Encausticopolis

The Encaustic Studio: A Wax Workshop in Mixed-Media Art-My New Book from Interweave!

2012-01-04T15:35:00.000-08:00

The Encaustic Studio: A Wax Workshop in Mixed-Media Art (Pre-Order) - Interweave

Food to live for

2011-10-05T13:05:00.001-07:00

Tonite after a hard day shopping and making paint, we were treated to the sensational cheffing of Lello. Kim described our lunch in her blog that wonderful risotto. Tonite was white fish architecturally placed on greens with shrimp and other delectable seafood around the perimeter. He also made a torta di patate, and some kinda wonderful chocolate grand cru who knows what, with a yellow watermelon coulis, sprinkled with sweet petal blossoms. Can we take him home with us?

The Masseria kitchen

Lello serving the delectable seafood

Stunning dessert

Can we take him home?
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Location:Contrada Selvafina,Polignano a Mare,Italy

Making paint in Puglia

2011-10-05T12:47:00.001-07:00

Oy vey. The 19 pounds of R and F encaustic paint I sent to Italy Priority Mail on September 19, has not arrived. The encaustic medium I made, however did! So today Kim and I became paint-makers. Thank heavens she speaks Italian. We drove into our nearest town, Castellano, taking the back roads. I am getting more and more balls driving in Italy. Amongst these gorgeous back roads beautiful stone handmade walls delineate each property and the "highway." A woman dressed in black capris and a black bra, hangs laundry a la dolche vita. There is romance about everything in Italy. Avanti and on to Castellano, the ferramenta and the shop where the woman sells cheap cookware. Again, I thank my lucky stars that Kim can navigate the language as well as maps. Après ferramenta we are on our way to the art supply store to buy oil paints so we can squeeze them outta their tubes and add them to medium. We forgo the required wait time to remove the excess oil to leach out. We cut up small bamboo sticks to mix the paints, a presto-encaustic paint-not exactly like my "brother" Richard makes, not like Miles makes. Watch out fellas, Kimmie makes some kick ass paint. She really gets into it. There could be competition on the horizon! "TP" Tyler Paints?
Here are shots from this day.

Oil paint squeezed onto paper towels

Paint tins for mixing oil paint and encaustic medium

Kimmie pouring paint into silicon molds

Itialian stone brush rest

Aperitif helps with paintmaking process

"TP" fato a mano paint

Italian grandma making paints

using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Contrada Selvafina,Polignano a Mare,Italy

Teaching in Italy-Arrival

2011-10-04T11:51:00.001-07:00

Today we arrived in Puglia at the marvelous Masseria della Zingara. Kim and were just treated to a marvelous dinner by Lello.
Are we the co presidents of the Lucky Girl's Society, or what? We have unpacked the studio equipment and got the tables covered. Tomorrow set up and student arrival. This will be extraordinary! Here is the view from our balcony tonite

And the other side looking toward the pool and Trulli houses.

Kim is blogging at http://www.hersecretgarden.blogspot.com with her particular views of our trip.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Contrada Selvafina,Polignano a Mare,Italy

Thundering behind the studio

2011-09-17T07:16:00.000-07:00

Thundering hooves behind my studio in the late afternoon yesterday. A lot of creative energy here, or maybe it was Where is my dinner energy, for these gorgeous creatures. I'm having a bit of R and R on Whidbey after teaching marvelous artists at the Pacific Northwest Art School in Coupeville. Truly, a magical group. All new students, except one delicious return from Sun Valley. Packing up for the workshop in Italy next month at the Masseria. I bought my paper calendar for next year which already crowded. I am brainstorming new workshop ideas to keep it fresh and vibrant. There is a lot of interest in master classes and advanced workshops. Sadly, I will be missing the great class tomorrow and Sunday with Cathy Valentine at Wax Works West, Encaustic and India Ink. Love that Cathy girl.

Coffee Culture down Undah

2011-07-28T21:11:00.000-07:00

Coffees being delivered from the Bratwurst place in Melbourne at the Victoria Market.

This morning we got our coffee and chai latte at Stellarossa, currently in second place for the best flat white down undah.

Stellarossa flat white and chai latte in background.

In first place waaaay ahead of all the other's is from Lloyd, Pete and Linda's living room. The sublime foam of heavenly milk and the coffee so quintessentially perfect. The look, the way that cuppa kisses your lips and the bittersweetness of it all. Unforgettable. Regretfully there is no visual record of that heavenly experience.

Bean Scene Magazine

Stellaroma's had a magazine rack full of Bean Scene-which I am sure Lloyd and Pete read, along with Cigar Afficianado. Do you think they might be

???

Tognini's flat white

Third place also from Brisneyland, is a cuppa LavAzza from Tognini's, just down the street from our Boutique B and B.

Here is a lovely cup from the gorgeous restaurant in Sydney Botanical Gardens with Anthea. A very close runner up.

And in last place..

Macca's will be the one and only flat white across from the dorm in Ballarat.

Day off in Brisbane

2011-07-28T15:55:00.000-07:00

We started the day with retrieving a cuppy-cake or giant muffin for Desmond. We walked all over the city to find a wonderful farmer's market, and right across the street the Brisbane Library. There are several of these stacked bright rectangles with wacko windows.

Then on to the GoMa, the Gallery of Modern Art.

This hilarious sculpture reads Live from Briz Vegas. Perpetual Xmas. No Abstractions. We were told before we arrived in Brisbane besides being referred to as Briz Vegas, they also call it Brissie and Brisneyland. We were instructed to wear our gold bling.
Their collection faces Asia; they tend to show more Asian art. We saw an enormous exhibition of the Torres Strait Islands.

Headress

detail of Baldam (Shark Constellation) 2006 by Dennis Nona.

There was also a great show of very young emerging artists. This garment, titled Starving, by Shalisa Sanderson is for you, Rose Sellery! On the right is the detail-yes plastic forks

We then stopped into the State Library of Queensland, or the slq.

We were instructed by the lovely Janet de Boer to go up to the Bookarts floor. I especially loved the work of Mel Robson, one titled A Secret History.

Kim gets really silly reflecting the message on this sign for Darky Roots.

Encaustic Workshop in Sydney at Parkers

2011-07-24T16:50:00.000-07:00

Sophie Gralton's work

Whoa-hold your horses. This was one energetic group. I couldn't even get through the intros. These artists are ravenous for encaustic information, and started firing technical questions from minute one. It was great to go with the flow-in fact it was quite fun. The majority of participants were exhibiting working artists with large studios. They were hungry for the information, the R and F method and their fine products. I wish I had 5 days with them. Here is a peek at the work and participants.
Our host, Derek Parker of Parkers Fine Art Supplies is beyond fantastic, and provided us with Encauticbord, imported dove-tailed cradled panels and unbelievable French handmade paper from Moulin de Larroque, etc.etc. Derek is all about the finest quality.
Kim has become the consummate assistant, quietly keeping the medium flowing and being over-the-top terrific. Her blog today on Learning Aussie Lingo is hilarious. Getting to know the language here has been so much fun. It is simply gooorgeous and brilliant!

Parkers in Sydney

2011-07-23T14:34:00.000-07:00

Wall of pastels at Parkers in Sydney

I am teaching the R and F two day workshop for Derek Parker, an absolute Prince of a man. He is the 4th generation Parker to run this marvelous store, which opened in The Rocks in 1918. Kim blogs about it all in the best possible way at Her Secret Garden.

