Pictures from "The Forgiving Medium"

Last weekend's acrylic workshop was terrific! Here are a few pictures from work in progress. Everyone was enthusiastic and willing to experiment with many techniques from thin washes to thick impasto paintings. Many thanks to those who participated!

International Encaustic Artists: Portland Chapter

I recently joined the Portland chapter of International Encaustic Artists, a non profit organization dedicated to supporting encaustic artists and furthering the opportunities for people to see work in this wonderful medium. I went to my first meeting last week and was thrilled to be among others who are in love with beeswax! We talked for hours, trading techniques and viewing each other's work. Encaustic is hot (pun intended) here in Portland.

For those wondering what encaustic is, here's a brief definition.

Encaustic refers to the process of painting with molten beeswax, resin, and pigments that are fused after application into a continuous layer and fixed to a support with heat. Because it cools in minutes, more coats can be added almost immediately. Once the surface has cooled an encaustic painting presents a permanent finish, yet the painting can be revised and reworked at any time. Encaustic can be applied in thin glazes or thickly in relief. It can be scraped, carved, left roughly textured or made smooth.

For a chance to see the amazing variety of effects that can be achieved with encaustic, come to the next First Friday opening at The Art of Your Life Studio. We'll have eight members of the local IEA showing work in our exhibition, Encaustic Romance.
Several members also teach encaustic classes. I'm not yet sure who all of them are, but for starters, you can contact Linda Womack at
http://www.lindawomack.com
and Andrea Benson at
http://www.andreabenson.com.

The pictures in this post are by Andrea and Linda who will be in the October First Friday show, along with Amy Stoner, Natasia Chan, Marlene Treyz, Kimberly Kent, Inanna McGraw, and me.

Workshops Next Weekend!

The two workshops below are scheduled for next weekend at The Art of Your Life.



The Forgiving Medium

Not a compassionate clairvoyant. but a fun and supportive acrylic workshop for beginners! Some of the great qualities of acrylics are: they dry quickly, they have brilliant colors, they are easy to use, and they can be painted over as many times as you want. Bring your desire to experiment and leave with two small paintings.

September 15th

12-4 PM

Led by Serena Barton

Tuition: 60. (includes most supplies)

The Art of Your Life Studio

1210 SE Oak St. Portland

971-404-7664

info@artofyourlife.com

Meet Your Muse!

Have fun exploring with creative exercises designed to unleash your inspiration! Create your Secret Book. Design your plan for keeping regular dates with your Muse.

September 16 10 AM to 4PM. Morning snacks and all materials provided. Bring a brown bag lunch. Tuition: 90.

Flora & Fauna Show

Here are some pictures of last week's First Friday show, Flora and Fauna. We had a great turnout and several sales! Thanks to all who stopped by The Art of Your Life to view the work by Julia Gardner, Katie Evans, and Serena Barton.

First Friday: "Flora & Fauna"

First Friday, September 7 brings "Flora & Fauna", a mixed media show. I am delighted to have two innovative and talented artists, Julia Gardner and Katie Evans as my guest artists and am very pleased to be showing with them. I hope you can join us September 7 from 6-9 for an unusual and exciting show.

Julia Gardner

Julia was born in Hamburg, Germany, and spent her childhood in Portland OR. She studied art and the history of art in the US, France, Germany, and Italy, earning degrees from Mount Holyoke College, L'Ecole duLouvre in Paris, and Syracuse University in Florence, Italy. In 1996, Julia was recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship to Italy. Regionally her work has been shown at CoCa (Center on Contemporary Art) and the Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle, the Kittredge Gallery museum at UPS (University of Puget Sound), and CenterSpace Gallery and the Eastbank Commerce Center in Portland. Following four years in Seattle, Julia recently returned to Portland where she works out of Troy Studios, creating mixed media artwork with resin. Her work may be seen in galleries and boutiques throughout Seattle and Portland.

Julia creates mixed media pieces with resin. She works on wood panels or canvas often with cut-out "windows" in which she layers images and multiple layers of resin. Each piece is created with precise temperature and humidity conditions that produce an almost glass-like appearance in the final artwork. The work Gardner has created for this exhibition represents a preservation of memory of things beautiful around us every day in both nature and the city environment. Starting with her photography, oil pastels, found objects and other media Gardner layers images of birds, insects, flora & fauna as well as buildings, utility poles and wires within layers of resin (usually 1-4 layers), producing a layer of a story of urban life and nature within each layer of resin.

Katie J. Evans

Katie has lived in Portland, Oregon for 30 years. She has shown work in CenterSpace Gallery and coordinated events by Freegeek, SCRAP, and Tazo Tea Company. She utilizes her penchant for words to implement form for the persuasion of content.

As a child, she:

Collected seashells and insects

Every night, she:

Falls asleep to disintegration

As she walks, she:

Scans the pavement for treasures

She sees things:

For what they become.

Serena Barton
Art was my first love. As a young child, I pored over my grandmother’s books filled with art prints. My early exposure to the work of the old masters and the Impressionists taught me to see. At age four, I won a prize in the local children’s parade for my tricycle float, which was decorated with my drawings. In elementary school, teachers praised the “personality” they saw in my work.

Visual art eventually took a back seat to acting and addictive reading. In adulthood, I became a psychotherapist and mother of two children. I explored a variety of crafts but felt that I had not yet found my medium.

In 1990 I started decorative surface design. By 1994 the pillow covers I was making began to look suspiciously like paintings. After a life-changing trip to Italy the following year, I switched to oil and canvas. Since that time, I have devoted as much time as possible to making art. I have immersed myself in studying art history, and often portray artists of the past in my work.

I continue to experiment with new media. For "Flora & Fauna" I was inspired by some water-damaged art tissue paper I found at a discount supply house. Where the paper had gotten wet, rings of glorious rust, blue, and gold had emerged from the brown paper. I used this paper along with gold tissue, black ink, and other papers to create a series of floral images.

Next Chapter of Altered Alchemy

The Next Altered Alchemy Workshop!

Come join us for this mind and book altering workshop! Bring an older book with a sewn binding and images you'd like to include in your book. (If you'd like to try transfers of your images, bring inkjet copies, and remember to reverse them if they include text.) All other materials provided! We’ll explore using collage, painting, and embellishments, practice creating windows and niches, and discover many more fun altered book techniques. Beginners and experienced alchemists welcome! September 9. 1 - 5 PM. Tuition: 45.

"Intangible Evidence" A Tangible Success!

First Friday featured a show of photographs and mixed media work by artist Jane Kearney, called "Intangible Evidence." Evidence of her talent was quite tangible, however, and entranced viewers at the show at The Art of Life Studio. Jane works in color and black and white photography and excels in unusual portraits that capture the essences of her subjects in strangely compelling ways.

Jane recently received the much-coveted honor of appearing on the front page of the international art and craft site, Etsy. You can see her work at http://www.etsy.com

Jane's new website is: http://www.janekearney.com