FusedChicago

FUSEDChicago launches new website

2011-01-26T11:24:00.000-06:00

Our new website also has a blog. Please check us out: http://www.fusedchicago.org .

Get Out the Votes

2010-10-10T11:55:00.008-05:00

Jane Michalski, Memory Construct III [FusedChicago]

How we experience art is changing much like many other things in our lives. With recent technology comes immediacy and the ability to participate, comment or vote on something…including art.

Notice the headline said, “Get Out the Votes,” not “Get Out and Vote.” It refers to a new way of experiencing art in Chicago, the Art Loop Open. From October 15-29, Chicago’s new art competition will transform ten venues throughout Chicago’s Loop into interactive public art exhibits. 200 local artists have been selected from a pool of 750 entries, and they are vying for more than $60,000 in prizes, as judged by the public. The event mirrors the popular ArtPrize event in Grand Rapids, MI (a burgeoning franchise perhaps?).

Has art become a popularity contest? Hasn’t it always been? For artists it’s now become about motivating your “constituency” to get out and vote. Personally I find the event an opportunity filled with possibilities. I do know I’m excited that FusedChicago’s Jane Michalski’s painting, “Memory Construct III,” has been selected and will be on view at Block 37.

JR: Jane, what’s your take on Art Loop Open?

JM: I’m proud to be included. The jury was made up of some highly regarded people from The Art Institute, Museum of Contemporary Art and the University of Chicago. It provides a great vehicle for me to get exposure and show my work in a downtown location. The whole contest concept is admittedly a bit weird. Especially since the people who get the most votes for their art will win some substantial prizes. It draws attention to Visual Artists in the Chicago area and if it can build some excitement in the general population it’s a good thing. My prediction is that the winner could be a photographer with a very strong, easily understood but arresting image. People seem to like art they can easily understand. We’ll see!

JR: Tell us about your selected painting.

JM: “Memory Construct III" is part of a series. The first "Memory Construct" is a small piece that Shelley Gilchrist bought from me at Around the Coyote and her buying it is actually how I first met her and ultimately became involved in FusedChicago. I chose the name because I recognize that part of my creative process is building a structure with the wax and then altering it; covering and uncovering parts of the painting as I work. This often suggests the idea of time and memory to me. I also like the idea that we build up mental structures for thinking about things and remembering things. For me they can be visual rather than verbal.

JR: Why work in encaustic?

JM: I was already working on constructed panels and I had done a lot of painting with cold wax medium. After seeing Joanne Mattera's book, I felt compelled to try encaustic. I watched a demo by Kathleen Waterloo and got the basic method. I set my studio up to do encaustic, started making my own paints and just dove in. I feel in synch with the layering, the translucency—the process is interesting to me. It results in a complicated surface quickly without having to wait days for oils to dry. I love working back and forth between trying to control the wax and seeing what it will do on its own. I don't have a set concept for what I will find and I just keep layering, scraping and scoring until the piece feels right to me. I take the approach that you can't discover anything new unless you are willing to move forward without knowing exactly where you will end up. The painting tells me where it wants to go.

JR: What are you working on currently?

JM: I’m creating a large surface that is quiet but has subtle variations — two panels (each 36" x 24") that work together as one piece. I'm getting some momentum with what I'm doing and getting into some interesting shows, it's motivating me to work as much as I can. I just walk into my studio with a cup of coffee, turn on NPR and the fan, and melt wax. There is a spiritual connection to making art for me. I sometimes hear things that resonate such as a quote from Karen Armstrong that’s pinned to my bulletin board and reinforces why making abstract art is meaningful to me,"The Brahmin is present in the space without words or language."

I vote that we all get out and support Jane, other artists and art in Chicago by “getting out the votes!” That means encouraging friends and colleagues to enjoy Art Loop Open. Send an email, do a post on your personal Facebook page, invite people to join you. It will be interesting to see how this event evolves in the coming years.

- Julia Ris

Hot look to HOT ART

2010-09-21T08:59:00.004-05:00

Our latest exhibit, Encaustic: Hot Art is up at The Art Center in Highland Park for two more weeks. We had a steady appreciative crowd at the reception last weekend. Here is a peek at the installation, curated by Dan Addington, Shelley Gilchrist, and, chiefly, by Jenny Learner, who devoted her summer to this exhibit and did the lioness's share of the work. She is responsible for its success.
(It goes without saying, photos from better photographers are welcome; these are the only ones I have that are in focus.)

FusedChicago exhibit at The Art Center, Highland Park

K. Keller; A. Nomellini; J. Learner [FusedChicago]

M. K. Smyth [FusedChicago]

E. Martin; K. Waterloo; D. Korman [FusedChicago]

D. Byrne; H. Nagy [FusedChicago]

D. Funfsinn; C. Keebler [FusedChicago]

D. Addington [FusedChicago]

B. Loevy; A. Nomellini [FusedChicago]

S. Gilchrist; K. Gold; N. Huss [FusedChicago]

M. Thrane; M. J. O'Hearn [FusedChicago]

B. G. Mills; P. Rinaldi [FusedChicago]


E. Rutledge; K. Gold; B. Loevy [FusedChicago]


J. Michalski [FusedChicago]

C. Keebler (2); T. Jovancevic; D. Byrne [FusedChicago]


J. Learner; E. Martin [FusedChicago]

P. Rinaldi; D. Korman (lower right) [FusedChicago]

Send a friend to see the show!

Call for Submissions: Paper & Encaustic!

2010-09-18T11:31:00.007-05:00

Haley Nagy and Catherine Nash are co-writing a book that illuminates and presents contemporary international artists who combine paper and encaustic in innovative and diverse ways. We will be curating from artists who are committed to paper (i.e. not just one or two works) and encaustic and are exploring inspirational ways of integration. You are invited to submit your images of appropriate artwork to be considered for inclusion.

Please send us an initial reply to the email address below that lets us know of your interest with a couple of sentences (informal) that tell us how and why you've been involved with paper and encaustic as well as a website link or photo bucket link...no jpegs now. We'll ask for specific images later. We also welcome personal suggestions of artists whose work with these media you highly respect and you think we should contact.

The softcover, bound book (anticipated publication by late summer ’11) will represent committed artists who employ encaustic with paper in a "gallery" format: collage; sculptural paper, either cast or formed or woven; monoprinting on paper; painting on paper (pulp paintings); found papers; artist books; photography; etc. The works will explore the diversity of paper and celebrate the renaissance of two ancient media melding in our contemporary art world.

Catherine Nash is an artist who has embraced paper and encaustic in her own work (works on/of paper since the mid 70s and encaustic since the early 90s). We are so excited and jazzed to discover how other artists have explored these rich media!

Looking forward to hearing from you.
All the best,

Catherine Nash & Haley Nagy

cnash@wvcnet.com

http://www.catherinenash.com/
http://www.papermakingresources.com
http://www.conradwildegallery.com/catherineNash_3aei.html
http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/yourgallery/artist_profile/Catherine+Nash/120171.html

///////////////

info@haleynagy.com
http://www.haleynagy.com

FusedChicago presents HOT ART exhibit

2010-09-07T18:25:00.005-05:00

Exhibiting artists:
Dan Addington
Donna Zarbin Byrne
Alicia Forestall-Boehm
Denise Funfsinn
Shelley Gilchrist
Ken Gold
Nikkole Huss
Tatjana Jovancevic
Catherine Keebler
Kimberly Keller
Dawn Korman
Jenny Learner
Barbette Loevy
Elyse Martin
Jane Michalski
Bridgette Guerzon Mills
Haley Nagy
April Nomellini
Mary Jo Parker O'Hearn
Paul Rinaldi
Emily Rutledge
Mary Krebs Smyth
Michele Thrane
Kathleen Waterloo

WGBH responds

2010-08-05T23:36:00.002-05:00

The prior post argues that Jared Bowen's reporting for WGBH was "clueless," and therefore Montserrat has an obligation to distance itself from the story. In response to letters and similar blog comments, Mr. Bowen reviewed his tapes and gave a thoughtful answer about the information he actually received from the College interviewees. This is posted in these comments on August 5 and it is worth reading.

Notwithstanding, Montserrat's role as an academic institution is to correct the impression falsely created by the WGBH story that the credit for the conference should go to the College and not to Joanne Mattera.