Teaching Encaustic in Australia

2011-07-19T03:01:00.001-07:00

An email arrived last year. Teach in Australia? I instantly said yes. It started a chain reaction in which I am presently caught. Half way through this trip, I have taught 28 students in 3 separate workshops in 9 days. The first at a beautiful art supply store which sells only the finest materials, the second in horse stables where we froze our tushies off, and the third in an upper crust boarding school ceramics studio. Every situation is different and each requires its own special set up. Because our equipment is the state-of-the-art, heavy, and requires a lot of electricity-the set up is always a challenge. I have learned that it always works out! No need to get upset, because magically like the theatre, when opening nite arrives, the cast and crew miraculously perform perfectly-the show goes off without a hitch, even though the rehearsals were abysmal. It is especially fun to figure out just what works best, for we are interested in giving a state-of-the-art workshop with state-of-the-art equipment. You can always set up an encaustic studio or workshop on a shoe string, but it is terrific to give students the best equipment with which to work. Students always do surprisingly good work. The best are sometimes those with the least art experience. They have no preconceived notions or expectations unlike the artists who think they should be making masterpieces or painting for their next show. What has been the most enriching and rewarding part in this enterprise are the bonds forged with people, and the connections made. Being able to see a country by interacting with people has been an enormous delight. When Kim and I travel we want to meet the people. This has been the perfect vehicle for us. We have been invited into people's homes. They cook for us and tell us stories of their lives, and show us their towns. We have connected on a level that is beyond art, and we know we are the co-presidents of the Lucky Girls Society. We adore seeing the world in this way. For a look into our 5 day workshop for fiber, textile artists and print and papermakers, see here.

Happy Birthday Desmond!

2011-07-17T03:52:00.000-07:00

for Des-encaustic on panel

Des-Keema and Zuzu celebrate your birthday in Australia, and will celebrate again when we see you back home. In the mean time, we think of you every minute of the day and love you to bits! Hafabirfday to you! We miss you so much.

An owl peeking out at you!

Striped Curious Georges!

We couldn't forget the cuppy cakes!

This reminds me of

2011-07-04T13:00:00.000-07:00

Lynn Mizono

Mark Smith

Andrew Galli

Christi and Scott

Jan and her paper doll collection

Santa Cruz

Gayle and Joe

Desmond-the "Butter Specialist"

Korea

Morandi

David A. Clark

Seeing Red in Australia

2011-07-04T12:36:00.000-07:00

Independence Day in Melbourne

2011-07-04T04:23:00.000-07:00

We started the day seeing a moving protest at the Train station. Australia out of Afghanistan. It gave me goosebumps. It was our first day "off" without setting up, teaching or traveling to the next venue. Nice to have a leisurely day and an Artist Date by going into book stores

a great documentary Kim saw on the flight over-also a book

sneaky person in bookstore

looking at fashion and seeing beautiful shoe stores. We walked into Il Papiro and thought it looked just like a paper store we visited in Cortona, and sure enough the woman said, Yes we have a shop in Cortona! We visited a wonderful children's book store where we checked out some books for Desmond. The great street Flinder's lane has it all,

reflection of shopper in window

including where we'll have a great brekky tomorrow, before we head out to the Healesville Sanctuary and the Tarra Warra Museum of Art where we'll see the Archibald Prize exhibition.
We were guilty of doing a bit of logistics for the upcoming workshops with our wonder woman, Daina at Chapman and Bailey.

Van's Shoes at Urban Arts Show

2011-06-21T17:26:00.000-07:00

Installing the piece Van's Shoes, AKA Replace Sole and Heels at the PVAC Gallery for the Urban Arts Show which opens on June 30, and runs through August 14. The reception is on July 10 from 1-3:30 p.m.

Judy photographing install in progress

Over the top

how the work cascades

From a distance, the room is consumed by the art

How did this all come about? Last year, my dear friend and sometimes assistant, Melody was getting some of her vintage shoes restored at Van's Shoes on East Lake in Watsonville. This is probably the best place in Santa Cruz County for shoe repairs. She spied a container with lots of tags written out with the shoe repair instructions. Of course the mark making is quite wonderful. Knowing me oh so well, she asked if they were throwing away the tags. "We keep them for a few months, then we throw them out," was the response. So Melody asked if she could have them. When I arrived home from traveling, she said, "You'll never believe what I scored for you!" In the studio was a black plastic bag half full with these gems. Oh, this woman knows a treasure when she sees one! I knew that Judy had organized the Urban Arts Show at PVAC, and thought that this piece would be the perfect work for this show, as Van's store is about 2 blocks from the PVAC Gallery. The show is fantastic-be sure to see it!

Mixed Media class with Inez Storer

2011-06-21T13:59:00.000-07:00

Inez Storer imparting wisdom

Nearby palette

This past week I took a two day Mixed-Media class at Cabrillo with Inez Storer. There were 16 of us, all from Santa Cruz with the exception of one artist from Seattle. It was so lovely to be the student! So much talent in the room, and great synergy. Early on she said, "Don't take notes. you already know how to do it. You won't read them anyway." I learned a lot of new tricks and some great chops-and yet another pencil discovery-the Stabilo (so far everything they make is terrific) Aquarellable "All" 8046-it's for Paper Glass Plastic and Metal. Very fun to use wet or dry, and yes it works on an encaustic surface!

Besides the techniques, Inez had loads of wisdom for us. "Don't juggle your intuitive creative energy which becomes dormant by what you have to do every day." What resonated with me was about working habits and scheduling time in the studio. She said the best is if you can schedule 3 consecutive days in the studio, like Tuesday Wednesday Thursday. This is your work time. You do not make other appointments, or visit with people in your studio. It is strictly for you. And you know the first day you clean up. "Artists like to clean!" This is the time when you set up to do your work. Then you need 2 days back to back to do the work. Sounds like complete heaven to me!

I will find a way to implement this new scheduling technique. Maybe in late August?

Encaustic With a Textile Sensibility-opens tonite!

2011-06-04T07:10:00.000-07:00

The show is open. Here is are photos! Kimball Art Center

Here is a shot during installation-a new configuration for Yours, Mine and Ours!

Nancy Vorm and me in the window with poster for the show. Her work can be seen in Fuse, the local artists working in encaustic at the Kimball.

Pulp Fashion-Isabel de Borchgrave

2011-02-23T18:53:00.000-08:00

Collar constructed of paper

Today we visited the Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, to see the Isabel de Borchgrave show, Pulp Fashion. Inspiring beyond belief, this artist has been making historical costumes exclusively out of paper. It is a must see. Then a quick shopping trip for a little installation input, at Satin Moon, the great fabric store. For the food portion of our trip, we chose Burma Superstar, near the museum, and then Tartine Bakery, on our way out of town. It doesn't get better than this.

Ribbon-non fat, no cholesterol

2011-02-21T08:28:00.000-08:00

This one won the cake, pardon the expression!

ribbon doughnuts

ribbon petits fours

CHA had some stunning and inspiring displays. All these "food" items are made of ribbon. Ribbon Ring is the company. They have a simple product to organize ribbon. Their display was outstanding!

Chalk Pastels at Wax Works West

2011-02-16T17:07:00.000-08:00

Today Wendy and I worked on the color sequence and placement for a new chalk pastel box. We'll soon offer this product to our students! We arranged and rearranged the pastels to see how the colors look best. You know that color in context thing-it's complicated. Be on the lookout for this cool new product. Yet another way to pigment right on the wax!

This way?

Or do you like it this way?

Grand Opening-Staff of Life

2011-02-15T11:16:00.000-08:00

We have a marvelous organic market in Santa Cruz-Staff of Life. It's been around for 40 years. Today was the first day the new store is open-and it was a major party. Grand opening is this Saturday. We'll be teaching boot camp at Wax Works West, and will be having another kind of organic fun! Staff's fantastic green building features energy efficiency which is new to me: Light Harvesting, Clean Air Regeneration, Clean water-in-and-out, and soon to be installed: Electric Car Hook ups. You gotta love this town!

