R&F Handmade Paints

The 1st of  a series of free encaustic demos for kids was a huge success at the Encaustic Art Institute in Cerillos, New Mexico!  EAI’s Educational Director, Carol Ware and Program Director, Russell Thurston gave a  hands-on demo at the opening of  the “Hot Wax” exhibition, where, as you can see, the parents seemed to enjoy trying encaustic painting as much as the kids.  Move over Hasbro - R&F is coming to town!

Check out these families working with our paints on the Paula Roland HotBox for encaustic  printmaking.

R&F Handmade Paints donated materials for this project, and we look forward to future collaborations with the Encaustic Art Institute.

R&F will be presenting another workshop at EAI this August.  Gina Adams will be the instructor, and it promises to be a wonderful workshop.  For more info, or to enroll, please visit; August 4-8 EAI Workshop

This Sunday, April 11th a screening of Casting Faith, a one- hour documentary about sculptor and local Hudson Valley resident  Gillian Jagger, by Accord filmmakers Barbara Gordon and Richard Schlesinger will be shown at the Rosendale Theater.  The screening will be followed by a discussion with the artist, Gillian Jagger, art critic, Michael Brenson, and the filmmakers. This event is sponsored by the Women’s Studio Workshop.

More information about Gillian Jagger can be found on her website.  For the street address and additional information about the Rosendale Theater Collective please visit their facebook page.

Self Portrait with Striped hat

We are very saddened to hear about the death of our good friend, Richard Merkin.  Richard was a revered teacher at Rhode Island School of Design and a long time illustrator for the New Yorker magazine. We knew Richard since the early 1990s. He was much more than a customer to us. He loved our Pigment Sticks, and we greatly loved the work he did with them. Those of you who like our Cerulean Blue Extra Pale can thank Richard for that. It was his urging that prompted us to make it.

Taxi Dancing

Richard’s solo show in the Gallery at R&F in 2002 filled the room with whimsy and romance. But our love of his work is as personal as it is professional. One of his paintings, which is in our permanent collection at R&F, is an uproariously comical portrait that he did of Jim and me many years ago. It is typical of the sharp observation and sly wit that characterized his work.

Richard and Jim

The same year that he had his show here, he came to teach a special Pigment Stick workshop.  His gregarious nature and delightful personality was infectious and the students had a fabulous, productive time.   He made a lasting impression not only on them but on the whole staff at R&F.

R&F is pleased to announce the launch of our new website. Over the last few months, you may have noticed our new logo, new blog posts, and new literature. Our website brings all of these features under one roof along with a new and improved online forum and store.

SHOPPING CART

Our user friendly online store is your one-stop shop for everything Encaustic and Pigment Stick related. Our colors page is a fun way to explore our richly pigmented waxes and oil sticks. We now have brushes and oil paint tools and we will be adding products based on what our customers have requested.

WORKSHOPS

You can now search our workshop schedule based on location of the class, the subject, the instructor, or the date. You will not be able to stop clicking once you start. Explore the diverse range of workshops we teach both here in our Kingston location and regionally through the U.S.

RESOURCE CENTER

This is a brand new section of our site, designed with our customers in mind.

Encaustic and Pigment Stick Resource Center

• Get technical information and instruction on these techniques.

Workshop Resource Center

• Find out specific information about each workshop we offer or get details on a class you are already signed up for.

Artist Resource Center

• Learn what R&F has to offer artists and find information about artists working in Encaustics and Oil Sticks.

Exhibitions

• Discover the many ways in which artists are using Encaustic and Pigment Sticks. Check out the current exhibition in our gallery or the R&F Artist of the Month. Find out what is happening with Encaustic Works, our biennial juried exhibition.

PREVIOUS R&F SITE USERS
If you are a previous user on our site, please click here to read our article on registering. You will be able to keep the same user name and password that you used on our forum and it will now work for the shopping cart and the rest of the site.

EXPLORE
So take a look around the new site. To get all the benefits of our site and community make sure you Create an Account with us. Explore all the Informational Resources, the Exhibitions and the Blog news and remember to share your own information in the Forum. When you are ready to try some Pigment Sticks or Encaustic Paint don’t forget to check out all of R&F’s Products. Stop back often, as the site grows and changes, you wouldn’t want to miss anything.
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