Montserrat responds

2010-08-04T23:17:00.003-05:00

A response from Montserrat's president came today:

We all feel very badly about how the interviews came out. Joanne was acknowledged many times. I began my responses talking about the central role that Joanne played in the conference. Unfortunately, WGBH chose not to use most of what was taped including all the references to Joanne and her leadership. In retrospect, given how many times the taping was rescheduled, we should have probably just scrapped the whole thing. In truth, we wanted to shine a light on the fantastic conference and the community that has developed around the art. Its a stark lesson and I assure you will not be repeated.

I have a hard time accepting the notion that we "blew it" when we did not have editorial control. If there was any mistake it was to have gone ahead in the absence of Joanne, a decision for which I take full responsibility and deeply regret.

-Steve

Stephen D. Immerman, President
Montserrat College of Art

What can the College do to make this right? If the WGBH reporting by Jared Bowen was clueless, as all evidence suggests (yes, I wrote to him, too!), the situation demands that Montserrat distance itself from the story. It has created messy PR fallout for them and has virtually destroyed a productive working relationship between Joanne and the College. The College should immediately delete the website link to WGBH and correct the news story with its own informative truthful article or video about the encaustic resurgence. By offering a corrected record, the College will no longer be taking credit for Joanne Mattera's work.

Furthermore, for Montserrat to have attempted to give factual news interviews about encaustic or the conference in Joanne's absence was sheer hubris. This is where an apology is in order. ("Deeply regret" and "I apologize, Joanne" are not synonymous.) By all accounts, this was a fence that should never have been broken. Dr. Immerman, you need to write to Joanne SOON. Or, better still, pick up the phone!

There are more comments and more pieces to the puzzle. You can follow the thread on Nancy Natale's blog: http://artinthestudio.blogspot.com/2010/08/wheres-joanne-person-who-is-encaustic.html

Montserrat no longer an "epicenter"

2010-08-03T14:02:00.002-05:00

I hope everyone has had a chance to check out the coverage of the Encaustic Conference last month on WGBH: http://www.wgbh.org/programs/programdetail.cfm?programid=459. This is the letter I wrote to the college in response:

Dear Dr. Immerman,
How surprising to see that you, the titular head of Montserrat College of Art, are unable even to acknowledge the individual who conceived of the Encaustic Conference, does the lion’s share of the work to produce it, and has made a growing hit in the art world for four years. What is it that prevents you from publicly speaking her name, or giving even the slightest credit to the conference founder and visionary? You had a chance to link Montserrat’s name indelibly with Joanne Mattera’s and ride on the success of the conference both nationally and internationally. You blew it.

If I started now to describe what Joanne Mattera has done for artists by writing about the medium of encaustic, we would be here all day. It is her book The Art of Encaustic Painting, appearing shortly after the Montclair Museum encaustic exhibit in 1999, that has created the enormous tide of interest in the medium. It’s a tide that continues to surge: every artist who uses wax has a copy of the book; from that book have flowed new techniques; new books by other artists now appear annually; markets for wax paints, tools, and training workshops have increased exponentially; encaustic affinity groups abound; and the encaustic medium inspires more beautiful art every year.

She had done enough; dayenu, one could say. And yet, while it can be hard-going to try to organize artists, she thought of ways that a conference could help them even more. By using her name and track record, she pulled one together notwithstanding their independent proclivities, gathering seasoned and beginning artists alike to learn, network and collaborate, which has increased the popularity of encaustic even further. With her vision, she created a juggernaut almost single-handedly, and Montserrat helped by providing classrooms and beds and electricity. These are incidentals to what the conference is all about.

It is ironic to see that Montserrat is still taking credit as being the “epicenter” on the College website. This strikes me as academically dishonest in a place where knowledge is everything. Usually students who do not cite their sources get flagged, whereas you and the college have a far greater responsibility. As an academic, you need to summon the reporters and publicly correct the record and broadcast this through your website and links. If you continue to ignore Joanne’s creations and contributions as the conference founder and leader, you will deserve whatever you get: flagging, flogging and a thoroughly unscholarly reputation. I have a responsibility to future artists to point this out whenever they are considering an education at Montserrat.

Yours truly,
Shelley Gilchrist

Juror’s Award recipient, 4^th Annual Encaustic Conference

Further, I find the newscast very much off the mark. The popularity of the medium has little to do with a high price for a Johns painting; art dealers may care, collectors may care, but if that is what it took to wake them up to wax, then they are just not paying attention.

Needless to say, the 2011 Annual Encaustic Conference will have new home.

East Coast: Encaustic Conference

2010-07-24T19:28:00.005-05:00

In June several of us attended the Fourth Annual Encaustic Conference at Montserrat College of Art. The three-day weekend schedule was packed with workshops and talks of our own choosing, in most cases (remember, it pays to register early!), as well as panel discussions and talks for the entire group, and schmoozing time in between . This year a few of our members stayed for the post-conference all-day workshops. Since espressos and lattes are available only in town, we do pull ourselves out of the conference for quick caffeine runs; except for those excursions, we are immersed in wax talk for 3 days. There is plenty for everyone, and it seemed as if the enthusiasm level among the 246 artists was off the charts this year.

The Flow and Control exhibit (301 Gallery) was a small show in a large space. Joseph Carroll chose work that was colorful, for the most part, and, while the artists' efforts were undeniably serious, their pieces also had a "sense of play."

Robin vanHoozer, By Day II
(encaustic with silver leaf):

Laura Tyler, Old-Fashioned Red Rocketry,
Castle, Rainforestry
(encaustic and ink):

Kelly Steinke, Umbrae
(encaustic on panel)

David A. Clark, Flow Series: Red Arrow #8
(cast and poured wax on panel):

Jill Skupin Burkholder, Fryman
(encaustic on canvas):

Nancy Lowe
Distrust
(encaustic and metal tubes [sic]):

Ken Gold
Cactus Man on pedestal (and wall behind,
showing spacious arrangement of exhibit)
and Shark Man:

Michele Thrane
Hot Glyphs
(encaustic on paper; I lifted this from her website www.michelethranesart.com, since her pieces were under glass in the show):

Shelley Gilchrist - Juror's Award (selected by Joseph Carroll)
Cascade Range; Copper Falls
(encaustic on shaped panel):

Ruth Hiller - Curator's Award (selected by Leonie Bradbury)
Specimen 87; Specimen 116
(encaustic on panel):

The artists who participated in Flow and Control were interviewed by Lynette Haggard for her ongoing series of blog posts about artists and their practices. Links to specific interviews are: Michele Thrane, Ken Gold and Shelley Gilchrist, and Lynette's art blog http://www.lynettehaggard.blogspot.com/ is worth bookmarking!.

For the first time, everyone was invited to participate in Best Foot Forward, a 12" x 12" self-juried exhibit in the main hallway of the classroom building. Since this is near the vendors' rooms and several classrooms, it's a gathering place for the artists, and with the exhibit extended through the entire hallway, there was a lot to see and discuss. The show displayed a veritable banquet of techniques; here are just a few:

Karen Freedman - Director's Award (selected by Joanne Mattera)
Cold Laughter at Twilight
(encaustic, cold wax):

Elena de la Ville, The Pope's Secret
(encaustic and steel):

Kenneth Eason, ave
(encaustic, mixed media):

Lynette Haggard,
(encaustic):

Margaret Berry, Pop Shop Line-up
(encaustic and candy):

Marilyn Banner, Zen Cow
(encaustic):

Pamela Blum, Cluster
(encaustic, mixed media):

Jane Allen Nodine, Trace 055
(encaustic, iron oxidation):

Jane Guthridge, Dancing Light
(encaustic, inkjet on mulberry):

Karen Nelson-Fried, A Little Elegy
(encaustic and oil):

Lynda Ray, Jelled Swell
(encaustic):

Lisa Frank, Chairs I
(encaustic, paper, TTV, photo):

Toby Sisson, untitled (from Element series)
(encaustic, ink, paper):

Chris Kyle, Comfort Zone
(encaustic on ceramic):

Amy Stoner, The Forest Floor
(encaustic, paper, gouache, watercolor, oil):

Pat Kilburg, Journey
(encaustic):

Kellie Weeks, Wasteland
(encaustic, graphite, sand, shellac, pigment, gold leaf):

Gregory Wright, Inside the Little Blue Box
(encaustic, pigment, shellac):

Brenda Mallory, Constrain to Vertical #7
(cloth, wax, nuts, bolts):

Here are just a few images from Wax Libris II, the book art exhibit curated by Joanne Mattera that was held, of course, in the college library. Haley Nagy had work in this show. Images of these pieces on the conference blog are better than any I took, and they are each briefly amplified by Joanne's notes. (see Wax Libris II)

Nancy Natale:

Sandi Miot:

Laura Moriarty:

Coming soon, East Coast, part deux!