Tiny grass skirt dancing amongst the produce

Ah...repetition and order

Happy Valentine's Day-a heartless story

2011-02-14T17:01:00.000-08:00

I took a jewelry class in high school because the ceramics class was full. My white-haired teacher, Mrs. Lewis was quite a good instructor, and trained us well in the art of jewelry making. She wouldn't let us turn in anything with "firescale" on it. Objects had to be perfectly sanded and polished to a high shine. She had this one little problem with hearts. "If you turn in anything with a heart on it, YOU FAIL THE CLASS." For my entire art career, I've had a fear of doing anything with hearts. When my students do anything with hearts, it does make me shutter a little inside. I try to stay calm.

I told this story last week during an interview at Interweave. Today I received a Valentine's card from them. The background full of a hearts pattern, and hearts pasted all over the surface! I was completely on the floor roaring with hilarious laughter.

On the other hand, my sweetheart made me this card...the message inside was Loving you heart-less-ly on Valentine's Day! I'm feeling very loved.

Photographer Ng Han Guan

2010-12-22T08:20:00.000-08:00

An article today in the Sentinel, our local paper, on North Korea's new-found restraint...may signal policy shift. An inpiring photo by Ng Han Guan lead me to look at more of his work on the AP site. I'm having a love fest with his vision.

All photos are from the Associated Press.

iPhone apps for art

2010-12-16T18:11:00.000-08:00

this is TypeDrawing. You write a phrase, pick the font and font color, and background color, run your finger over the surface and the faster you go, the larger the text.

this is also TypeDrawing

This is Sketch-it. You select a photo, and it renders your photo as a black and white line drawing. This is text from our Turkey Trip.

Kaliedo-vid transforms what the lens is seeing into reflected patterns. In this case it's text-what else is new?

iPhone App-Kaleido Vid

2010-11-20T07:46:00.000-08:00

Wendy showed me this yesterday. Now I can't stop!

I took these yesterday

These last two are screen shots of the first two!

Fruit Sisters bid adieu to Korea

2010-09-18T15:11:00.000-07:00

Today we say farewell to Korea, and we shall return. Maybe a month long artist-in-residency here at he Fraser Suites next year? We've met so many fabulous people, and seen so many amazing things. I am inspired beyond my wildest dreams, and need 6 months to work in the studio with all I've taken in visually. Dream on. We will have no time to nurse our upcoming jet lag in peace. In a few daze we'll be attending the IEA Advance in San Francisco. I hope we can remember who we are, and "use our words"!

Korea-Day 15 Seoul Design Fair

2010-09-18T06:08:00.000-07:00

Today we visited the Seoul Design Fair. Again an inspiration. This year, because I'm in a paper frame of mind, this mostly what I responded to. We walked until we dropped, came home and packed and repacked. Our tradition has been to go to the mandu (dumpling) restaurant, Koong for our last meal. We met Jung Shin's husband Sung Ho Cho, who was an absolutely delightful person. We hope to see both of them again, either here or in the US a-vay (Thank you Nancy V. for that)!

Wall of Korean characters that morph

This quick movie is based on Korean characters forming patterns.

Screen with inlay work forming graphic pattern.

You get the message.

Wall of laser cut paper

In the book arts section, these cubes had words cut out on all sides. The light coming through the holes was spectac.

Plexiglass sculptural lighting in front of a wall composed of paper "leaves"

Peg board walls with pink and white pencils inserted in the holes, forming shapes and patterns

Judy's fabulous packing job with some of our one inch hake brushes!

Korea-Day 14 paper folding and Leeum

2010-09-17T15:54:00.000-07:00

Betsy visited us for breakfast. I was folding paper into box shapes, and she showed us all a way to make boxes without glue. Bingo, a new obsession. OCD-a-rama. Here is where it all began.

with text and stamps

Jung Shin came and took us to lunch, and we got the wait person involved, she happily folded a crane for us in a matter of seconds. As if she didn't have enough to do.

Later in the day, I graduated to green striped paper from our packaging, ah this might be the right tool for the right job. When we got home at the end of the day, I used the black printed paper from the fall collection catalogue of How and What which makes really cool thin white lines. I'm a gonner.

Entrance to the Leeum. A pattern wall of text on glass

The hit of the day was the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art. It is composed of three connecting buildings which are designed by Mario Botta, Jean Nouvel and Rem Koolhaas.It has two Louise Bourgeois spiders out in front. Everything about this museum is first rate. My spirit is lifted beyond explanation when I experience superb architecture.

The staircase alone has to be one of the most gorgeous spaces ever.
As if that weren't enough, the collections, from ancient national treasures to contemporary Korean and global art were over the top. The Damien Hirst wall of pills really got my attention.

They also provide audio players, with visuals of each work explained. The audio comes in automatically when one is in range of the art. A terrific experience all around.

And get this, the bathrooms had a classical bust that was actually composed of soap. A dash of humor in all this gorgeous minimalism.

Jung Shin at the bottom of the stairs with a Donald Judd.

You know we ended our day with another superb dinner in yet another alley.

Korea-Day 13-regroup

2010-09-15T19:34:00.000-07:00

napkins drying outside a restaurant yesterday

Today we are regrouping, relaxing, doing laundry and catching up.

Our plan is to go out to one of our favorite places tonite, called Chicken and Beer! Actually, it's called Samtong. We've wanted to return to this eatery all year. No shopping, no KimChee-well, maybe a little shopping. OK, so we did some power shopping, just before our shipment was to arrive at our hotel.

mostly items from the recycle store

Megan, I know you said no more stuffed toys for Desmond, but I just couldn't help myself! This little Gorilla is made from a recycled T shirt.
We are planning for our day tomorrow with Jung Shin, to another area of Seoul, to see the 63 building, and more works of Jaehyo Lee, the Contemporary Art Museum, and the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art.

Saturday we head to the Seoul Design Fair with Betsy and Jung Shin.

Last year it was at Olympic Stadium, and called the Design Olympiad. It was over the top for visual inspiration, terrific ideas that were based on recycling and reusing materials.
We fly home on Sunday to our loved ones. As our new friend Nicole from Philadelphia pointed out, the flight only takes 25 minutes...as we loose an entire day, crossing the International Date Line! Wendy and Judy said, "Oh good, we'll have an extra day of jet-lag!"

Our purchases of brushes and paper were just delivered to our hotel.
Oh Sh_ _! Do you ship?

Korea-Day 12 Insadong shopping

2010-09-15T18:49:00.000-07:00

We begin our day at the fabulous Recycle Shop, and have so much fun introducing Talking Carl to the young women there. Talking Carl has been a hit at every stop in Korea. He makes friends wherever he goes.

They ask us what do we want to recycle...

We stop into the Noam Gallery to see the work of Min Jaeyoung, which we all liked very much, especially the black and whites. They looked like ink paintings on paper. Very photographic.

Then amazing as it may seem, we find R and F Paints, with very old labels on them in an art supply store called Milim. Natch, we send photos to Richard, Darin, Laura and Cynthia at R and F!

We sprinkle clothing shopping along the way. We went back to our "hallway" store, and bought several items. The clothes are irresistable here.

We discovered a new alley. We thought we had combed every square inch of Insadong when we were here before, but we found a great antique shop selling old books, coins and just about everything!

Near the end of this alley, an oasis-Beautiful Tea Museum. Ah, a place to refresh, relax and regroup. Wendy had a Frozen Bean Latte, Judy Iced Peppermint tea, and me iced Japanese apricot tea. On the menu the described all the healing properties of the available teas.

They had a bizarre bathroom. The commode had this metal trap in it, to make sure that no paper products were put in it. Also a sign on the door:

When somebody knocks, please use the stick! Huh? Even Jung Shin couldn't figure out what this all meant, when she read it in Korean.

Some things must remain a mystery.

Wall in a pojagi store.

Wall in a tea store.

