“Pollination can be defined in so many ways: literally, emotionally, metaphorically, politically or poetically. I chose each artist for his or her unique vision and ability to use encaustic to express it. I looked for artists whose work speaks to movement, change, storytelling and reformation… Laura Tyler uses flower parts, the essence of pollen itself, combined and reconfigured to convey a sense of rebirth.”

- Gregory Wright

You’re warmly invited to check out the show on Beekeeper Day. I will be there with Gregory Wright and Tony Lulek, President of the Norfolk County Beekeeper Association and will present my documentary, Sister Bee. We’ll talk about about art, wax and the bee.

Beekeeper Day
Saturday, November 19th from noon to 4:00 pm
Brush Art Gallery and Studios
256 Market Street
Lowell, MA

LINKS:
Pollination: Beyond the Garden, Gregory Wright’s curator’s statement
At Long Last, Pollination, opening night by Nancy Natale
Driving directions, Brush Art Gallery and Studios
Brush exhibit is the bee’s knees, Lowell Sun
Lowell art gallery exhibit explores Pollination, Encore
Sister Bee

Northwest corner, Rembrandt Yard Gallery

It was brave of Karen to invite me to show with her before we’d ever met but I’m so glad she did. Even though our paintings show different things we share an approach and it’s been a joy getting to know her.

Girl with the Steel Nose Ring by Karen Conduff, oil on canvas, (left)

We played with weight and light while balancing Karen’s epic portraits against my abstract botanicals. My favorite pairings (above and below)…

Reservoir and Sailing, encaustic and ink on panel

Karen’s, The Freidaphile, a Freida-esque portrait of Boulder’s Jan Kleinbord, is on the left below while a grid of my dandelion paintings is on the right. (I didn’t know this until the show, but Jan Kleinbord really does dress up like Frieda Kahlo for art presentations at local schools.)

From the entrance looking in, Rembrandt Yard Gallery, Boulder, CO

Karen is inspired by the way light falls on form, while I’m into shapes, especially edges.

From left to right starting at the top, Hawlike, The Sisters, No Detail Unlovely, Fluffy, Lick, Present, Rethinking the Fossil Record, The Way We’re Made, and Good Morning!

Some paintings seemed to ask for grids while others called for pairings or rows. (This row was particularly tricky to light.)

Lilac row, nine encaustic paintings

North wall, Rembrandt Yard Gallery, Boulder, CO

I like thinking about color as punctuation.

East facing pillar, Rembrandt Yard Gallery, Boulder, CO

The painting on the left below was drawn from a maple key (for some reason the maple shapes all ended up having a shield-like quality) while the one on the right was drawn from a dandelion.

Regal! and Anther, encaustic and ink on panel

West facing pillar, Rembrandt Yard Gallery, Boulder, CO

From left to right starting at the top, The Way We Stand, White Flag of Courage, Reflecting Tool, Spitting Image, 1989, See How We Lean Together, Soothsayer, Kewpie, and With Longing

Circle of Life by Karen Conduff, oil on canvas, (left)

Ox and Pancake, encaustic and ink on panel

Southwest corner, Rembrandt Yard Gallery, Boulder, CO

From top to bottom, It’s Hard to Say, Pickle and Walking Stick

The One You Want, encaustic and ink on panel, 22″ x 16″

The way we stand, you can see we have grown up this way together, out of the same soil, with the same rains, leaning in the same way toward the sun. See how we lean together in the same direction. How the dead limbs of one of us rest in the branches of another. How those branches have grown around the limbs. How the two are inseparable.

- Susan Griffin, Woman and Nature

Links:
Karen Conduff
Rembrandt Yard Gallery
Susan Griffin

Light and breezy, Studio 108 in Boulder, Colorado

My biggest challenge teaching-wise these last few years has been finding a consistently available, big-enough studio with reliable electricity. (My personal painting studio is too small for classes bigger than two or three.)

Artists at work, Studio 108, Boulder, Colorado

You can take Beginning Encaustic here on Friday, July 15th.

Thanks to Lisa McDonough for the tip and to John Horner for the warm welcome.

The way we stand, you can see we have grown up this way together, out of the same soil, with the same rains, leaning in the same way toward the sun.

- Susan Griffin, Woman and Nature

Out of the Same Soil
New Paintings by Laura Tyler and Karen Conduff
Opening reception, Thursday, June 23rd from 5:30 – 7:30 pm
Rembrandt Yard Gallery
1301 Spruce Street
Boulder, Colorado

Douris’ school cup, detail, Staatliche Museen, Berlin

According to the Classical Art Research Centre this is a rare image depicting “boys at school.” The seated figure is an older boy showing a younger one how to hold a wax tablet and stylus.