Encaustic conferences, past and present

2010-06-02T02:12:00.002-05:00

FusedChicago will be well represented this month at the 4th Annual Montserrat Encaustic Conference in Beverly, Massachusetts. Seven of our members will attend the conference (June 11-13). Ken Gold, Michele Thrane and Shelley Gilchrist are exhibiting their work in the 301 Gallery show, Flow and Control. Joseph Carroll of the Boston Drawing Project juried the show. Haley Nagy is participating in Wax Libris, a conference exhibit of artists' books that was juried by Joanne Mattera. Congratulations, everyone!

M. Thrane, Cool Glyphs:

K. Gold, Shark Man:

S. Gilchrist, Copper Falls:

With ten exhibitors, the 301 Gallery show this year is considerably smaller than previous conference exhibits. The '09 exhibit, Beauty and Its Opposite, included twenty artists and thoroughly covered the representational-to-abstract spectrum. Recently I found several images on my camera, and since it's always a pleasure and never too late to look at encaustic work, I bring you . . . (half of) the 2009 exhibit!

(After a full day of workshops, it was inevitable that I was paying close attention to texture while I was shooting, so I tried out my camera's macro function - with about the same amazing success as when I use the regular functions on the camera! Alas, no dimensions available for these pieces.)

Diane Aldrich Kleiss, Man's Delicate Balance: Avarice
Found objects, encaustic:

detail:

Jane Allen Nodine, Seared Impressions
Encaustic, burn mark, digital print on panel:

Loree Hirschman, Ear Infection
Encaustic and collage:

Roberta Lee Woods, Symbols
Handmade paper, thread, encaustic:

Daniella Woolf, Beauty's Family I
Sewn eucalyptus leaves, shredded journal pages, encaustic:

DW, Just Checking
Sewn bank checks and encaustic:

Detail:

Gregory Wright, Elemental Antithesis
Encaustic, oil, pigment, shellac:

Detail:

Danielle Correia (who works at R&F!)
I'd lose my head if it wasn't attached
Encaustic, mixed media:

Detail:

Robin Luciano Beaty, Remains To Be Seen,
Crochet, nails, bark, wire, encaustic, paper, aluminum:

Detail:

Cora Jane Glasser, Nothing Sacred,
Encaustic, oil, pen on homasote panels:

Paula Roland, Connect the Dots,
Encaustic on Rives l/w paper with backlighting:

Detail:

Fused member April Nomellini had a collage in the 2009 show, as well, but I managed to make a blur of it.

These are images from Jeff Hirst's silk screen demo last year - just to get us in the workshop mindset:

One last piece of news: Lissa Rankin's new book Encaustic Art: The Complete Guide to Creating Fine Art With Wax will be published in August. Member Katsy Johnson is a contributor! You can order copies now.

Introduction

2010-04-11T09:56:00.000-05:00

After many careers: artist, graphic designer, mother, and industrial advertising sales; I've resumed my first love art.

Drawing was my first expression. Because of my early and natural abilities in art, I spent a good portion of my early years decorating nuns' classrooms of the grammar school I attended in Chicago. One nun recommended my parents send me to the Junior School of The Art Institute. There, my eyes opened to the variety & impact of fine art. I studied art in an independent program at Wright Junior College, which I transferred to The School of the Art Institute's BFA program, but wasn't sure how to utilize fine art to support myself. In the 60's I designed direct mail for a major insurance firm in Chicago. Although I was the token female of the firm and industry, I garnered industry awards as well as a Chicago Graphics Award. Once a full time mom, I furthered my art education in watercolor, collage and fiber and paper sculpture.

In the early 80's after moving south of Boston, I underwent a series of carpel tunnel surgeries to relieve numbness & pain in my hands. The failed result was worse then the original symptoms and a severely diminished feeling & mobility in my right hand. I avoided situations where dexterity was required and expressed my creativity with cooking and decorating and a new career, helping small businesses increase their sales through effective advertising,

Now, retired, I still have the creative urge. I spend half the year in Lake Geneva, WI and half in Tucson, AZ. Both naturally beautiful areas inspire the organic forms, which are found in my work. Encaustic is a medium I can carve, inscribe, build up and color. Its flexibility is both earthy and otherworldly like both locations in which I live. It allows me to connect the geology: the erosions, water and plant life into a sculptural and collage based wax pieces. It is thrilling to again to be creating and exhibiting, to feel joy in my ability and the continuum of my life's consistent effort: art.

I’ve been involved with an exciting group of Tucson artists. We’ve been showing quite a bit around Tucson. We meet once a month to share techniques, critique each other’s work and generally talk art. I’m excited to learn of Fused Chicago and look forward to expanding my network.

Yvonne Prisble

April notes

2010-04-08T18:58:00.039-05:00

Catherine Keebler has two pieces (wax on paper) in the Chicago Calligraphy Collective Exhibit Exploration 2010 at the Newberry Library. (60 W. Walton) The show continues through May 28th; closed on Sundays.

Bad news for those of us who loved to get up close with the encaustic work that Melanie Cooper Gallery frequently exhibited, or who were fortunate to show their art there, or who aspired to show there. Since March, the space is has become a yoga studio. This is another loss in River North; Byron Roche closed his gallery space there a few months ago.

My piece Sierra High has an appointment with . . . ArtChicago! It will be displayed at the Chicago Sculpture International Booth (#12-264) in the Merchandise Mart, April 30 - May 3. (Shucks, my midwestern reserve keeps me from posting the image again, but you can see it on the 2/3/09 post ) This is indeed the piece that keeps on giving: in February, judge Lori Waxman gave it a first-place award at the National Premiere 2010 show in Elmhurst. It's on my CAC gallery, with other wall sculptures, http://www.shelleygilchrist.com (website forwards temporarily to CAC while under construction).

At our second show FUSED 2: Art + Wax in Chicago in February, we had visitors from R&F Paints at our opening. After working at the College Art Association book and trade fair all day, they honored us with their presence for much of the reception, and brought samples for all. We were indeed pleased to meet them and put faces with names after many years. Thanks for coming!
With Michele, Brenda and April are Darin Seim, Richard Frumess and Lorrie Fredette:

FYI: We also had stealth visitors from Enkaustikos in Rochester; Kathryn Bevier and partner came and went quietly and managed to evade our cameras.

2010-04-02T09:28:00.002-05:00

Hi Fused Chicago,
Last year I curated a space for the Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival, here is Chicago in the Logan Square Neighborhood. I produced an exhibit called "Logan Square Connections" Well, I'm doing
it again, only this year my theme is Near and Dear to my heart, yes, it's an Encaustic show going to be titled very simply just "WAX". The festival is in it's early years, so it still has a kind of grassroots "hey kids lets put on a show" feel to it. There will also be music and other art forms presented during the three day festival along with open studios. There will be other opportunities for exhibiting that will be announced soon, as well.
The dates are July 23 to July 25, Fri: 4-11, Sat/Sun 12-11.

We still do not have a space assigned to us but it will be in either a business, or empty storefront along Milwaukee Ave. somewhere between California and Fullerton Ave. ( Close to then new Revolution Brewery here in Logan Square)
If you are interested in getting a form to submit to the exhibit, e-mail me at f.michalski@sbcglobal.net and I will send you the form. It will also be up on the Milwaukee Ave. Arts Festival Website sometime early next week ,and I will try to post the link. I hope to see some good representation from Fused Chicago Members.
Jane Michalski

Exhibit announcement

2010-01-17T00:48:00.005-06:00

FusedChicago proudly announces its second exhibition of encaustic art

FUSED 2: Art + Wax in Chicago

February 10 - March 8, 2010

Gallery 537 in the Fine Arts Building

410 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago

Opening Reception February 12, 5-9PM

Studio/Gallery 537 with extended

exhibition space in Studio 470

and 4th Floor Gallery

Information: 312-351-3939

Cross-Pollination, Rodney Thompson, and the Montserrat Conference

2010-01-08T00:52:00.000-06:00

The Cross-Pollination exhibit at Woman Made Gallery in December had a good crowd at the reception, with many viewers eye-balling the artwork right up close. There is something about the medium of wax that invites close scrutiny: viewers like to peer into those layers to see how each painting is constructed. The gallery website has better images from this show, but here is a small sampling.

