January 15, 1988 is an important anniversary here at R&F Handmade Paints. He had been making encaustic paint since 1982, but that was the day that Richard Frumess, working from a basement in Brooklyn, went to New York Central Art Supply and made his first commercial sale as R&F Encaustics, Inc.
In 22 years there have been many changes, including the name of the company, but R&F still remains dedicated to making the best paint we can.
As the R&F family continues to grow and face the realities of today’s global market, we wanted to take a moment to look back and remember our humble beginnings. For more on our history click here.
The dust is just now beginning to settle in our workshop studio from Kim Bernard’s Visiting Artist Workshop here at R&F last week. Kim presented ‘Beyond 3-D; Into the Third Dimension’ to a group of lucky artists who spent three days working intensively on mixed media sculptural and relief works using wax, clay & plaster, among other materials. We had to do a lot of cleaning afterward but the results were well worth the effort.
Joanne Mattera is well known for having authored the popular book: The Art of Encaustic Painting: Contemporary Expressions in the Ancient Medium of Pigmented Wax. She also keeps an informative blog that addresses many of the issues contemporary artists face today. In her ongoing series, “Marketing Mondays” she deals with the business (career) side of being an artist. Her blog caught my attention this Monday when she chose to write about pie. Of course, the pie she is referring to represents an artist’s time. If you find yourself juggling multiple tasks and have been wishing you had more time in the studio, it will be worth checking out - you may get some valuable tips on how to slice your pie more effectively while also coming to terms with the slices you have to give away.
The opening for Encaustic Works 2009 was held Sunday at The Castle Gallery in New Rochelle, NY and it was very well attended especially considering that the artists hailed from several countries and all over the United States.
More Sense Data, a solo exhibit by Kingston-based artist, Stephen Niccolls opened this past Saturday at The Gallery at R&F. It was well attended and included a Q&A session with Niccolls being interviewed by our very own Richard Frumess.
Stephen Niccolls was born in Texas in 1949, to a family of ranchers. He studied and practiced visual art early in life, but began formal training in the 1970’s, at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. In 1997 he earned a Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Since that time he has exhibited his paintings in a variety of settings around the United States. He has taught art courses and lectured in Massachusetts, France, Minnesota, New Hampshire and New York. Mr. Niccolls currently lives in Kingston, New York and teaches at Marist College in nearby Poughkeepsie. Van Brunt Gallery in Beacon, New York represents him.