Judy brings the ginger tea. Another stop with tasting all kinds of bakery delights to refresh us before we continue shopping, and gallery visits, one large scale black and white photo show of Mt. Geumgangsan at the Insa Art Center. On our walk back to the hotel, we bump into IAPMA members from Canada and Switzerland! Something that regularly happens to us in Santa Cruz. We can't go anywhere without bumping into people we know, but in Seoul? Back at the hotel, I jump into the pool and have a terrific swim.

Jung Shin arrived at our apartment around 5, and we took off to gallery openings with her. Of course, she knows everybody. Here she is with an artist on the left and a gallery director (?) in the middle. This was a watercolor show. Huge paintings, beautifully done.

Then, yet another alley restaurant. A rustic place with diners and kitchen all in the same open space. Great friendly atmosphere, and wonderful wholesome, delicious food. Again, a terrific meal. We thought we might try for a day without Kimchi, but alas we failed.

Korea Day 11-back to Seoul

2010-09-14T19:11:00.000-07:00

Mr. Kong, our reliable driver, picked us up right on time, in his Jumbo Taxi and whisked us to our beloved Fraser Suites in Insadong. We are at our home away from home, and so happy to be here. We miss Kim so much, remembering the fun we had together here last year. Betsy arrived shortly after us, and took us off to our brush and paper supplier. We learned even more about paper from him, and added to our order, including some lovely ink. He was so helpful and generous, leaving us with armfulls of gifts of every sort. Now that our business is taken care of, we have time for shopping, and the visual inspiration that Korea provides in so many ways.

Our first lunch in Insadong was a wonderful alley place-is there any other kind? All the walls were filled with graffiti. In typical Wendy fashion, she left our mark.

We ordered a bugogi and a kimchi chigae. Yummy-all of it!

After lunch we gallery hopped. How is this for book arts. Carved marble!

And then one of our favorite places called How and What. Almost everything in the store is black or black and white. The adorable woman remembered us from last year. She was pregnant, and now has a son!

They have really fun clothing and jewelry there. Here is a zipper piece.

We walked home by way of this hilarious frame shop-a classic.

Korea Day 10-IAPMA Day 6

2010-09-14T08:15:00.000-07:00

We are awakened, as promised at 3:50 a.m. A walk over to the Temple for morning prayers. Then 108 Bows, which which touched me deeply and left me invigorated. After that, a short meditation and a 40 minute silent walking meditation along the river.

Breakfast followed, and then some relaxation time. Many crashed and went back to sleep, and I stood on my head!

We strung 108 bead necklaces and then on the bus and off to the Hanji Wonju papermill. Here are two IAPMA members getting ready for the bus. We're now all out of our apricot matching outfits. On the left is Sanny, a 4th generation papermaker from Sweden, and on the right, Korean Art professor, whose name escapes me.

The papermill is run by the same papermaker, Jang Eung Yeall, who taught us out at the Hanji theme park. Here are some videos of one of the papermakers making turquoise Hanji.

Also the miraculous stainless steel drying rack. This job is done by women, one on either side of this wood fired object. The wood pile outside of the Hanji Wonjo factory is enormous.

Wax Works West bought a roof tile for the new construction.

In the evening, we had a festive closing ceremonies dinner, complete with wild drumming entertainment, along with ribbon hats, acrobatics and a "mariachi" band. We danced our socks off, and had a blast. Two lines were formed for people to exit the room. Wendy thought it would be great for all three of us to approach together and bow. We received huge cheers! It was quite a thrill, and the perfect ending to our first IAPMA experience. We plan to be at the next one in Ohio in 2012!

Korea Day 9-IAPMA day 5

2010-09-11T15:08:00.000-07:00

We all took morning workshops. Mine was making a Hanji lamp, which was wonderful fun. I fell in love with Hanji. It is wonderful to the touch, strong and easy to work.

Jung Shin scores me the bus driver's calendar!

Then we hop on a bus and drive into the mountains for a Temple Stay. We leave our luggage at our hotel in Wonju. We take jammies and toiletries to the Temple-as little as possible.

On our way, we pass beautiful rustic farmlands, this must be the onion capital of Korea. We stop for a traditional Korean lunch. This is a wall near the restaurant.

We meet and fall in love with this monk who has the light shining beaming out of her. Monk with iPhone. Apple commercial? We show her Talking Carl, the hilarious app!

We include Jung Shin, and have a media fest!

Then rituals around drums and sounding of giant gongs.

The women under 65 sleep together, in the big room. The "older" women sleep in maybe more comfy quarters, and the men yet at another venue. We sleep to the gentle and not so gentle snoring around the room, on a lovely heated floor.

Korea Day 8-IAPMA Day 4

2010-09-11T15:02:00.000-07:00

Today the presentations were about Know-How, and Wendy Judy and I were the first one of the day. We were hoping to not disgrace our country, and that everything would go well. We gave a short Keynote presentation, with LOTS OF PHOTOS, all three of us spoke. Judy and Wendy from a podium on the stage, and me at a podium beside the stage. We set up tables for demos, and had a video camera project us onto the screen.

We hold the microphone for each other as we show our chops

We had never done a demo for such a huge group, and were worried that they wouldn't be able to see us. It all worked out, quite splendidly. I think the group was so hungry for some hands on stuff.

Our audience in rapt attention!

We don't take ourselves so seriously, which seemed to be refreshing for this group. They loved us. We were profesh, and funny-we like that combo.

Purple bus decor, including dingle balls and fringe

Next onto the purple decorated bus, with a box lunch onto the Paper Market, where members sell their wares. And then workshops. I went to Joanne Kaar's fiber one, which was a blast. Wendy and Judy did a painting with fiber one that looked spectac. There were workshops going on in every room, and the papermaking outside.
In the evening we went to dinner with Jung Shin and a colleague of hers, a linguist. He was totally charming. We had a fantastic meal which was not only delicious, and based on many healing foods. We ended the meal with a tea, that was the most delightful and magical tasting drink I've ever had. The proprietor said we'd feel energized in the morning. He was right. It's the crack of dawn, and I'm feeling pretty darn fabulous.

Korea Day 7-IAPMA Day 3

2010-09-11T14:45:00.000-07:00

Today we had very scientific presentations on Paper. Really interesting but not enough visuals for me. So much about the chemical make up of mulberry trees, information about the binders. An entire book with notes from each presenter. Every conceivable function and use for hanji, including cigarette filters, flooring, diapers. Fascinating but somehow not inspirational. Then on to workshops. Wendy, Judy and I were in the same papermaking one. First we did Washi, the Japanese style of papermaking, then Hanji, the Korean Style. They have fantastic equipment built for this. Rustic and functional. A marvelous triangular shaped stainless steel heaters, powered by LPG gas. They dry the paper on these "racks," which are also gorgeous sculptural objects.
Two ladies doing a perfect job of hand scraping the bark. Photos to come.

Korea Day 6-IAPMA day 2

2010-09-08T19:42:00.000-07:00

This morning we meet as a group to discuss and vote on issues. Here is the room in which we meet, empty and starting to fill up. It is also where we will give our presentation on Sunday Morning, When Wax Meets Paper.

We are provided with a little translator listening device. Like the United Nations, only on a much smaller scale! Two young translators sit in a box at the back of the room. It reminds me of the "crying rooms" they used to have in movie theatres. Remember those?

We voted on this important item: Building an international paper art center in Wonju, for the manufacture of hand-made paper, and to promote a cultural exchange for paper artists. This was a proposal by Mr. Lee, the convener of the congress.

After this morning session, we were honored with a traditional Korean tea. There will be 5 presentations this afternoon.

Traditional Korean lunch. Chicken in a pot, stuffed with delicacies.
This daikon kim chi was the best so far.
Then an afternoon of presentations about Hanji. All about paper.
This professor worked on a series of Hanji about women, called Mrs. Paper.