Bottom half of Douris’ school cup, 28.4cm diameter

Wax tablets were made by pouring a thin layer of melted wax into a raised-edge frame often made of wood but sometimes made of metal or ivory.

Birth certificate on a wax tablet, 128 AD

Don’t you wish you had one of these to noodle around with at home? More inspiring wax tablet images here.

Thank you, Johanna Drucker.

Sister Bee is screening in Leavenworth, Washington on Friday, March 25th as part of the Wax & Wane Encaustic Retreat (which looks downright restorative, by the way).

Thank you, Shannon Newby.

Nine paintings at BMoCA

A couple of years ago the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art underwent a massive facelift including a re-furb of its museum store. Boulder artist, and friend of mine, Sarah Kinn merchandised the space turning the formerly dusty, dog-eared shop into a destination shopping spot for local art and craft.

Paintings and books

Though not a conventional gallery, it was a pleasure to hang some of my early 5″ x 4″ botanicals there. A changeover in management last year brought new faces and ideas to BMoCA. (It’s an ever-changing place.) My friend is no longer there. Nor are my paintings. But for one short season it looked and felt like this.

Raking light

Watching this process reminds of the best and worst thing about working with wax. One: it’s bliss. And two: it’s bliss. Sometimes to the point of distraction.

A newish painting on exhibit at Art & Soul in Boulder, Colorado through the end of February, 2010.

This candy-esque chunk was inspired by a gone-by garlic blossom. After a year or so of swearing off Alizarin crimson I am unreservedly back on it again.

My downtown Boulder painting studio will be open to the public from noon to 6 on Saturday and Sunday October 2rd, 3rd, 9th and 10th. You’re warmly invited to stop by and say hello.

Open Studios 2010
October 32rd, 3rd, 9th and 10th
Noon to 6:00 pm
In the alley between Pine and Mapleton at 15th in Boulder, Colorado

Tusk, encaustic and ink on panel, 5″ x 4″

Using a new pigment here, Burnt Scarlet from R&F.

Serpent, encaustic and ink on panel, 5″ x 4″

This one, Chalice, could be a cup or a snout/trunk.

Chalice, encaustic, gold leaf and ink on panel, 5″ x 4″

I love white encaustic.

Joanne says,

“I am thinking about what to do next. I don’t want all you fabulous artists to jump off the cliff with me–this is not “Thelma and Louise”–so while I have departed, I want to see what I can come up with next, and where, before I make any big pronouncements.

In the meantime, you can follow what I’m up to at www.encausticconference.blogspot.com.”

Hang in there, Joanne! We are with you.

The opening is coinciding with the Louisville Street Faire, a small town food and music fest, so there will lots to do and see should you choose to stop by. There’s a nice little arts community budding in Louisville. If you’re in Colorado it’s worth checking out.

That’s what co-exhibitor David A. Clark said about juror, Joseph Carroll’s decision to give these three paintings a wall of their own at Flow & Control. I agree. It was ballsy choice and as the artist it was thrilling.

Three paintings anchoring the main wall at Montserrat’s 301 Gallery

I have a large gesture. It’s my tendency to draw things larger than they appear in life. Encaustic, however, encourages smallness. The paint cools quickly and it’s not unheard of for it to harden mid-stroke. Though it’s possible to work large in wax, I have better success rate, more of my paintings get completed successfully, when I keep my panels small.

Three paintings, 5″ x 4″

I knew when I shipped these pieces there was a chance they’d get relegated to smaller wall in a supporting role, especially if the show was more crowded or arranged more timidly. That’s the chance one takes when submitting diminutive paintings.

“Old Fashioned Rocketry,” “Castle,” and “Rainforesty”

Though small in size, my paintings read large (an inheritance from the drawings they started as, I suppose). I am thankful to Mr. Carroll for boldly giving them a wall of their own.

Though you can’t see them in the above image, the two pieces that hung on the wall to the right are wonderful. Hot and cold glyphs by Michele Thrane.

Gallerist Joseph Carroll chose works by ten artists to show at Flow & Control, the juried show happening at the Fourth Annual Encaustic Conference in June. I am honored and delighted to be included. The other nine are:

Jill Skupin Birkholeder
David A. Clark
Shelley Gilchrist
Ken Gold
Ruth Hiller
Nancy Lowe
Kelly Steinke
Michele Thrane
Robin Van Hoozer