R&F Handmade Paints

Earlier this month, Pamela Blum, and I attended the International Encaustic Artists retreat and conference in Carmel, CA.

The conference/retreat was held in the intimate setting of the Hidden Valley Music Seminars Institute . It was a vibrant program, exceptionally well put together by Cari Hernandez . Over 60 encaustic artists were there, coming from California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Texas, Arizona, Nebraska, Michigan, British Columbia and Ontario.

I gave a talk on the history of ancient Greek painters and how the development of naturalism during the Classical and Hellenistic periods of Greek art led to the flourishing of encaustic painting, reaching its apex during the Greco-Roman period with the masterful life-likeness of the Fayum funeral portraits.

Pamela’s interactive demonstration of working encaustic on 3-D surfaces was based on a series of work she did on curved blocks of wood. She showed fusing, scraping, and inlaying techniques and discussed how her use of encaustic applied to her themes of permanence and fragility.

Toronto-based Tony Scherman , was the keynote speaker. His large scale encaustic portraits based on historical personages and philosophical concepts are widely known in Canada and Europe. He has been a major representative of encaustic painting there for nearly 30 years. Although less known in the U.S., his reputation here has grown greatly in recent years.

Left: Tony Sherman speaking at the retreat  Right: "About 1789: Albert Speer,” encaustic/canvas

Scherman’s presentation was a lively talk that went deep into the influences and aesthetic choices in his paintings. His preference for encaustic developed in his early years from his desire to achieve a watercolor like lucidity in his paint. For him encaustic leaves an openness in the pictorial representation as opposed to a sense of finality that he finds in other less-luminous paints.

A panel discussion moderated by Cari included art consultants Josetta Sbeglia and Helene Brown along with Tony, Pamela, and me. The diversity of opinions resulted in some sparkling exchanges on definitions. Tony’s technique differs from more commonly used methods of encaustic so the question of what is encaustic came up. Another was the relationship of the artist to her/his work.

A number of IEA members gave short demonstrations of their techniques. It’s amazing, no matter how many times you see someone’s process, there’s always something new that you never thought of. To name a few – Linda Womack’s use of shellac and encaustic, Gretchen Papka ’s use of parchment for image transfer, and Kimberly Kent’s portable encaustic palette.

On Saturday night there was an art exchange of work that each person had brought. This was truly impressive because much of the work went beyond mere technique and showed the mature mastering of the medium on a much broader basis that is coming to represent encaustic painting today.

It’s hard to believe that even 10 years ago, an encaustic event was a rare thing. Now there are conferences like this on the West Coast and the Annual Encaustic Painting Conference at Monserrat College of Art in Beverly, MA. Classes are being taught everywhere, and a growing number of encaustic networks – Tucson, Florida, Atlanta, and Chicago have recently formed – are bringing artists together to share ideas and collaborate on work. A good example is the Diptych Project between IEA and New England Wax that was exhibited at the 2008 Montserrat Conference. The project had artists on one coast send one part of a diptych to a randomly selected artist on another coast to complete the work. This year IEA has upped the ante by announcing a Triptych Project.

The inventiveness seems endless.

Photos of conference: Paula Fava

Ellen Koment, "Plantae #3", encaustic on panel, 15" x 15"

Richard will be a particpant in the upcoming Artist Talk on Arts panel discussion. ATOA is a New York based nonprofit dedicated to discursive and aesthetic dialogue.

The panel consists of artists involved with encaustic, who will explore the growing popularity of encaustic painting over the last 15-20 years. They will address the question of what in the climate of the arts and the times, has revived the use of this ancient medium.  Ellen Koment (artist) will be the moderator.  Other panelists include:  Nancy Azara (encaustic sculptor and author), Michael David (artist), Joan Giardano (artist), and Gail Gregg (artist and writer).

The event takes place on October 30th, 2009 from 7pm-9pm.  It will be held at School of Visual Arts in New York City, 209 E 23rd Street, NYC, in the ampitheater.  $7. General Public,  $3. artists and students, free for SVA students and faculty

If you are interested in attending, please contact: atoarsvp@gmail.com.

Following up on the excellent pictures of George Mason and his monotypes, we thought artists might like to see some additional options in the same process. All will be covered in an upcoming workshop taught by Paula Roland, Encaustic Monotype and Beyond, December 1-4, 2009 held at R&F in Kingston, NY as part of R&F’s Visiting Artist Series.