Gail Stiffe from Australia gave a presentation about book arts. Here is our own Catherine Nash!

Then a bus ride to a traditional Korean dinner at a restaurant. On the floor. We sure missed you on this one Kim. We also had that same acorn jelly!

These looked like a cross between ravioli and artwork!

Fried fish wish red chili paste on top-scrumptious!

Then for dessert, the pan shape of crunchy rice. Waaay too good!
The finale to our aesthetic overload was the amazing Hanji Fashion show. All the clothing is made of paper, and was outrageously wonderful. The models were totally profesh, and over the top beautiful. We have never seen anything like this!

Then up the hill to see the lanterns aglow.

We bus back to hotel, and have wine and do some stretches!

We visit with Helene and buy some of her artwork in jewelry form.

Day 5 Korea-IAPMA Congress Opens

2010-09-08T07:54:00.000-07:00

We begin the morning with registration. Wendy and Judy go off to the Hanjii Theme Park to Install their pods. I go on the bus tour to Shrines, Mystery Forests and Cathedrals.

Shrine in the Mysterious Forest

Every time we get off the bus, the paper makers in the group rush over to the plant material to inspect it for its fiber quality, and do they know what it is, have they used it, or will when will they put it in their hollander beater (sp?). No matter whom you sit next to, every person is mind boggingly interesting. They've written a book on this particular set of techniques. They teach at this university. Their specialty is...Fortunately most speak english quite well. This is a goldmine of information in such friendly packets.

A bit of countryside near cathedral

The afternoon bus tour takes us to a sculpture garden, where we meet up with Jung Shin Lee, a friend of Jeff Juhlin. She has photos of Jeff with her. I emailed Jeff this photo of us pointing to him in his studio. She is a professor at Bucheon University and is perfectly precious, so talented and is our new BFF!

Next stop we are bussed to the Hanjii theme park for the opening of the exhibitions. Here is one outdoor installation by Swiss artist, Katharina Maria Biffi.

The entire road on both sides is filled with paper lanterns. There are rows that are made or decorated by young schoolchildren. Each had the photograph and name of the child attached to the lantern.

At the opening, many speeches by politicians, and dignitaries, photos and tv cameras, translators. A three color band of paper is passed around the room, so that all of us can touch it, and at the count of three, we all tear it and keep a piece for ourselves.

Ruth Cohn was so kind to take this snap of the Wax Works Women with our torn paper keepsake.

This is IAPMA President, Helene Tschacher, dressed in traditional Korean garb, talking to people about her work. I need to write an entire blog on this mega talented person. Right now there are no words. Just to tell you that the work is a complete inspiration.

Back to the hotel, for the Opening Ceremonies dinner, complete with speeches by many dignitaries, including the Mayor of Wonju who sponsored the event. Many toasts with bottles and bottles of makoli, a fermented rice wine, with a fresh almost effervescence.

An enormous buffet with every kind of raw fish, sushi, raw beef, salads, stews, on and on. Since tonite was the first nite of passover, I actually had horseradish (at the bottom of the plate) next to salmon-not exactly gefilte fish, but a great substitute. I did get to light candles with Ruth in her room, and say a blessing. One of the board members from Israel acknowledged to the group that it was the Jewish New Year. Nice for those of us far away from our usual celebration, family and ritual foods.

much toasting

so many great looks

We were entertained with traditional Korean music. Here is a sample. This was a day, beyond our wildest dreams. We feel so fortunate and honored to be here in Korea, the land of Hanjii.

This drumming energized us!

I will now sleep like a log.

Korea Day 4-Hotel Office

2010-09-07T01:51:00.000-07:00

Our Korean "home office"

I had a swim in the squeaky clean pool this morning at the fitness center, a hot tub, cold tub and sauna. It felt like a million bux. Then bfast with Wendy, Judy and lots of German women from the conference. We sent Wendy's 1000 scrolls piece off to the Paper Road Exhibit to be placed on it's proper pedestel. It will be a big hit of the show, I'm sure. The typhoon is nowhere in site, and we've had sunny skies. As you can see in the above photo, the studio is gone, and we've converted my hotel room into an office. We worked on our Keynote Presentation, and organized for the demo part of our presentation-putting out all our supplies by category, i.e. transfers, collage, 3D, etc.

Then on to our working lunch, where we scheduled classes and our calendar for next year. We tried the Spanish Restaurant, Don Quixote's and here is the soup Judy and I tried. Also a Caesar Salad-I should know better, but hope always springs eternal!

A great view of the golf course from our table.

Back to the office for "dessert" Korean potato chips and candy bars. We're all missing Kim a lot. We want her to navigate us to cheeken and beer or pepparoni pizza. Our Hotel is far from the town. We took a taxi back to last nite's restaurant!

Scrumptious and too much of it!

Lights near the restaurant

I bought some of those fantastic succulent grapes tonite for a sweet treat. Tomorrow the congress begins, and we'll be swamped with activities.

Korea-Day 3 Hotel Studio, Hanjii and Dinner

2010-09-06T04:03:00.000-07:00

Judy in studio in Wonju hotel room

We met several IAPMA members, from Scotland, Germany and Switzerland during breakfast. Then we set up a studio in my hotel room, complete with a dropcloth. Wendy thinks of everything! I was the art slave for Wendy and Judy's work as we tied, cheese clothed, and encausticated apple tree branches into pods to install at the Hanjii Theme Park for the outdoor exhibition. The branches are imported from Judy's husband Joe's orchard in Santa Cruz.

There was a lot of discussion by the IAPMA folks who thought it best to install on Wednesday morning, after the threat of the typhoon has passed. Fingers and toes crossed.

For a blow by blow slide show of this, click here. It took about three hours. We were met by several IAPMA people who drove us to the Hanjii theme park for meetings. We viewed the Paper Road Exhibition. Some really terrific work from the members of IAPMA.

Then outside to select the area for installation. Justine, our wonderful helper and translator points out the possible sites. She then took us on a lovely walk into the town for an amazing bizillion course meal.

This is Justine and her friend who owns the restaurant. We couldn't have had a more wonderful, creative, productive and heartfelt day.

Korea Day 2-Wonju and IAPMA

2010-09-04T16:56:00.000-07:00

Mr. Kong is packing up our tons of luggage this morning. He drives us to Wonju for the IAPMA Congress.

IAPMA banner and Healthy Wonju sign

I have to tell you the story of how I came to know this group. Two or three years ago, I met Catherine Nash at the Encaustic Conference in Boston, that amazing event put on by Joanne Mattera. I was having breakfast at the café and was sitting in a group with this marvelous woman who started telling me that I should be showing with artists who work with paper and book arts. Duh! But somehow it never occurred to me! She also said, “And you should join IAPMA!” “What’s eeeyaapmah?” I said. IAPMA is the International Association of Hand Papermakers and Paper Artists. They have about 400 members worldwide and every year they meet somewhere in the world. We got to talking, and discovered that we knew a Argentinian in common, Jorge Luis Giacosa. I met Jorge at the Tapestry Biennial in Lausanne in 1975. He helped me install my work, and I haven't seen him since. Here is a photo of us picnicking with others. I'm in the back row, under the pink arrow, and he's in the front, to the right of the pink arrow. This will be amazing to see him after all these years!

Here is the work I'll be showing at the Paper Road Exhibition

Detail of Tabatha mixed media paper

Wendy, Judy and I will be giving a presentation, When Wax Meets Paper. Our angel Betsy arranged for supplies to heat our wax so we can perform in style, and we hope, grace. We have brought copies for our latest DVD, Encaustic + Paper to share. Here is our latest addition!

Korea-Day 1 Heyri Art Village

2010-09-04T06:55:00.000-07:00

Today Wendy’s adorable daughter, Betsy, took us to Heyri Art Village. It is very close to the DMZ and North Korea. As always, she took the best care of us, including our trusted driver from last year-none other than the fabulous Mr. Kong, and his Jumbo Taxi.