Diane Kleiss created the dramatic Pod Goddess (5'5" x 3') from palm tree pods, fiber, seeds, and wax.

Mona Waterhouse's installation My Garden seemed to be created just for Patricia Otto's Fairy:

Juror Laurel Delaney included some 3-D in her painting exhibit in the front gallery. This striking piece is Totem, more than 6' high. She painted wax onto concrete forms and discovered that concrete holds heat for an inordinate amount of time!

Representational work included pieces by Sharyl Noday (our newest member), Tales of Shahrazad, Victoria Szilagyi, Erinyes, and Allyson Malek, Sandhills Sunset. (See the 4/17/09 blog post for Allyson's abstract Wax Windows pieces.)

Dragonfly Through Seven Rectangles (Susan McDonald) and Box Cars 2 Diptych (Cherry Rohe) were whimsical abstract pieces.

Finally, Sienna Passage, with the artist, Jane Michalski:

In the R&F Forum, Rodney Thompson describes a painting mis-hap that could give us all nightmares. When his Basin and Range pieces were returned from the Grosse Pointe exhibit (see the prior blog post for one of these images), he had the harrowing experience of opening the box and finding one painting substrate lying in shattered wax, and the other separated from its intact image. He says he originally did a pour on each substrate, to build up a smooth surface, and believes that his wax may not have been hot enough to fuse sufficiently. Temperature fluctuations during shipping may also have been a factor, but the separation occurred at the level of the pour - the weakest link, in this case. Thanks to Rodney for bravely sharing this reminder to fuse and fuse well. I hope he has recovered by now; for the next month I'll be thinking of him every time I fuse.

The 4th Annual Encaustic Conference at Montserrat College has announced its schedule. Details can be found at http://montserratencausticconference.blogspot.com/. Dates for the conference this year are June 11-13; workshops will be held June 14-16. This conference is smoothly run - just what you would expect from the director, Joanne Mattera - and the presentations are packed with information. Montserrat College is in the town of Beverly, north of Boston on the coast. Registration starts January 15th and will be open for months, but to ensure good class selection, it's best not to delay.

Happy New Year to us all.

Encaustic at Woman Made Gallery

2009-11-19T18:40:00.008-06:00

The Cross-Pollination exhibit opens Friday, November 20, at Woman Made Gallery. Three of our members have work in the show: Jane Michalski, VA de Pintor and Kathleen Waterloo. The opening is 6-9 PM, and the show continues through Dec. 23rd.

Third Wax Exhibit - Roy Boyd Gallery

2009-11-14T19:03:00.002-06:00

Roy Boyd Gallery has an interesting exhibit by wax artist Brigitte Riesebrodt. One of her three dimensional pieces was recently shown at the Chicago Art Institute in the Case for Wine exhibit this past summer. Also on exhibit are paintings and collages on paper - all with wax. I particularly liked the three dimensional work and the collages. There are three wonderful encaustic shows now in River North!

"Embedded Light" at Grosse Pointe; Waterloo's maps

2009-11-11T18:46:00.026-06:00

The Embedded Light exhibit was held at the Grosse Pointe Art Center in Michigan, a few blocks from Lake St. Clair. Chris McCauley was the juror. The huge gallery is a converted storefront in the main shopping district. (Lemons to lemonade: all of our communities here could do something like this.) I managed to shoot everything, but, no surprise, fewer than half of the photos turned out decently. There is no preferential selection here - what you see is what was focussed enough to use!

If they had given awards for minimalism at this show, my pieces would have been a shoe-in. In The Narrows, painted flat and rectangular, the influence of my own sculptural work shows pretty clearly, as if I have come full circle:

These are some of the works that won awards:

Margo Mullen
(a Monterey artist
who is now a "show-
buddy" of mine)
Monastery Moment

Sherrie Posternak
Chromosomal Pattern of Martian

M. J. Selzer
Lucky Draw

Rodney Thompson
Basin and Range #33

Mark Lavatelli
Underground

Among the rest of the work was a range of styles and techniques, some addressing the theme of luminescence, or embedded light, much more than others (and more than the awarded work in some cases).

Margaret Koenen
Drip

Lucia Enriquez
Untitled #2

Christine Towner
Cave Sediment

Birgit Huttemann-Holz
Sleep On

Rae Broyles
Night Barn

Gilda Snowden
Arrangements II

Twelve other artists participated in the exhibit, and it was exciting to see the variety of approaches with wax. Photos, mine in particular, just don't do these pieces justice. At the Cross-Pollination show coming up, there is sure to be another banquet of work for all of us to enjoy in person.

This Friday member Kathleen Waterloo's show Map Quest opened at Melanie Cooper Gallery. The subject matter (map routes from her studio to a variety of art museums) is presented most directly in . . .drumroll, please . . . neon. Nelson Atkins, below, might be a first as a neon/wax combo.

In other work, theme and variations abound:

Above: LACMA Below: EAM (Elmhurst Art Museum)

Joanne Mattera was at the gallery visiting both of the exhibiting artists (Julie Karabenick's show Just Around the Block was sharing the stage), taking in the new wing at the Art Institute, and topping off the weekend at SOFA. Tireless as always, she is already planning the 4th Annual Encaustic Conference. Watch her blog for extensive coverage of the Miami shows next month.

Encaustic painting wins award at Beverly Art Center

2009-11-10T22:02:00.002-06:00

Just wanted to let the group know, my painting "Veiled Construct III", which was shown at the Fine Arts Building show, exhibited in the Beverly Art Center's 33rd Competition and won the award for Best Non-Representational Art! The opening and awards presentation took place on Nov. 6th. It was pretty exciting.

Eric Blum in Chicago

2009-10-30T14:04:00.005-05:00

Just wanted to pass on information on a show opening next Friday at the David Weinberg Gallery, called Infuse, featuring the work of New York encaustic artist Eric Blum. It promises to be a great show.

FUSED! Art+Wax = Our first exhibit

2009-10-11T20:04:00.034-05:00

Our exhibit opening on Friday at the Fine Arts Building was a lively event, an evening to savor after an unbelievable three-week barrage of details, e-mails and decisions. We must have set the record for mounting a 23 person exhibit. It was understandable to feel as if we were thumbing a collective nose at the weather, what with the crowds in the gallery, great food and drink and the opportunity to see our work together for the first time and feel the interactive chemistry of the pieces. IMHO, the work came together beautifully, as other artists agreed, and I think some never stopped smiling.

Thanks to all who pitched in and worked seamless magic to make this exhibit happen and make the opening a success. This is a wonderful showcase for our art, and I hope viewers continue to come. The gallery (537 Fine Arts Building, 410 S. Michigan) is open 12-4 on weekends, and the show is up until Oct. 30.

FUSED: Art + Wax in Chicago

2009-10-05T08:56:00.018-05:00

Members of Fused Chicago present recent work in encaustic and mixed media(s).

Participating artists include:

Donna Byrne
Tina Elkins
Alicia Forestall-Boehm
Shelley Gilchrist
Ken Gold
Andrea Hill
Cindy Jevon
Katsy Johnson
Catherine Keebler
Dawn Korman
Jenny Lerner
Barb Loevy
Jane Michalski
Bridgette Guerzon Mills
Haley Nagy
April Nomellini
Paul Rinaldi
Emily Rutledge
Karen Tichy
Brenda Thomas
Michele Thrane
Judy Trombley
Kathleen Waterloo
Opening Reception:
Friday, October 9th from 5:00-9:00 pm

Show runs until October 30th with open hours on Saturdays and Sundays from 12-4:00 pm or by appointment. (312) 351-3939 .

Gallery 537, Fine Arts Building (FAB)
410 Michigan Ave #537
Chicago, IL

Spring/summer wrap-up (part 1)

2009-08-24T22:00:00.010-05:00

This is a snoozy August, and I hope I'm not the only one not on vacation. September evokes a new year (for those of us who are forever attuned to the academic calendar), so we are starting it off with a group meeting on either the 12th or 16th (date now being determined by vote). If you would like to participate, please contact FusedChicago@gmail.com to be put on the mailing list. We will also have a studio visit and demonstration with Catherine Keebler later in the fall. In the spirit of getting our art Out There, it is now time to start working on an exhibit proposal for the group, as well. With 36 members, we should be able to mount an interesting exhibit.