Paula Roland, Connecting Dots, each 40” x 26“ (with back lighting)

The contemporary nature of wax, combined with the spontaneity of the monotype, opens up endless possibilities for artists. This engaging process draws you in and gets you out of your conscious mind. Ideas come from the spirit of play. It’s been called “addictive” by more than one artist and a “meditation” by others. For Paula, “ …the encaustic monotype is a stepping off point and a way to extend the process to mixed media drawing, painting and even installation art”.

Roland will help artists develop works that match their vision by suggesting various strategies, techniques and learning experiences. Despite looking easy, it can be difficult to achieve your goals! Changes in approach, temperature, paper, and even pigment to wax ratio, all effect outcome and having an experienced guide is important.

Tracey Adams, Imago 4, 40” x 40”

One accomplished artist who has incorporated the encaustic monotype is Tracey Adams. Her wax prints, with elements of heated drawing, are often embedded in her paintings, as shown in Imago 4.

Kimberly Keller, Wax Collage/Print/Drawing

At one of Paula Roland’s recent workshops, Kim Keller created this drawing on the HotBox, the equipment used for the monotype (no press needed!). Kim combines wax printing, drawing, and collage with paper and string.

Catherine Keebler shows several calligraphic scrolls and scores of other prints created at Paula’s recent workshop.

The December workshop at R&F will coincide with a solo exhibition by Paula in R&F’s gallery. The framed and back-lit wax monotypes pictured above were shown at the 2009 Encaustic Painting Conference. For the R&F show, she will cut apart, layer, and reconfigure similar pieces into an installation. Paula will also exhibit new graphite painting/drawing on dipped paper. The opening is December 5—hope to see you there!

Summary:
Paula Roland’s Encaustic Monotype and Beyond Workshop / December 1-4, 2009 at R&F, Kingston, NY
Paula Roland Solo Exhibition at the Gallery at R&F / December 5, 2009, - January 23, 2010 / Reception December 5th, 5-7 PM with an informal artist’s talk at 5pm

Click here to register for Encaustic Monotype and Beyond Workshop with Visiting Artist Paula Roland:  December 1-4, 2009 at R&F, Kingston, NY.

Click here to view more of Paula’s work.

Jerry’s Artarama in Austin, TX will be hosting an encaustic demonstration at their 6010 Interstate Hwy 35 store.  The demonstration takes place from noon - 3pm.  R&F Instructor Gina Adams will be there to showcase this versatile medium and answer any questions you may have.  So stop by and dabble with the paint, find out the answer to that nagging technical question, or just say hello.

For more information contact Jerry’s at 512.420.9359.

Gina Adams work focuses primarily on her mixed heritage of Ojibwe Native American, Lithuanian, and Irish blood lines. Her work involves much research and travel, including language immersion at Turtle Mountain Reservation, and working with Maori of New Zealand and the Aborigines of Australia. She has exhibited across the country, and is represented by Pierogi Gallery in Brooklyn, New York as well as Mary Harding at the George Marshall Gallery in York Harbor, Maine. She is on the Board of the Maine College of Art. To view additional work by Gina Adams, click here.

My friend, Carl Plansky, died of a heart attack on October 10th. Carl, who founded Williamsburg Artist Materials, was also my collaborator in the early years of R&F.

Carl and I met in 1985 at Torch Art Supplies where we both worked. Our first conversation on meeting was about lead white paint and opera (more about that later). The main thing is that we were both painters who had a great fascination with the mechanics of the paint itself.

I was Torch’s encaustic paint maker at the time. Carl had just gotten his mill from Milton Resnick in exchange for making Resnick’s paint for him. On one visit to his studio on Devoe St. in Brooklyn, I watched this person who was a cross between an alchemist, an artisan, and a mad painter stand at his stove stirring litharge (lead monoxide) and linseed oil in a beautiful copper pot that anyone else would have displayed as a prize ornament. He was making black oil, the primary ingredient in Maroger medium. Elsewhere, some wax would be melting on a hot plate and the remains of the last color he had made was still smeared on his mill. This was the pre-professional Carl. Always looking for a magical ingredient, he also contracted lead and cadmium poisoning – but then, many an early alchemist nearly did themselves in with mercury and arsenic.

The professional Carl was still grounded in his studio but saner and savvier. He spoke the language and understood his customers – fellow painters – like very few manufacturers could. That quality made his paint an underground sensation long before it appeared in the stores. Complex mixes, usually the bane of mass-produced paint, were inspirations he got while painting. On another visit, he pulled me over to a canvas and showed me a color he had just mixed. It had a somber green top tone and a luminous blue-green undertone. “I think,” he said off-handedly, “I’ll call it Courbet Green.”