Heyri Art Village is a huge place, a conglomeration of galleries, artist’s studios, eateries, museums, performance spaces, fountains, shops and the most fantasmagorical contemporary architecture in one place! It would be hard to imagine this place, in your wildest dreams. Someone, or a lotta someones had a unique vision.

Besides all of the above, there is a huge component for children, that we didn’t even attempt. We saw a lot of it in one day, but it could take you a month to see it all. We amazed ourselves, because it was hotter than blazes, and humid as hell. In an entire day, we did a little better than scratch the surface.

We all agreed that Museum of Modern History of Korea was the hit of the day. We saw vignette after vignette of scenes from the daily life of workers, objects and artifacts of every size shape and color, beautifully displayed.

spines of sketchbooks

rows of 'tars for Desmond

We cooled down with an umpteen course lunch at a beautiful restaurant and gallery, that Betsy skillfully picked for us.

front window of restaurant

Kim-we had a good laugh at this “jelly”. It had ribs in it, so it was fairly easy to pick up with the stainless steel chopsticks.

After lunch, we went to the Shin Han art gallery, and met artist Hoon Lee. His show is Murmur, Murder and Mother, an installation of ceramic art. He is a Korean, teaching in Michigan. We enjoyed talking with him, and one of my favorite pieces of music was playing in the gallery, the Brahms Opus 118. To top it all off, Hoon Lee let me chuck a slip cast religious figurine over the balcony of the second floor of the gallery down into his installation below. It made a marvelous thunk and shattered adding to the piece! A collaboration in two seconds from chuck to splat.

We saw some terrific glass pieces set in concrete, and some interesting stained glass sandwiched between cast paper.

We visited a gallery called Touch Art, and were intrigued by some 3D works by Lee, Jaewon.

Lee, Jaewon with Betsy reflection lower left

We went down to have some iced mocha frappacinos and a green tea ice cream, red bean ice delicacy, which chilled us down.

Installed on the wall, I recognized a Lee, Jaehyo work. I am a fan! I bought the catalogue, and noticed that his work is in some collections in Seoul, so we hope to see more in a week or so, when we return to Seoul.

detail Lee, Jaehyo

me and the iPhone getting acquainted

The Women of Wax Works West loving this fence!

Arrival in Korea!

2010-09-03T17:41:00.000-07:00

Here are Judy and Wendy with our baggage. So much artwork, demo materials and bubble gum for Betsy

Paper Inspiration du jour 2

2010-08-23T07:42:00.000-07:00

Paper condos at Saturday yard sale

Condo interiors

Paper Inspiration du jour-1

2010-08-20T11:04:00.000-07:00

I had my oil changed at Lloyd's Tire in Santa Cruz. This is what I found. A Giant Ball O'Tire Lables !

For purposes of scale, here it is in the shop. It usually sits outside.

Park City

2010-07-02T07:15:00.000-07:00

I'm in Park City to teach for R and F Paints! This is my third year at Spiro Arts, a terrific place with an awesome studio. A great space with wonderful light, ventilation and plenty of electricity! Justin Parisi-Smith is the director and has been here for all three years. I love this guy. Besides being a terrific artist, and amazing administrator, he is a vegan mountain biker. A stellar person and lovely guy. You should come up here for a workshop or residency.

I've had almost a week to R and R here. I've been on the road since June 1st, traveling and teaching in Seattle, Boston, and Anderson Ranch. Kim met me at the SLC airport last Saturday, and we've had the chance to see Park City, and surrounding communities. We loved visiting Sundance
yesterday(see horse mural above), as well as Midway and the Tarahumara restaurant-thanks Bridgette for taking us there! Be sure to try the cilantro jalapeno lime salsa. Some of the most fun things we've done is visit former students who are now friends. We had a nite to meet the spouses-Nancy Vorm threw a great dinnner party, and Jeff Juhlin whom I've know since our first R and F class in 2002. I had the pleasure of meeting Nancy's husband, and Jeff's "phantom bride" ! Nancy treated us to a day at Snowbird, the cliff spa-OMG that was the best. You should see the rug collection up at The Cliff. Yesterday, we visited Bridgette Steffen Meinhold, who took my class last year. She will have her encaustic show debut at Gallery Mar tomorrow, Saturday. You can be sure I'll be there. Here is a great article about her on the Gallery Mar blog. Bridgette is an engineer by training and the article shows her workspace, it's compact and perfect with light and ventilation. Also showing at Gallery Mar is Gretchen Papka! Gretchen is the brilliant person who did the research on encaustic transfers with Baker's Parchment Paper. Tonite, I'll go to the opening at Julie Nester gallery, and see Amber George's encaustics! I'm off to SLC to complete my shopping for the studio set up for R and F.

cloud on the drive home

And Now The Book!

2010-05-24T13:08:00.000-07:00

It's here! My new book, Encaustic With a Textile Sensibility. It is complete with a wonderful foreward by Joanne Mattera. It's a curated gallery show in book form, featuring the work of 23 artists working in encaustic with a textile sensibility. Designed by award winning art director/Designer, Carol Inez Charney– Encaustic With a Textile Sensibility is a museum quality book produced in gorgeous full color. So far the comments have been delicious. If you are attending the Encaustic Conference at Montserrat College June 11-15, I'll have copies there, and be giving a presentation and having book signing. If you are attending any of my upcoming workshops, in Seattle, Anderson Ranch or Park City I'll have books there. If not, you can purchase your copies here!

Antalya-a day of rest

2010-05-06T09:48:00.000-07:00

While Kim went off to visit Roman ruins, I sat in our courtyard and caught up on emails, reading and morning pages. Read all about it on her blog.

The harbor close to our hotel

I watched swimmers

I watched photographers and posers

 I watched bathers,and sat by our pool and swam.

Homestay in the country and drive to Antalya

2010-05-06T02:21:00.000-07:00

Kim's early morning blogging at Cappadocia hotel

detail of plough

The Tomb of Rumi is beneath this minaret

farmer's market

The young poppy plans of our hosts.

They are paid by the government to farm for medical use

their commercial fishing boat

our morning walk

most of the structures are mud and straw

shoes storage niche

bottlecap decoration

we visited a school-third grader cursive

driving through the Taurus mountains to Antalya

lunch stop

lunch break at this gorgeous place

illuminated stunning calligraphy

Cappadocia Day 3

2010-05-06T01:37:00.000-07:00

silk strands from boiled cocoons

great performance at the carpet palace-

so great we purchased a gorgeous rug

more hiking in the fertile land

painted church interiors

Capadocia Day 2

2010-05-03T22:26:00.000-07:00

scale of the balloon as seen from our bus

gorgeous hikes after the balloon

here's how they cook kebabs
the meat is wrapped around a metal skewer
the veggies are placed right on the coals

rusty sign on the ground

Capadocia Day 1

2010-05-03T22:21:00.000-07:00

lunch with lovely family and fabulous food

beautiful landscapes

Showman Galip, works the room

handpainting the glaze

fired glaze

I hiked up to the top of the Castle, and this is a zoom in of our hotel from the top!

umbrella abstract

Istanbul Day 3

2010-04-30T21:08:00.000-07:00

Only in pics today. Kim's blog has all the details and wonderful writing.

Erol's talk on architecture and history at the Blue Mosque

fish seller at the spice market

terrific string cheese samples

turkish delight

fish sandwich seller

spontaneous art

detail of the structure

Istanbul Day 2

2010-04-29T12:52:00.000-07:00

I can't possibly say it any better than Kim. Great writing and more visuals at her her blog HerSecretGarden. Besides the knock out breakfast with views on all sides, here are few of the things I saw today.

