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Thanks to everyone who stopped by during Open Studios 2007. Your questions are perennially interesting to me. Last year’s FAQs are listed here. This year’s top question was about pigment followed closely by some concerned questions about health and safety.

HOW DO YOU “DYE” YOUR BEESWAX?
Encaustic medium functions alternately as a binder, a clear glaze and a colored paint. One way to add color to encaustic medium is to add chips of oil stick. Oil sticks are paint sticks made of stiff oil paint in a waxy binder – kind of like big, juicy oil pastels. They’re great to work with because they’re easy to handle and measure. (Just slice a sixteenth to a half an inch off an oil stick and you’ve got plenty of pigment to tint an ounce or more of wax.) Some painters use oil paint from the tube. This works fine too if you don’t mind dealing with the mess. Dry pigments are a seductive but dangerous third option. I avoid them altogether although it’s possible to use them safely with proper protection of skin and lungs (you need a ventilation system with a hood). Always use gloves when handling pigments.

I HEARD ENCAUSTIC IS TOXIC. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY?
Yes there are health and safely issues related to encaustic paint. But no, it’s not a dangerous medium if you use it properly. Here are some safety tips to practice while using encaustic paint.

• Keep your paint cool. Never heat encaustic medium above 220 degrees Fahrenheit. Above that temperature and it starts to break down into bad-to-breathe compounds (aldehydes and such). But below that temperature it stays intact. Never melt beeswax over an open flame. Untempered beeswax melts around 140 degrees. The flash point of beeswax (the point at which its vapors can burst into flame) is around 490 degrees.

• Use proper ventilation. You need a source of fresh air coming into your studio and a fan to draw fumes out. Think about the way air flows through your studio. Position yourself upwind of fumes.

• Educate yourself about pigments. Some pigments are scientifically proven to be toxic, even carcinogenic to humans. (Cadmium anyone?) Avoid or use with caution. I’ve banned all known carcinogens from my studio. The city of Tucson has an excellent health and safety data sheet about artists’ pigments. Read it and adapt.

DO YOU TEACH?
Yes! I teach private lessons and small workshops by request. Please email me for more information. I’d be delighted to share what I know with you.

Here it is, dear readers “The Conversation.” This new encaustic painting is hanging at the Canyon Gallery in Boulder, Colorado at the Public Library as part of the Open Studios show.

When I started writing about painting titles my plan was to stop here with a story about “The Conversation.” But I’ve changed my mind. The power of abstract painting lies in its ability to inspire reverie, no? Which at its best is a highly personal, moving experience. I don’t want to pull you out of your own experience of this painting by saddling you with mine. So I’ll limit myself to sharing some background info. Stop reading here if you don’t want to know.

Painting titles usually pop unbidden while the painting’s being made, or soon after. This one was different. I felt stumped. I went back to the source for ideas – a memory of an afternoon spent photographing teasels. Gorgeous, spiny, weedy things. Teasel ideas started flowing. But nothing with the world teasel in it would do. Too literal. Too weasly.

But then something happened. I noticed I felt an emotional charge when I looked at the painting. This doesn’t happen equally for all paintings. And it’s a wonderful thing when it does. The charge had something to do with nostalgia. The process of forgetting and remembering again in a bittersweet way. Something about homesickness. And autumn too. I wanted a title that could hold all these ideas while still being specific. Titles based on the words nostalgia, remembering and forgetting felt too passive. I needed a story. Desperately. Back to the painting for more thinking. Stories arose (insert yours here). When I tripped on “The Conversation” it jangled. The choice was clear. Hope you like it too.

Here’s something interesting… It’s a string of art titles. I pulled them off the price list for the Open Studios show hanging at the Canyon Gallery in the Boulder, Colorado Public Library through October 14th. It’s a thought snapshot. An abbreviated peek into what a cross-section of Boulder’s artists are contemplating these days. Notice any trends? Curiosities? Sleeping potions? Can you guess which one’s mine?

San Michelle: A Place for the Soul; Princess Lollipops Teapot; Natural Fibers #1; Evening Light; Reversible Shadowboxes; Solomon Squared; Three Moons; Earth Wind Fire Fusion; Convalescent Rain; Illicit Poppy; 171; Siren’s Song; Midnight Flame; untitled; Toroweap Overlook, Just Above Lava Falls; Respite in the Garden; Sand Dunes; Lilies and Apricots – Full Bloom; Natsu, Upheaval Dome; Her Cousin; Kokoro (Spirit); Orchid Kimono; Study in Blue; Dreamscape: Land of Indian Blankets; Taos Bird Bush; Take a Gander; 16 Going on 17; Future Guacamole; Fish Jar; Tea Set; Raku Vase; Harvest; Portals of Peace-Matrix I; PP Revisited; The Grandmother; untitled; Construction Over Boulder; Buffaloes Grazing; Doubletwist; Challenge; Disco Dancer; Home Office – If the Client Only Knew; Red Scarf; Death in Our Forests; Alternate Paths to the Beginning; Psychedelic Mona Lisa; untitled from Caddo Lake; Zebra Finches; Walking Tea Set; Trust; Caribou Trai – The Aspen Gulley; Kohler Mesa; American Beauty; Dawn; Mystic Mark Series; Playing in Rainbows; Porcelain Teapot; Fading Summer; Dreamscape; Two Loops; Slotted Composition; Bend in the River; Rufina, Italy; Chautauqua Rhythms; Pelle Come Home; The Magic of Tango; Moody Chautauqua Morning; Hello Beautiful; Intervals I; Poseidon’s Treasure; Africa; Rainbow Tidepool; Spring Fling; She Who Watches Over the Hill of Slane; Tank 2; Inspiration of the Putti; Daydreamer; To Die For; I Wish to See Her Smile; Expanding Heaven; Bamboo and Poppies; RKS; VIEW (Visit Imagination Enchanted Wonderland); Fjordland in Orange; Phiale; Spanish Dancers; Ruby Fleur; Course; Dinner Set; Gaze Into Stargazer Lily; Lucha Libre; Lotus Flower Fountain; Cherry Blossoms; Sunset Maple; Monhegan Light House; Autumn Glow; Abstract #89; Sunburst; Passage; Indonesian Stella; Ring of Fire; Dining Table, 10 Chairs, Sideboard; Harvest Jug; Clouds at 2:54 p.m.; Wow!; Where Earth Meets Sky; Pitcher and Bowl; Solstice; One Summer Night; Practice, Practice, Practice; Brothers and Sisters; Neighborhood Place Setting; Vine Spiral; Crescent Phase; Thetis, Mermaid Goddess, Last Light; Sunrise Reflections; City Lights; Alaska on My Mind; Aspen Fire; Fandango; The Conversation; Ewer; Pine Cone Opus; Beach Baby; Mesa Verde Memory; Day Dreaming; Indian Peaks Sunrise; Breaking Trail; Spring Vines; Caramel Apple; Cherry Blossom Reflections; Calling Up the Morning; Vessel in black; Pablo’s Baby; Spooked; Under a Blue Cloud; Water/Foul