When Torch Art Supplies went out of business, Carl convinced me to continue making encaustic paint on my own. We talked daily and worked on each other’s problems. He would give me business advice. I would research where to get pigments. We compared notes on ways of making paint and shared formulas for mixes. We bought materials together.

Self-Portrait as Montserrat Caballe, 1995. Oil on linen, 84 x 72 inches

In 1989, Carl suggested that I try developing an oil stick, in part because he wanted to use them in his own work. The sticks then on the market were too hard. He wanted a soft painterly stick. That was the birth of Pigment Sticks, which, by the way, was the name he gave them.

What I said about Carl speaking the language of painters is an understatement. Although he had a very low-key manner of speaking – a little diffident, like someone musing from an armchair – he spoke (and wrote) with a mix of practical sense and poetry, an irresistible poetry of similes and references to older painters and traditional paint makers. His Persian Rose was “like an old world rose…with a heart of orange.” His Mars Orange was “brilliant and mellow like freshly shined copper.”

Unlike most other makers of paint (including me), Carl managed to bridge the world of the artist and the businessman. He had studios in New York City, Budapest, and by his factory in upstate New York. His painting and his making paint were almost one and the same. His canvases were covered with thick expressionist gestural strokes that hovered tantalizingly between being paint or subject. They were painted with the intensity of someone whose attention never seemed to be divided.

Aprile Millo, 2009. Oil on linen, 68 x 58 inches

His last show was his boldest ever. It was all about the opera divas who he adored. He painted them and he painted himself dressed up as them. He named his Montserrat Orange paint after the famed soprano Montserrat Caballé. One of his last paintings, of another famed soprano, Aprile Millo is scheduled to hang in the Metropolitan Opera House’s famed collection of portraits of great singers. The presentation ceremony would, no doubt, have been the greatest moment of his life.

But don’t regret, my dear Carl, you have not died. You have simply passed into legend.

-Richard

Self Portrait 2005

carlplansky.com

Leslie Giuliani "EVOLUTION"

Jerry’s Artarama in CT will host an Encaustic and Pigment Stick demonstration on Saturday October 17th from 1-4pm.  Artist Leslie Giuliani will be on hand to teach you techniques and answer your questions.  Contact Jerry’s Artarama at 1-860-232-0073 for more information.   

About the Artist:  “When people view my work they are surprised by its individuality.  That the work represents a unique voice is very important to me.  The work is intriguing in many different ways: the structure- how it’s shaped and built; the imagery- light hearted and darkly primal simultaneously; texture- use of a variety of materials; the interplay of color; and good design.  This way as people look deeply into the work it changes with each viewing- the piece evolves, never settling into one specific interpretation- a work that invites visit after visit.”

Elizabeth Bryant and Max Winter will read in Cadmium Text Series on Saturday, October 17, 2009 at 2pm.  Cadmium Text is curated by local poet and book artist Anne Gorrick and focuses on innovative writing from in and around the Hudson Valley.  The Gallery at R&F provides the backdrop for the readings. 

Elizabeth Bryant is a writer living in Red Hook, NY. She edits Defeffable and co-curates the Bard Roving Reading series. Her most current publications include a chapbook, Fluorescence Buzz (Dusie, 2009), and a new full-length serial piece, (nevertheless enjoyment… (Quale Press, 2010). She has new writing in Wheelhouse, and upcoming in Coconut.

Max Winter’s The Pictures was published by Tarpaulin Sky Press in 2007. He has also published poems in New American Writing, Denver Quarterly, Boston Review, Ploughshares, Boulevard, The Paris Review, and elsewhere. His reviews have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsday, Bookforum, The San Francisco Chronicle, and other publications. He has been a Poetry Editor of Fence Magazine since 2001.

Previous poets have included:  Lynn Behrendt, Celia Bland, JJ Blickstein, Dennis Doherty, Anne Gorrick, Lea Graham, Kate Greenstreet, Joshua Harmon, Jane Heidgerd, Steve Hirsch, Jennifer Wai-Lan Huang, Geof Huth, Robert Kelly, Maryrose Larkin, Charlotte Mandel, Susan McKechnie, PF Potvin, Richard Rizzi, Carly Sachs, Lorna Smedman, Maureen Thorson, R. Dionysius Whiteurs, and Rebecca Wolff.

A $5 donation to Cadmium Text is suggested to help support this reading and goes directly to the writers.