Detail of calligraphy at the entrance to Topkapi Palace

Detail of more calligraphy inside Topkapi  Palace

Calligraphy of one of the Sultans
open air stand juicing pomegranates and oranges
tree of turkish delight-just slice off a few hunks
shopping at the grand bazaar
Kim and Wendy sailing on the Bosphorus
The beautiful turquoise water of the Bosphorus

Arriving in Istanbul

2010-04-28T21:34:00.000-07:00

How exciting to meet our jet lagged pals at the Frankfurt Airport for the three hour flight to Istanbul. Our guide, Erol met us and in an instant we knew we were well taken care of, with humor. He gave us time to relax, and then took us on a dusky stroll to the center of town. On our way, "art galleries" of beautiful decaying walls.

Then the beautiful mosques, and the sounds of the call to prayer.

An ice cream vendor suiting up.

We are in the land of pomegranates.

A wonderful dinner with Erol showing us where we are, and what we'll do tomorrow.

Frankfurt

2010-04-28T01:57:00.000-07:00

We spent the past two days with dear friends Connie and Franz, and their two lovely daughters. Connie took us to the Stadle Museum where we saw a wonderful retrospective on Ernst Ludwig Kirshner.

 I also went to the Museum of "Applied Arts" which was also terrific in a beautiful Richard Meier building.

Here is an entire album of our day.

We're at the Frankfurt Airport, waiting for our flight to Istanbul...Can't wait to see Wendy Judy Roger and Bepino!

Berlin Day 6

2010-04-25T08:31:00.000-07:00

On our way to the bus, beautiful reflections in the pond at our park.

 Inspiring street art near the bus

We head out for the Reichstad to view the dome. We were thrilled to arrive early and avoid the long lines. Absolutely stunning, with wonderful vistas and a great audio accompaniment. All for free! For those of you on facebook, I've posted lots of photos of the dome.

Lunch at the enormous train station. We ate asian. Here is a detail of the windows right outside our lunchplatz.

Then a short walk over to the Hamburger Banhof, a contemporary museum. Enormous rooms with large scale Warhols,Twomblys, Rauchenbergs, Anselm Kiefer. A detail of one of his moving works.

Check out the scale of this work

The museum had sets of glass stairs.

 Back  to our place. Now our park is full of people relaxing in the sun.

Berlin Day 5

2010-04-24T11:56:00.000-07:00

Today we set out to do our usual Saturday thing. Go to yard sales. instead Kim found us a flea market in the square where JFK gave his I am a Berliner speech, complete with deeply resonating church bells. This was not your tourista flea market, but a real local one. I bought some wonderful old books, one with hand written pen and ink accounting from the 1800's. Thoughts of Lisa when I saw bundles of letters, and linens and fabrics made me think of Gayle.
 I found this ugly ring with our initials

Our next stop, of course food. The Ka De We enormous department store, with it's entire 6th floor of gourmet everything.
 a hot dog a day keeps the doctor away

We were on the lookout for lunch. There were too many choices, and I voted for the Kartofel Acker. I had the Baked potatoes with chicken mushroom and asperagus, and Kim some trout and fried spuds. There were all kinds of sauces and these crunchy rose peppercorns-to live for.
The soiree de la pomme de terre was never this good. We left in a kartofel coma.

Back on the public transportation-here is a familiar scene, from our fine navigatrix.
 She took us to Augustrasse,where some of the best contemporary galleries live. My favorite was seeing the work of Austrian born Stefan Schuster, at Galerie Alexandra Saheb. The KW Institute for Contemporary Art had an entire show curated by the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. Pretty much all of it was political and heartbreaking. 

KW will be one of the venues for the Berlin Biennale. 

Kim wanted to ride the tram, so we go on the M6 and rode it to the end, deep into the heart of east Berlin. Home to beer and blogging.

Berlin Day 4

2010-04-23T07:59:00.000-07:00

We decided that today (our 18th anniversary)we would begin by taking the view from the top-the double decker, the 100 and 200 buses. In this way we could see more of Berlin. It's way more huge than we could have ever imagined. More time and research needed. Laula-HELP!
 crazy fascade on building-looks like letters

We stopped at the Potsdamer Platz, a platz full of outrageous architecture. This interior of the Sony plaza by Helmut Jahn,has a wild dome and fountains. I'm platzing-are you?

The Philharmonie-by Hans Sharoun-close by, with it's golden metal fascade.

Then on to the Neue Nationalgalerie -a Mies van der Rohe wonder of a building. There are no words for the collection here. From Modigliani to Jawlensky, Klee, Kandinsky,Otto Dix, Oskar Kokoshka, Lazlo Mololy-Nagy, Oskar Schlemmer, Edvard Munch, and a new one for me, Curt Querner, and on and on beyond belief. The richness of the treasures housed in this gorgeous edifice boggle the mind.

Curt Querner

On our way to see the Neffertiti exhibit, from the bus I spied the door to the Deutche Guggenheim was OPEN. We got off the bus, and walked back, but alas-still closed! Nice try.

We impulsively bought tickets for tonite's Comic Opera-The Marriage of Figaro.

This is for you, Phil and Megan!

And for you, Desmond-a giant giraffe out of Leggos!

Berlin Day 3

2010-04-22T22:43:00.000-07:00

 Our first subway stop brought us to the Reichstag, where we thought we could go right in and walk around the dome. Ha ha ha there was a mega line of people with a wait of 1.5 hours, in the bitter cold. No thank you. Close by was this wonderful memorial. Each metal slab has a name and place along the side of each panel. Everywhere there are remembrances. 

At the Academie der Kunste, we saw a huge sound and video installation entitiled, Unwetter, which contained the work of 12 artists. I particularly liked the work of Laura Glusman, an Argentinian, whose work was projected on the floor with her swimming. 

A long walk down Unter de Linden leading us to the Deutche Guggenheim, which was gesclosen. Oy vey. More research is needed. One just can’t go to a Museum or gallery without checking their hours, or are they even open.

We were told not to miss the fancy department store, Galerie de Lafayette, where we saw elegant gourmet food art and ate same. They had a terrific dome, mimicking the one we missed earlier.

 The hit of the day was the Berlinische Galerie. I have a new favorite artist-Max Wechsler. Totally inspiring, and stunning surfaces of paper and text.

Also  at this Galerie a show of-Berlin Art from 1900. Talk about ecstatic…a  proun–construction by none other than El Lissitsky. Many other Russian  Constructivists were in the show. Jeanne Mammen, the artist on which Suzy wrote her  dissertation, had a painting in this show also. Here is a Kurt  Schwitters work:

And the hit of the evening, meeting Diane’s niece, Sophie. Thank you Sara for connecting us! We had pizza at il Casolare in the Kreuzberg district. She helped us with our plans for seeing Berlin in the next three days. Even if we had a year to see Berlin, we probably couldn’t do it. Berlin is so vast.

Oh and BTW, I found a fantastic website...Galinsky for people enjoying buildings worldwide. A terrific site-Lois this is for YOU!
Search by place, architect-it's worldwide. Ah-life is good.

Berlin Day 2

2010-04-21T09:21:00.000-07:00

We were told to get to the Jewish Museum early, so we promptly arrived at 10 a.m. It was already bustling, and continued to be full of people with lots of school kids all during our visit. First down a flight of stairs, leading to three different halls: the holocaust, the exile and continuity.

The architecture has brilliance and wisdom in it's minimalism, thanks to Daniel Liebeskind. The shortest hall: holocaust leading to a door with a chilling empty concrete tower. The garden of exile: a stunning grouping of concrete pillars. The stone ground is set at a 12 degree angle, and it is disorienting. I found a you tube video of it, which is quite good for experiencing it. The hall of continuity extensively presents centuries of Jewish history. We were there for more than 4 hours. It is a wonderful museum.

here is the garden from above

We then walked to Check Point Charlie, and then on to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, by Peter Eisenman. A series of 2711 concrete stelae which can be walked through from all sides.