Kathleen Waterloo hosted a small group of us at her really small studio in May. (Small studio, big work.) She is an artist who did not have to transition into encaustic; she took her first workshop at Ox-bow and sold enough work at the end of the week to afford to set up her studio for wax once she got back to Chicago. Architectural features inspire her designs, but her color use seems to come entirely from within. The soft colors she uses are mixed from oil paints and encaustic medium, and the inviting surfaces of her work are achieved by patient layering and torching (20 layers, at least).

As one who is always scraping up drips and spills, I was particularly taken with the crenellations of wax that embed her hotplates. One of my teachers, Paul Mullins, used to tell me to make more mess, something that Kathleen clearly did not have to be told. She is fearless!

In July many of us visited Dan Addington's gallery in River North, where he talked about the work of Robin Denevan and Howard Hersh (work below), who both had exhibits up, as well as his own work. The discussion was entertaining (Dan was a theatre major, after all) and informative (with an MA in art history); it was focused on the art of the paintings more than their technical aspects. Since so much of our studio time is spent wrassling with wax's physical challenges, Dan's talk was a refreshing reminder that medium and technical mastery are there to serve art, rather than command it.

Artist Rebecca Crowell asked if anyone in our group would like to learn to use cold wax medium. This is beyond our encaustic focus, strictly speaking, since it lacks the element of heat, but the value of having another tool in one's box can't be denied. She said that artists in her classes who use encaustic have found a use for oil+cold wax in their work. Oct. 19-21 she is offering a workshop at the Peninsula School of Art in Door County. For more information, see http://www.rebeccacrowell.com/workshops.html.

A final technical topic: Paula Roland now sells the hot-boxes she designed and uses for her own work; these are large (16" x 22") and especially useful as palettes or for making monotypes, which is her focus. Double-sized boxes are also available (32" x 22"). The boxes are heated with light bulbs, rather than heating elements, and the wax can't overheat. The surface is an anodized aluminum plate. Details are at http://www.paularoland.com/hotbox.htm.

2009-07-27T12:17:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone at Fused Chicago- I just wanted to let you know that I put together a small book of my recent work at Blurb.

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/785248

This is a small, 22 pg softcover booklet of my recent work. I found it was a better presentation and more cost effective that running off prints on my Epson! Available at base price.

I've been reading the posts and links from the Montserrat conference- big sigh! Wish I could have gone!

Montserrat encaustic conference; bare studio walls

2009-07-01T00:24:00.009-05:00

Bear with me while I plug two places where I am showing work. First, "Flower, Nature and Landscape" at Murphy Hill Gallery, 3333 W. Arthington, until July 25th. By the way, Murphy Hill is an enormous gallery (which, in Chicago, is an oxymoron); Bill Hill will give you the tour and you need comfortable shoes. "Catawampous" is one of my pieces in the show.

The other exhibit, "NOW! Sculpture/Environment" just opened at the South Haven Art Center in Michigan, and comprises the first show by "3-D 12," a group of Chicago area sculptors. This photo just happens to show my piece "Michigana" on the wall, as well as metal sculptures by Peter Gray and Eric Steele.

The "NOW!" show is up until July 26th, and the Art Center is just a few blocks west of the road you might be taking this month to Saugatuck or points north.

To continue the sculpture thread, here are photos from one of the exhibits, "In the Round," at the Third National Encaustic Conference at Montserrat College in early June. I revisited this particular show because I was unexpectedly taken by the work. The tendency of both artists is to work understatedly and elegantly, and on subsequent viewings, once I had stopped marvelling at their inventiveness, I enjoyed studying their craft.

Kim Bernard's work embraces a couple of themes:

In order, these are "Poke, Pinch, Scratch, Dig, Pound, Punch" (steel, raw beeswax); "To Do" (encaustic, plaster, paper); "Epidaurus 1, 2, 3" (encaustic on panel); "Unravelling" (encaustic, cotton, plaster); "Hippodrome" (encaustic, plywood, lead).

Deborah Kapoor focusses on ritual and prayer objects she has learned about from travels in India:

Titles are "Yentra (device)" (encaustic, string, paper, wood, tassel); "Rakhaila" (cloud curtain) (encaustic, batting, lace); "Prayer Ball" (encaustic, paper, batting, cord); "Nasika" (vital energy 1 and 2)" (encaustic and paper mache); "Gayatri Mantra" (encaustic on paper).

We have had two FusedChicago meetings, and those of us who attended the Montserrat conference also had a chance to share ideas in the breakout session, as well as greet our newest member, Dawn Korman, who is settling into her new Chicago home even as I write. E-mails will be coming soon about our next gathering.

Jenny Learner

2009-06-29T16:35:00.006-05:00

Hi all,

Thank you Shelley for hosting the meeting at your studio on Saturday. I look forward to meeting other local artists who work in this amazing medium. I have been working with beeswax for over three years and must admit that it has become quite an obsession and unending wonder for me and my work. I attended the Encaustic Conference in Beverly with some Chicago artists and can't wait to share some new techniques, tricks, and tips that I learned.

This painting "Emeralds" is part of a series I have been working on of raw gemstones. It is in a solo exhibit of 25 new encaustic paintings up at "Crust Eat Real" in Wicker Park through October 2009. If your in the neighborhood, pop in. The owner does not mind if folks stop in to see the work.

3rd Annual Encaustic Conference - Interesting Links

2009-06-28T18:56:00.005-05:00

Several of the people who gave presentations and workshops at the 3rd Annual Encaustic Conference & Workshops have posted links to free downloads of their presentations. If you go to the site for the encaustic conference http://montserratencausticconference.blogspot.com/, several paragraphs down you'll see, "Links to notes and handouts". Check them out!

The same site has links to various blogposts that contain lots of photos and commentary on the events at the conference. It was a great experience! I'm glad I went.

Robin Denevan's opening/Peter Jones closing

2009-05-30T17:55:00.007-05:00

Upcoming events: Saturday, June 6, 6PM - midnight. The grand good-bye party at Peter Jones Gallery. This gallery closing will affect so many of us; for 25 years it was an active hub that emanated energy and buzz from its Ravenswood location. It was adventurous, non-commercial, offered studio space, workshops and even had a small theatre. The final show includes work by people who have shown in the gallery over the years. I am a more recent exhibitor there, so it made sense to step aside and leave lots of room for old-timers - an astonishing number of Chicago artists have shown there. The Montserrat Encaustic conference is a conflict for me, so I hope others go and participate in this bittersweet wingding. The show will be up until June 21st. 1806 W. Cuyler St., 2nd floor, just east of the el tracks and west of the Metra tracks.

Another closing, or what might as well be a closing: the courageous, forward-looking Orleans Street Gallery in St. Charles is changing its name, changing its staff, and, apparently, is changing its idea of what art is. Anni Holm was one of the managers there. She is someone who is always paying attention, and I have my fingers crossed that another area gallery will quickly snap her up. The gallery is part of the Pheasant Run resort, whose manager said that the new format will appeal "to the more casual resort customer in both style and price." There may be an opportunity here for less edgy local artists to show their work in this reinvented space (called "Bourbon Street Gallery"), but the change may lower St. Charles' art profile for many of us.

Most of us know that Flatfile Galleries closed at the end of March. These are hard times; there was a number of gallery closings last year at this time, also.

And, last, a bright note: a solo exhibit for encaustic lovers! Robin Denevan's show at Addington Gallery opens Friday June 5, 5-8 PM (704 N. Wells). He is a San Francisco artist who creates large (usually) atmospheric landscapes, such as Wintergarden 21" x 42", encaustic and oil on canvas mounted on panel, 2009 (below).

You can meet Robin and ply him with all your technical questions. He would no doubt be delighted to meet others with wax expertise.

the first meeting and teaching in wi

2009-05-29T13:55:00.004-05:00

where memory resides

It was so nice to meet everyone yesterday at the first Fused Chicago meeting. I am looking forward to working with you all in the future.

Yesterday after our meeting I emailed a friend of mine who is an encaustic artist living in Arizona. She is a member of Tucson Encaustic Artists and she said this of her group:

"Our group meets monthly. We have created a proposal and are booking group shows and during our monthly meetings we critique each other's work, share ideas and tips, lots of positive things."

Similar to the things we all discussed yesterday.

I also wanted to pass on this link to the art retreat in Wisconsin that I mentioned yesterday. Whispering Woodlands. I have been contacted about doing workshops there, but considering my time limitations, I don't see that happening any time soon! So I thought I would pass this along in case anyone who teaches encaustics is interested.

