll wonder why it was so hard at first.

Don't be discouraged if your initial efforts don't match your vision.  Keep making art consistently; put in the hours and don't worry about the outcome.  Do what's necessary to make room in your life for time in the studio.

I wouldn't say that making art ever becomes easy, but your relationship with the struggle becomes less of an obstacle.  The Inner Critic can more easily be told to take a hike.  Picking up the paint brush or making a quick sketch becomes natural.  Being in the process and not worrying about the outcome becomes easier.  Making bad art becomes just part of the process, not some "failure".  And making art that you like happens more often.

More About Encaustics!

Daniella Woolf just blogged about our workshop and included a video of me doing the "Bennington Burn"!  Check it out here.

Encaustics Workshop with Daniella Woolf

I am just back from a five-day encaustics workshop.  What an experience!  If you do not know what encaustics is, go here or here.  The workshop was given by Daniella Woolf through North Country Studio Workshops at Bennington College.  Unbelievable group - the students AND the teacher were all accomplished artists with a lot of inspiration to offer.

One very cool thing with encaustic is doing collage on paper.  We did a group collage in which every student made one horizontal collage piece, and then we assembled them as a hanging scroll. Here is Daniella Woolf and Wen Redmond (do check her out!!) assembling the scroll:

 And the finished scroll hanging in the window overlooking the back field.


Here is the first stage of a self-portrait I did, as I am in the midst of my online class "Exploring the Self-Portrait".  I drew directly onto the wax (encaustic medium over paper laminated to a plywood panel) with china marker:

 I was not too thrilled with the mouth, so after scraping it off, I applied a coat of white encaustic paint mixed with a lot of medium over the whole thing.  then I cut out another mouth from one of my sketchbook drawings, and applied it with medium.  I added a few more details in graphite, and built up color and a bit of collage on either side of the face.

Here are a couple other photos from the workshop:

Another 8"x8" panel, "Ink and O's"

This untitled piece is on a panel coated with plaster.




This piece has many layers of wax as well as encaustic collage:

"Shino"
Shino is a kind of traditional Japanese ceramic glaze, some beautiful examples of which I found here.  The Alizarin Orange coming through the white wax reminded me of this glaze:





"Cruciform with Rust"


"Red Square 2"




"Red Square 1"



My work space

R&F Paints provided a vast array of encaustic paints and medium.

  I am so grateful to North Country Studio Workshops for granting me a scholarship to take this fabulous, life-changing workshop!!  I know it will enrich my work, and I hope it will enrich my teaching.  I am also grateful to Daniella Woolf for being so generous with her knowledge and resources.  She has two fabulous instructional DVD's available, which you can purchase here.

I Won A Scholarship!!!

I am so thrilled to announce that I won a scholarship to take a 5-day intensive encaustics workshop with Daniella Woolf this coming January through North Country Studio Workshops. NCSW offers workshop for professional artists at an advanced level, once a year, at Bennington Collage, in Bennington, Vermont. The facilities there are fantastic, and all the students are gone for the winter term, so we have the place to ourselves. Check out Daniella's website as well as her book and DVD, "Encaustic with a Textile Sensibility". And check out NCSW for future workshops.

Both images posted here are from Daniella's web site.