Happiness. My painting “Sleeve” made it into On the Edge, the juried show at the Montserrat Encaustic Conference slated for June. This is something I wanted very much but didn’t in the least take for granted. It’s an honor and a relief to get in.

The theme - On the Edge - is a thought provoking one. Encaustic’s in the midst of a tremendous growth spurt and I think the medium’s gaining a reputation (deserved or not) for having a certain “look.” So the opportunity, through this show, to talk about edge pushing - new ideas, new looks, new paintings, new movement - feels especially interesting & relevant. I can hardly wait to see the entire show!

What do you think? Is there an encaustic “look?” Good or bad?

Wow. Great article about the new Flickr aesthetic in today’s NYTimes.

New discovery! The PBS show How Art Made the World links artmaking to human evolution and it’s fascinating. A wonderful blend of soft and hard; art and science; anthropology, biology, history and archeology… And the suspense! (It’s got a heckofabunch for an art history show.) Enjoy.

Linda Womack has compiled a list of naturally dyed and non-toxic beeswax products on her “Embracing Encaustic” blog. SO worth checking out. Thank you, Linda!

A few years ago I attended an artist’s talk at a painting show in Boulder. The artist was from New York and he painted thoughtful interiors - people sitting at tables, a woman on a bed, looking out a window - that sort of thing. They reminded me of mid-century American short stories. I liked them very much. But it’s what the artist said that stuck with me. He said he used to be an abstract painter but that after awhile he felt like he was repeating himself, repeating the same gesture, so he moved toward realism to keep things fresh.

This is something I think of often, especially during transition times when I’m starting a new body of work (as I am now). It begs the question “what is abstraction?” Is it painting based on the real? Or the imagination? Is it gesture? Paintings about paint? Painting about emotions? Paintings about composition or pattern?

To me the word “abstract” represents a continuum of painting ranging from the purely abstract (paintings about paint) to paintings that appear abstract but are actually inspired by looking at real things. I enjoy painting from both ends of the spectrum but believe my strongest work comes after sustained periods of looking out at the word, not looking in.

Kairos - ancient Greek for “right or opportune moment.”

There’s an elephant on this blog. Can you see it? I just looked back at recent posts and realized something’s missing - images of new work. Conspicuous, eh? For an art blog at least… Hmm. What to do?

Update - April 14th, 2008

Just wanted to let you know… new work’s on the way, but since it’s very much in progress it’s not ready for posting yet. Will let you know when it is. Thank you for reading! And being patient with me.

Something to celebrate! A dandelion bloomed in our yard this morning. The first of the season. The bees have been flying off and on for last few weeks but there’s been nothing for them to forage on. Dandelions represent the first significant pollen source of the year. Pollen equals protein. And the honeybees need lots of it to feed their developing brood.

Here in Colorado we aim to time the installation of new bee colonies with the first big dandelion bloom. April 21st is the recommended date. We’re a wee early this year. It’s welcome news.

The bees are flying. I took this picture of a busy hive entrance earlier this week. There are guard bees in there somewhere… but they’re hard to see during rush hour. It’s their job to stand at the front door and make sure everyone trying to get in belongs & those who don’t stay out. How do they tell? By smell!

But what are they smelling? What makes the bees of one hive smell differently from another? Until recently I believed (as many beekeepers do) that the hive smell - the home smell - comes directly from the queen. Not so according to University of Colorado Professor, Michael Breed. He presented info at a recent BCBA meeting showing that the hive smell comes from… beeswax.

But doesn’t all beeswax smell the same? Apparently not (and this is fascinating). Beeswax is a complex substance made up of a bunch of different compounds (hydrocarbons, esters, acids & such). It’s not a static substance. The composition of beeswax - the proportion of compounds that make it up - varies from hive to hive. In other words… Each family, each colony of bees is genetically programmed to make it’s own brand of beeswax that smells differently from the wax made by other bees.

Does this mean an encaustic painting smells like home to a honeybee? I don’t know… But I love the idea of a human made art object having cultural significance to creatures of another species.

Love this.

In the mood for a giggle? Check out Make My Logo Bigger Cream. Anyone who’s ever struggled to please a client should get a kick.

Great news for the bee-interested in the Boulder-Denver area! Julie Finley of Sister Bee and Garden Director at Growing Gardens in Boulder is offering a hands-on beekeeping class. The curriculum looks fabulous. Julie is a gifted teacher. Highly, highly recommended.

For more info please email Julie@growinggardens.org. Here’s a printable registration form. And a brochure.

Class 1 – Introduction
Date March 8, 2008 Time 9:00 am to 12:00
Meet the instructor, share expectations and goals for the course. We will explain the top bar method and the basics of beekeeping. There will be a demonstration hive available for inspection and plans for building your own Top Bar Hive and information for purchasing supplies and bees.