~bridgette guerzon mills

Greetings

2009-05-28T18:35:00.005-05:00

Hi everyone, I figured it out! Thank you Shelley for getting the information to me again. It was great to meet everyone today and look forward to meeting again. Most of my work involves collage using 2-d and 3-d materials, found objects or images and type that grabs my eye. In the past I have used my art as a form of political and social commentary using phrases that have caught my eye in the media. I have been challenging myself lately to not use words and allow the work to speak for itself, working more with layered papers and image transfers. I unfortunately was unable to upload an image. I won't give up, just need a break from messing around with it; you can see my work at www.perficalsensestudio.com

Piece from Nebraska show

2009-05-28T12:52:00.004-05:00

Shelley, thanks for your photos from the encaustic shows. Here is a jpeg of the piece I had up at the Haydon Arts Center that shows it a little more clearly. (Nothing personal about your photography!) Title: "Veiled Construct I"
24" x 24"
I would love to see more images from other people's work if possible. If you don't know how to do it, the easiest way is to start a New Post, click on the little icon of the picture in the tool bar that will say add image when you scroll over it. then you can browse through your computer files until you find the image you want and click to add it and upload it.
Jane Michalski

Website for Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival

2009-05-28T12:44:00.002-05:00

I don't have much time at the moment but wanted to get this up. Here is the website address for the Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival that is taking place this summer in Logan Square. I am curating a show called "Logan Square Connections".
http://milwaukeeavenueartsfestival. org
It was great meeting those who came for breakfast this morning!
Jane Michalski

Facets Exhibit at Jackson Artworks

2009-05-25T08:39:00.021-05:00

Steven Tamminga, Melting 1

Jackson Artworks is a spacious gallery in the Old Market district of Omaha, a few blocks from the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts (galleries and a great residency program). Serendipitously, "Facets," an exhibit of encaustic paintings by five Minneapolis-based artists, was up in March at the same time as the Metamorphosis show in Lincoln.

Caleb Coppock selectively uses opaque and translucent paints over under-paintings that may be ink or gouache (the line detail remained crisp through subsequent fuses). This is part of his 5-panel (12" x 60") Untitled:

Detail:

My Structure, is a stylistic departure from most of his work:

Bethany Kalk is another MCAD graduate. She was raised in the Saviano tribe in Papua New Guinea, and derives her patterns from Sepik traditions of tattooing and linework (flowing, yet controlled).
Below top: Infusion of Cyan
Below bottom: title not available

Barbara Roche had a series of twenty-one 12" x 12" paintings, Fugue States. Examples below:

Barbara also waxed colorful, in pieces such as Matrix - Day 5:

Steven Tamminga used the wood ground as part of his design in Grateful Dance 2 (below), a departure from his usually opaque work like the one at the top of this posting.

Jeffrey Hirst's grid-based pieces were counterweight to the delicacy and control some of the other artists focussed on; they struck me as opaque, textured, weighty presences, and I speculated that this artist must be one happy mark-maker. This would have been a less interesting show without the contrast his work provided.

Belmont, 34" x 27"

East Bend, 28" x 26"

Enclosure, 44" x 30"

I would have made a third pass through the gallery, but I had to cover hundreds of rainy miles that afternoon. I left wanting to see more work by all five artists, perhaps in different contexts - solo shows, or grouped with other artists. This must be one sign of a successful exhibit.

To inspire us! The Metamorphosis show in Lincoln

2009-05-17T09:10:00.029-05:00

What a coup! I recovered the camera I used at the "Metamorphosis" show in Lincoln! Upside: we all finally have some photos from this March exhibit. Downside: I need to learn more about shooting artwork under different lighting conditions with a tiny camera that has myriad functions. (Professional photographers in our group, these will make you smile!) It may have been a mistake to read the camera manual.

[above: Judith Williams, Portentous Pods; (our) Jane Michalski, Veiled Construct I; Daniella Woolf, Round and Rusty]

Forty artists were represented in this national exhibit, which was sponsored by Haydon Art Center in Lincoln, and the International Encaustic Association, and organized by the energetic team of Susan Schenk and Margaret Berry. They put out a call for submissions last summer, with a December deadline. Juror was George Neubert, Director of the Flatwater Art Association. I particularly appreciated his comment at the opening reception that artists in our medium are slow for our times. I think this applies, still, to much of art-making in these speed-heady days. It's slow. It takes time. It is gratification delayed to the nth degree. We are definitely, perversely, swimming against the current of the 21st century.

Right: Jeff Juhlin,
Regeneration #2

Below: Amelia Currier,
Aurora Agave

Allyson Sanburn Malek,
Wax Windows: Lime, Grape, Lemon

Yvonne Buijs-Mancuso
Karmic Burdens

Above: Sandi Miot, Secrets II; right: Russell Thurston, Garden #5

Pride of place went to Mari Marks, whose 44" x 76" diptych, Sedimentary Series, Terra Sienna, spanned one of the gallery alcoves. (A worthy photo would have required proper lighting and a better lens!)

The Haydon Art Center is in the gallery district, in the old warehouse area of Lincoln, a few blocks from the University of Nebraska campus and the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery. Lincoln is a city that takes its First Fridays very seriously, as I found out once the Haydon closed for the evening, and we found other galleries still packed on into the night.

If Lincoln can mount an encaustic show of this caliber, we can do it here in Chicago, right?

New Member

2009-05-06T18:43:00.008-05:00

Hi, my name is Michele Thrane and I’m an encaustic artist from the northwest suburbs. I’ve been painting with encaustics for a few years. It wasn’t until I experimented with encaustics at a friend’s studio that I decided that I wanted to learn more. I bought my own supplies and like many others bought Joanne Mattera’s book and started experimenting. I work small and primarily on paper.

I have B.F.A. from many years ago. I didn’t paint much for years and then started painting in acrylics. I then got interested in mixed media and digital art. The encaustics are an extension of my other art interests and give new dimensions to my work. Encaustics seem to pull together and give depth to ideas that I had played with in previous work.

I make my own encaustic medium, and buy R & F colors. I usually start by making marks on paper with paint or ink and then add the wax. Sometimes I start with a monoprint.

This past year I took a short course on digital photography and plan to use ecnaustics with my photography but haven’t tried it yet.

I have had paintings in juried shows at Woman Made, Highland Park Art Center and a few other venues in the Chicago area.

I am new to blogging but excited about the opportunity to learn and share ideas with a community of encaustic artists.

Thanks Shelley for getting the blog started.

We're public! And . . . . a new technique book

2009-04-15T20:01:00.001-05:00

April 15th is more than just a tax deadline: our blog is now public. A visit to Kathleen Waterloo's studio has been planned for May 12th. Announcements will be sent to members by e-mail this week.

I had a chance to browse through a new book, Encaustic Workshop, by Patricia Baldwin Seggebruch. She has written a compendium that will convince you that you, too, can be fearlessly imaginative when it comes to creating and combining techniques in wax and other media (e.g., mica, shellac, coffee grounds, ad infinitum). It is also sound evidence that encaustic continues to inspire artists to new creative heights. I imagine the author's studio door is posted with a huge artists' mantra "what if?" sign.

Photos from Haydon Art Center, Jackson Art Works, and the Castle Gallery (R&F Biennial) will come soon.

Metamorphosis Show?

2009-04-02T12:35:00.000-05:00

So Shelley,
Did you make it to the reception for the "Metamorphosis Show"? How did it go? I got the catalogue and was very pleased with the other work. I'd love to hear about your experience.
Here is an image of a painting I am showing in Florida at Katherine Butler Gallery. It's called "Yellow Meets Blue"
Does anyone else have other images to show? I'd love to see some more of the others work.

Jane

Greetings from another wax enthusiast

2009-03-05T18:45:00.000-06:00

I have used wax on and off with my photography over the past 10 years.
It is always a challenge to use but I love it.
I attended the Poetic Dialogue at the Cultural Arts Center and was totally inspired by the work of Lynda Lowe.If you are not familiar with her work, you can visit her website here. I find her work totally inspirational.

I am interested in exploring the play of light, depth, complexity and simplicity. I would welcome a critique group to discuss issues that come up with encaustics. (I am located in Evanston, the first suburb north of the windy city).
I have a blog in which I try to share things that might be of interest in the creative life.

(Well) beyond Chicagoland

2009-02-28T13:57:00.000-06:00

As you can see from Tina's entry, FusedChicago welcomes artists from our beautiful Third Coast and well beyond. There are concentrations of artists on both coasts who use encaustic and have organized into groups. Here in the Midwest, either fewer artists use wax, or fewer want to organize (no surprise). If there are artists anywhere in the heartland who want to join up, it makes sense to welcome them to our Chicago group. Eventually a name change is something we may have to consider. In any case, I'll put out the welcome sign in the R&F Paints General Forum.

Can you let me know what you think about opening the blog to outside readers? I have had two e-mails requesting this. If you vote yes, would you prefer to post a new introductory blog, with different information, or leave as is? Comments?

Next weekend is the opening of the "Metamorphosis" show in Lincoln, Nebraska. I am always curious to see a spectrum of work in encaustic art, so, barring a snowstorm in Iowa, I'll aim to be there. Jane Michalski and I both have work in this show. If you don't want to make that 9-hour drive yourself, there is a reasonably priced catalog that is available on blurb.com. However, it's almost impossible to find it on that website; it's easier to access the order form through haydonartcenter.org. It speaks well for Lincoln that the Haydon Art Center usually gets a crush of people at its First Friday openings; it sounds like an art-savvy city.

Hello from Tina

2009-02-27T17:46:00.000-06:00

Hi, I am Tina Elkins, a painter from Cleveland, Ohio. OK, that is not in Chicago or greater Chicagoland, but I hope that I am geographically close enough to be a part of Fused Chicago. I have been looking for an ongoing connection with other encaustic artists for quite awhile and Fused Chicago looks like it might be the place!

I have been painting a good long time, but never found my true voice until I started working in encaustic. I was working primarily in oils when first introduced to it about 10 or 12 years ago. Unfortunately is was a lousy introduction and I struggled with some very bad information and sloppy, haphazard technique. (I was told to use raw yellow wax and melt kid's crayons into it for color! Clear wax or medium wasn't even mentioned.) I was fascinated with the surface and I saw the potential, but was working in the dark.

After a longish break from art-making for family reasons, my love of painting and pure need to make art got me back into the studio. I finally got a decent introduction to the media in 2003 through a workshop with Jan Harrison Wells, and through Joanne Mattera's very fine book. Like love at first site, this has been "it" for me ever since. Encaustic, in combination with oil paint, oil pastel and the occasional use of digital prints, is now my exclusive media.

I have found that this media has brought together the various threads and shreds of ideas and techniques that I have been working with for 20 years. My love of layering, color and surface is finally working with my ideas and imagery. Conceptually I am interested in themes of science, technology and history; visually I express them through color, surface and line.

My personal stats: I work full time as a photography stylist, am married and have a 7 year old son. I work out of my home in an attic studio. Most of my supplies come from R&F, Enkaustikos (fineartstore.com), Evans Encaustics and miscellaneous stuff comes from Cleveland's pathetic local suppliers. I work on cradled panels and MDF flat panels, usually with a paper substrate. I went to Cleveland Institute of Art then Miami University and where I got my BFA and MFA respectively in painting.

Like everybody, I am looking for good, clear less expensive wax. Last fall I bought some wax from Swan's apiary (pastilles) but I was disappointed in the lack of transparency. I finally got fed up and ordered some wax from Enkaustikos and that has been fine, but more expensive. I still cannot make my own medium to match the quality of R&F's- again, I am hoping to learn more on this too. (I'm using the 9:2 ratio that R&F and some other artists use instead of the 8:1) I have been using pre-made colors, but eventually may try to make my own. Right now I just need to work, so I am going to put that off for awhile.

I have a very basic blog: tinaelkinsart.blogspot.com with a link to a second blog te-te-te.blogspot.com. The first one is for posting images, and the second is primarily for written stuff. I can be reached at tinaelkins8@gmail.com. I don't have all that much posted, but I am working a lot now and more stuff will go up regularly. I look forward to hearing from everyone!

Response to Jan

2009-02-16T13:59:00.000-06:00

Jan, I usually buy from R&F, but in the Womack's new encaustic book they list https://www.dadant.com/catalog/ as a source for natural and clear beeswax. I didn't check prices. I'd be curious as to how it compares with your sources.

Ken Gold's Art

2009-02-12T23:59:00.000-06:00

Hello all, my name is Ken Gold, another self-taught encaustic artist. Originally from California, I have lived in Chicago on and off for 15+ years, with the off years being in the Netherlands and Singapore. My education is as an animal behaviorist, and I have been creating and showing my art for the last 7 years, although I am relatively new to encaustic work - going on my 3rd year. You can view some of my work at KenGoldArt.com.

Prior to teaching myself encaustic painting I had only painted a few pictures using acrylics - including a mural (Chimp Kid) as part of the Hubbard Street Mural Project. I have been taking photos most of my life, and was looking for a technique to collage my photos into one-of-a-kind pieces when I saw a demo of encaustic painting. Although the artist wasn't doing collage or using photos, something clicked in my creative brain that told me this would be an exciting medium in which to explore some of my ideas. I bought the R&F starter set of colors, got a griddle, a heat gun and some brushes and started to paint on 5"x7" fiberboard to see if I could teach myself encaustic collage.

In 2007 I received a CAAP grant to attend the R&F workshop offered that Autumn in Chicago. It was worthwhile, affirming that I was doing things safely (and archivally), and exposed me to the entire R&F color pallete. My work has continued to evolve (my biggest piece is 16"x20"), and for the last 6 months I have been making encaustic sculptures in a series called Totems.

I love the encaustic medium for its textures, ability to layer and the vibrancy of the colors. I am not much of a planner when creating, and experiment a lot with color, shape and texture. In one sense I find encaustic forgiving, in that I can scrape off and redo parts which I don't like. Yet, when creating sculptures, the fusing process has proven difficult and often very unforgiving. I primarily use a mini torch or heat gun for fusing underlayers, and the torch or a sealing iron for the final layers. Then I scrape or score as needed, usually with old dental tools.

I still work as an animal behaviorist to pay the bills, working for American Humane protecting animals on film and TV productions. As my work often takes me out of town, and encaustic is not an easily mobile medium, there are frequent extended stretches of time that I cannot paint. During my travels I continue to take lots of photos, sketch ideas and gain insight and inspiration from nature, architecture and visits to art galleries and museums. When in Chicago I try to spend as much time as I can in my studio in the Albany-Carroll Arts Building in Garfield Park.

beeswax

2009-02-12T17:42:00.000-06:00

Hello all. I'd be interested in hearing where people buy their beeswax. I make my own encaustic medium, pretty much following the standard 1 part damar to 8 parts beeswax recipe. I've gotten it from a couple of different honey companies ( Southeast Texas and a place in Michigan called Stakich) Where have you all ordered from and have you got any recommendations on best quality/price. ? Thanks!
Jane

Bridgette Guerzon Mills- mixed media artist

2009-02-08T20:08:00.000-06:00

Forever Constant
mixed media and encaustic, 8x8 inches

Hi, my name is Bridgette Guerzon Mills and I just recently moved to Chicago from Seattle and am looking forward to connecting to other artists who do encaustics here. I have been making and selling my hand bound journals on my web site amanobooks.com since 2003. But my love is painting and I started to paint and show my work in 2006. Since then I have had my work in several shows as well as been published in several national magazines and books. Right now I am in a "quiet period" since we just moved and I am still adjusting to Chicago living. Plus my son turned 2 last month and keeps me pretty busy! But I am fortunate to have my studio in my home and I work when I can. I am using this time right now to paint and paint and paint and learn about the opportunities here in the midwest.

I first began to experiment with encaustics in 2004 after seeing a beautiful encaustic painting at a gallery in Seattle. I was intrigued. So I taught myself. When I began to have opporuntities to show my work I thought, "I better see if I'm doing this right". So I took a 2 day workshop with Patricia Baldwin Seggebruch. Turned out I was, phew!

She brought me into her fold of other women artists who did encaustic work and we had an informal group that would meet once a month at her studio. I could only make it a few times as I lived about 40 minutes away and my son was a baby. But it was a great time, when I could make it. We would meet at her studio and paint together. Catch up on what everyone had been up to artwise. We brought our own lunches and at lunchtime we would talk business- art shows, publishing opportunities, workshops, marketing ideas, etc. All the women there also taught workshops in their own disciplines- print, encaustic, collage, so it was a diverse group with the common bond that we loved to work in wax. It was a really supportive group and I am lucky to have been part of that.

I have friends in Portland who formed their own IEA group and they meet once a month and do a skill share. Judy Wise often posts about their meetings and it looks like fun and a great way to network and learn new things.