Class II – Meeting the Bees
Date April 5, 2008 Time 9:00 am to 1:00
We will meet the caste of bees that live in a colony and cover the ecology of honey bees. In the lab we will learn about hive preparation, how to install packaged bees or swarms, and what to look for in your new colony.

Class III - Colony Care I
May 3, 2008 Time 9:00 am to 1:00
You will learn how to handle combs, trouble-shoot problems, manage build-up, and maintain the overall health of the hive. The lab will apply the knowledge gained from the class through hands-on beekeeping.

Class IV - Colony Care II
June 7, 2008 Time 9:00 am to 1:00
We will review how to maintain healthy colonies and discuss sustainable agriculture practices and methodologies. In the lab we will review proper handling of the combs, assessing queen vitality and brood development and we will learn how to observe honey flow and colony strength through the seasons.

Class V – Practical Lab I
July 12, 2008 Time 9:00 am to 1:00
In this three hour lab you will have the opportunity to gain confidence and familiarity with honeybees and learn how to work a top-bar hive successfully. You will gain knowledge in how to manage hives for optimum honey production and colony health. We will begin the harvest of Cultiva honeycomb for Farmer’s Market sales.

Class VI – Practical Lab II
August 2, 2008 Time 9:00 am to 1:00
This class will give you a chance to improve your skills and gain more experience handling combs and bees. We will continue to harvest honey. We will discuss and practice sustainable techniques for monitoring and preventing diseases and parasites.

Class VII – Fall Preparations
September 6, 2008 Time 9:00 am to 1:00
In this class we will review the use and application of Formic acid, Oxalic acid, herbal bee calm and other preparations for maintaining a healthy hive. We will also learn alternative honey processing techniques.

Class VIII – Winter Care
October 4, 2008 Time 9:00 am to 1:00
This class will focus on the steps needed to prepare the hives for winter. The lab will demonstrate a variety of winterization techniques unique to top bar hive management.

Class IX - Honeybees Give Us More than Honey
November 1, 2008 Time 9:00 am to 1:00
Here we will learn how to process wax and how to make mold candles, ornaments, salves and lip balms. This 4 hour practical lab will be devoted to making samples of these various products and enjoying the fruits of your labor.

“Class materials and methods will focus on the Top Bar Hive, and a natural means of raising bees. Thank you, for your interest in honeybees, Growing Gardens, and our relationship to community.”

- Julie Finley
Growing Gardens
3198 Broadway
Boulder, CO 80304
303 413 7248 x 1
303 413 7201 fax

Looking north. Working on a new series of paintings about tree roots, quilt patterns. mushroom cultivation, honeycomb, pollen collection, stained glass windows and worm farming too. Somehow they’re all connected. I’m thinking about growth. The geometry of growth and wondering how living things are formed.

Aren’t color charts wonderful? I picked this beauty up at a Golden Working Artist paint demo hosted by Creations Arts Space in Boulder. What a great experience! Lots of helpful information plus a generous opportunity to dip into some specialty acrylic painting mediums I’d never tried before. I don’t know about you, but I always feel curious and a little baffled by the choices in the acrylic paint aisle. (Glass Bead Gel anyone?) It was neat to actually get my hands on some of this stuff.

Acrylic and encaustic aren’t compatible. They repel each other. So I won’t be bringing these products into my wax studio anytime soon. But they were fun to play with and I recommend them to acrylic painters who want to add an encaustic-inspired depth to their paintings without investing in the full encaustic experience. The Soft Gel and Regular Gel seem especially suited for this.

My color chart above was hand painted and signed by JR.

UPDATE - Wednesday, February 27th, 12:25 AM

Well… I tried the Soft Gel last week and it’s nothing like encaustic. Nothing at all. Layers appear thinner and are much more plastic-y than encaustic which has a depth and patina all its own. I DO love Golden’s acrylic molding paste. It’s thick and matte. Kind of like plaster with a chalky quality. It doesn’t set right away like encaustic does. Gives you time to operate.

It’s Spirit Awards season. As a voter this means I’m cramming on the nominees - watching as many films as I can before the voting deadline in February.

Julian Schnabel’s new film The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (nominated for best feature, director, screenplay and cinematography) has been on my wanna-see list for awhile. I finally checked it out this weekend. Dear readers, it is stunning. Heartbreaking. Beautiful in every way. For those of you unfamiliar with the plot, it tells the true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, a French magazine editor who wrote a memoir by blinking his eye after suffering a massive stroke and paralysis at age 43. It’s also a film about the redemptive power of art.

Director Schnabel - who is a painter - said this interesting thing about Bauby in the Fall 2007 issue of Filmmaker magazine:

“It was as if some, I don’t know, God or whoever said: ‘You can be a great artist and have no body or you can be a perfectly healthy and normal but you’ll be an ordinary person: Which one would you like to be?’”

Hmm…