My web site is guerzonmills.com
My art blog is contemplating the moon

Tangled Sky Studio

2009-02-08T14:36:00.000-06:00

My name is Beth Billups and I'm writing to you from my small studio in Evanston. After leaving the corporate world behind (after the birth of my first child) I studied tile making at Pewabic Pottery in Detroit, MI. I purchased a used kiln, set up shop in my basement and did shows at the Pottery had work in Galleries around Michigan. I had a second child 18 months later and continued to work and play with clay for the next 5 years....then came child #3. I found it all too much to juggle and took a 2 year hiatus from creating (with the exception of knitting). During this time we moved from Ann Arbor to Evanston and once we were settled in the muse found me. I had just had my kiln hooked up and worked on a group of tiles for two weeks which ended up turning black in the kiln (arrrg!). That same day I received the class brochure for the Evanston Art Center and thought the encaustics class sounded really interesting. I was totally smitten after my first class. I studied with Holly Holmes for two semesters and turned an old storage room with a large window into a studio on the main floor of my house. I painted for two years before I started selling. I've done a few small group shows over the past year and have been selling on Etsy since last June. This year I am trying to put myself out there a bit more and am applying to a few juried shows and approaching a few galleries. I started a studio blog last August to keep myself motivated and to connect with other artists and customers. I try to paint at least 4 or 5 days (or nights) a week and am truly in love with encaustics. I'm planning to attend the Encaustic Conference in Montserrat this

June and look forward meeting a few of you then (if not sooner!). Nice to meet you all and many thanks to Shelley for kicking things off....

April Nomellini

2009-02-07T23:22:00.001-06:00

Hello everyone. My name is April Nomellini, and I am in the barely emerging artist category. I came to art late in life. I still have my day job (controller at a small ad agency), and am just starting to get my work out there. I am totally new to blogging.

I started painting about 6 years ago, mostly in watercolor. I’ve been taking classes in drawing and watercolor at Evanston Art Center and at Lill Street, and an assortment of watercolor workshops. I did an artists’ residency in Italy – a great experience. I’m currently studying watercolor with Ed Hinkley. My watercolors have been is several group shows. At the ArtWalk Ravenswood last fall, my encaustics were on display for the first time.

My first encounter with encaustic was at a gallery in Evanston about 3 years ago. I was mesmerized by a painting and wanted get inside it. The tag said “encaustic”. I asked the gallery owner what encaustic was and she explained what little she knew about it.

I don’t go to many galleries or art events, but for the next year, wherever I went that featured art, I’d find myself drawn to the only encaustic piece in the room. At large events or intimate galleries, no matter how big or small the piece was, whether it was in a prominent spot or tucked in a corner, without knowing what it was, I’d find it and stare at it for a long time. When I’d ask what the medium was, the reply was always “encaustic”. I knew I had to learn more about it.

Two years ago, I went to the R&F factory and took a week long introductory workshop with Cynthia Winika. It was fabulous and I was hooked. I’m slowly but surely setting up my sunroom as an encaustic studio, but in the meantime, I’ve only been able to work with it once a month at a friend’s studio. Hopefully I’ll be able to do it more often this year.

I love the translucence, the texture, the colors, the smell, the versatility. It’s amazing stuff. I tend to work very freely and intuitively. I like to build layers of color and texture, collage in ripped up watercolor paintings, scrape & dig and build up more layers, stain or make marks with oil sticks. Each step is a response to the previous ones. I just keep playing till I’m done.

I’d love to hear any suggestions you have for working larger. I’ve been working pretty small, nothing bigger than 11” x 13”, and would like to try a bigger piece. Since I’m still trying to get my space set up, I’d also be curious to see how your studios/workspaces are set up. If any of you would like a visitor, please let me know!

Shelley, thank you for starting this up.

Thanks for getting this started

2009-02-05T16:23:00.000-06:00

Shelley and anyone else,
It's great that you are getting this started, Shelley. I've never done Blog before, either, but like you, I noticed that there were groups for encaustic artists elsewhere, but not in the Chicago region.
I'm at a point in my career where connecting with other artists is important, and if they do encaustic work, that's golden!
As way of introducing myself: I've been painting for years and years, but often with breaks in between the strongest art activity. The biggest break I had was for child rearing; something that happens to a lot of women artist's, I think. My two boys are now ages 13 and 9, and while they still need me, they are old enough to be in an after school program, and understand that "Mommy is working " now. Even if that means that I am in my studio, essentially having fun painting. I'm at a point where I am seriously pursuing exhibition opportunities, entering juried shows and making new work on a regular basis. I guess I'm at the "emerging" stage for this body of work, though my age is mid-career.
I came to encaustic painting about 4 years ago. Previously I had worked in pastels, oil, and mixed-media. When I came back into my studio and started to work seriously again, I turned from work that had been mixed- media poetic narrative back to doing abstract work. I had a concept for a painting that needed something waxy in it, recalled that that would mean encaustic, did a search on my computer and voila: scads of information about the reemergence of encaus tic painting. Most notably, I came across Joanne Materra's book on encaustic painting. I ordered the book, took one look at it and knew that I wanted to go in that direction. I had already been working on plywood panels and had a love of transluscent layers and rich surfaces. Around that time I went to a demonstration that Kathleen Waterloo had at Melanie Cooper Gallery and learned a little about how to proceed. After that, I just set up my studio for encaustic painting, bought a torch, some beeswax and damar varnish crystals and started in. I've basically taught myself how to handle the wax for my aesthetic needs.
Last year I got a CAAP grant from the Chicago Dept. of Cultural Affairs, showed in Around the Coyote and had a piece in a show at Oakton Community College. So far this year, I've had a piece accepted into the Int'l Encaustic Artists show in Nebraska and will hang a couple of pieces with a group of Neighborhood Artists here in Logan Square (N.A.I.LS. Neighborhood Artists in Logan Square) I'm also getting involved with planning and producing a neighborhood Arts festival in Logan Square that will take place summer.
Whew!! It's going to be a busy, but I hope productive year.
The great thing about being a visual artist is that even if the economy stinks, you can still make art. Maybe not sell it as much, but no one can take away the excitment of the creative process.
And the impulse for creativity will always look for a place to come out.
I'll attach an image and hope that somebody else jumps in.
Jane

2009-02-03T22:39:00.001-06:00

Welcome! FusedChicago is getting up and running. This blog is for Chicago area artists who have expressed some interest in a group for those who use encaustic in their work. It's a place to brainstorm, and to that end, feel free to put your ideas here: introduce yourself, raise questions, and offer your thoughts.

I'll take the plunge. After getting trained as a lawyer, I turned around and started doing art when my second child (now 21) was toddling. I took weekly art classes for several years and then decided to do a proper art major. I got my B.A. in studio art (painting) and worked mostly in oils until 2003, when I took an encaustic workshop at Ox-Bow. For many years my art was image-based and related mostly to the feminist narrative but about two years ago, it took a turn for the abstract, and kept going, to my surprise. Presently my paintings are more accurately described as wall sculptures - Sierra High (below) is a good example. I am starting to exhibit outside of Illinois - Nebraska, Michigan, Ohio - and recently had my work chosen by JoAnne Mattera for an award at a show in the Boston area. This the first year my work has been included in the R&F Biennial "Encaustic '09." On the experience spectrum, I am almost "mid-career."
S. Gilchrist, Sierra High:

For a few years I've been mumbling that there oughtta be a group for encaustic users, why doesn't someone step up and start it, I'd join right in. Now that I don't struggle so much with the medium itself, I'm surprised to find myself still thinking we ought to have a group. And I'm further surprised to find that I'm one who is starting it, but it's not my task alone - I'm hoping we pick up some momentum, and maybe expand. New England Wax is a 50+ member group with artists from the various states (their website is newenglandwax.org), but our area is much less compact.

Here in the 'hood is a good place to start at least. I think it's good to get to know each other, and harder to do in practice; I haven't met most of the artists I e-mailed last week, although I know the work of most of you. I think it would be great to meet each other and see how/where we work. Numbers give us a little heft: we can get help with technical problems, arrange to show our work as a group, host national juried shows, hear the news from the annual encaustic conference, be resources for each other. The International Encaustic Association has a couple of regional chapters; individuals can always join it, but we could also consider linking up as a group. Let's discuss those ideas, though, and please add yours freely.

Last thing: This is the first blog posting I have ever done IN MY LIFE. Please bear with me while I get used to a) writing posts and b) handling this site.

That is wayyy too much from me. I hope someone else will chime in, introduce yourself, state your wish list, and attach a photo - it's easy! Thanks.