I thought this was totally stunning, and a wonderful memorial. It is near the Brandenburg Gate, and you can see the Reichstag on the left and the Brandenburg gate on the right.

Tonite we meet friends from Santa Cruz a the Schnee Weiss restaurant. The reviews look great. More later about that dinner.

Berlin Day 1

2010-04-20T09:09:00.000-07:00

our lovely Berlin apartment-Kim is blogging on her iPad-I'm shooting into the mirror

morning pages on the terrace

Kim is that little spec near the lamp post-we're taking photos of each other from above and below!

Here is a zoom in of her down there!

multiple window reflections

graffiti

Our first meal in Berlin is Korean, of course! Fabulous kim chi soup and bibimbap at Yam Yam, thanks to Lois and the NY Times

more terrific graffiti/street art

Great to visit with our kids. We are video chatting with Phil Megan and Desmond

We visited The New Synagogue..we walked up stairs to the see this dome.

The grocery store near us, had an entire row of chocolates-we chose these with cherry and pomegrate with chilis. Here is our tea time with chocolate!

a remembrance from holland in our Berlin apartment!

Teaching in Tilburg

2010-04-19T13:04:00.000-07:00

I just completed three days at the Textile School of Karina Van Vught in Tilburg. I had 12 amazing students from Holland, Germany, Sweden and Belgium. They all did terrific work, and all predominantly have textile backgrounds. I fell in love with every one of them. Kim was my assistant for this workshop, and she did a terrific job.

Click THIS LINK to view site with photos of our 3 days together.

http://gallery.me.com/woolfdaniella#100260

Textile Tilburg

2010-04-14T13:03:00.000-07:00

Finally we arrived in Tilburg, after many flights and several trains. Today Karina picked us up at our Hotel, took us to her studio, where we set up for the Workshop. Then on to lunch at the Textile Museum and seeing the LAB, and many wonderful exhibits. This is the lab on the left.

We then went to the De Pont Contemporary Museum, and saw a wonderful show of Sophie Calle, several Anish Kapoor, somebody copying Carol Charney, and Thierry de Cordier.

HELP out Conrad Wilde Gallery!

2010-04-10T08:21:00.000-07:00

“Pick Up the Pieces” Red Dot Event

an art sale based on the principle that we can do together
what we cannot do alone...

Who: Local and National Artists!
What: One time only savings on artworks in all media!
Unbelievable prices- starting at just $50!
When: May 1st-29th 2010 - Reception May 1st 6-9 p.m.
Where: Conrad Wilde Gallery
439 N. 6th Ave #171 Tucson, AZ 85705
or online at www.conradwildegallery.com

How:
To donate art email- elizabeth@conradwildegallery.com
To purchase art visit the gallery in person or shop
online: www.conradwildegallery.com

Why: Conrad Wilde Gallery was robbed by unknown
person(s) between the dates of 3/27-3/29. The major loss
was 13 original works of art by 10 artists as well as all of
the gallery's electronic equipment. This is a locally owned
small business that is well regarded in service to the
community. The loss of these artworks is devastating to
the gallery and to the individual artists whose works were
taken. The gallery is now raising money to pay artists the
replacement costs, which are not covered by insurance.

If you have any questions please direct them to Elizabeth Meigs from the Gallery: elizabeth@conradwildegallery.com

Encaustic DVD is Here!

2009-12-13T08:17:00.001-08:00

My DVD is out! You can buy it right here. I'm shipping them out every day, so you'll have it in time for the Holidays!

Sneak preview click here
There are also stills shots!

Suze Weinberg said, "OMG...I am speechless.....I just sat MESMERIZED for 2 hours and watched that spectacular video and I plan on spending another 2 hours tomorrow watching it again...and then maybe again and again. Holy moly....it was FABULOUS"! Then she wrote ann entire BLOG about it here!

Anne Smidt said "Wow!!!.. received your cd this afternoon & couldn't stop watching. am blown away & EXHAUSTED! You covered so many techniques.. Wore me out. Can hardly wait to go throught it again....." and then she wrote,
"Loved, loved, loved your CD. Daniella, I really enjoyed watching you on the CD. It's as if I were in your studio and you were speaking directly to me. You were relaxed, concise &, most of all, inspiring. Just when I was beginning to think there was not much more I could learn about encaustic -- your CD proves me so wrong. It will be a great tool for beginners. And, for artists with years of experience, it opens the door to more experimental opportunities.. Really, my head was spinning by the end of the cd. I watched the 2 hour cd in one sitting - couldn't keep from going from chapter to chapter. I really could go on & on . I also loved and appreciated the way you laid out the cd. One chapter easily led to the other, and so on. And of course, your packaging is wonderful! First class."

Sandra Anton wrote:
Hi Daniella,
Big snowstorm here in NJ kept me in the house most of the day so....I just spent 2 happy hours watching the DVD. Loved it. Great Job. Hope to come out and take a workshop sometime this year. Dec 20, 2009

Lisa Hochstein: Hi Daniella, I just watched the first few lessons on the DVD and love it. You have a great way of presenting LOTS of technique and useful information without being dry or overwhelming. But I knew that already. And your nails look beeoootiful!

Charlene Plagens: Hello Daniella, spilling over with inspiration from watching your new DVD...love the card attached with your photo and all that dreamy shredded journal dripping all ovr' the place...can't wait to get back to work after these last crazy days of holidays seep through me. Cheers!

David A. Clark: Daniella, loved your DVD. You cover so much. And I loved the variety of what you covered. And it was shot really well. Great work.Lorrie Fredette said: Hi Daniella,
While working Monday at R&F, I had the opportunity to watch you NEW video. Congratulations on a well done, clear and visually beautiful work. Bravo! I'll be ordering one after the holiday with money from Santa.

Gregory Wright: Hi Daniella, I just wanted to say that I LOVED the DVD! I have several students that are fiber artists in my encaustic workshops and I got a lot of great ideas for them from your DVD. It was a delight to watch. Happy New Year!

Brenda says, "I am half way through your dvd, I love it! You sound like me when you talk about how the wax changes the paper to translucency. That is what I love the layers, just like everyone's murky memories. I went to sleep thinking of drywall tape. I have only used glossy card and canvas. Looking forward to seeing the rest, kind of like chocolate, didn't want to eat it all at once. Thanks for making this DVD."

Thank you for sending the DVD first class and adding the personal touch of your note. I am thoroughly enjoying the video lessons: I feel as though I am at a workshop at Haystack without the extra people. I am particularly interested in your "strip" method, where you use sections taken from a shredder and attach them to dry-wall tape. My problem is that my shredder is a cross-cut shredder which provides me with tiny little pieces, not long strips. Could you please tell me the brand name of the shredder you use? Is this an older type? I am praying that they still make the type that you use.
I appreciate your teaching approach: you are organized; present the material in an orderly fashion, proceeding in rational steps; comfortable in front of the camera; and informative. You provide enough information so that your viewer can begin, but not enough so that it is a "paint by numbers approach."
I hope your studio does not always look so neat. When I am working, mine occasionally looks like a tornado has settled in the middle of the space and scattered everything, i.e., chaos. Then, I have to clean it again to start the process once again. Thanks again, Blanche

Hi Daniella,
I just wanted to tell you how fabulous your encaustic DVD is. From the amount of information included and the clear way you present it, to the professional quality of the audio and video -- I couldn't be happier. I don't always find that great artists are great teachers (and I certainly don't expect them to be), but you're both -- you move at the perfect pace and I love what you've chosen to teach. Basically, you rock, Daniella. This is one of the best investments I've ever made for my art. I've done photo-encaustics for years, but you not only showed me wonderful new techniques, you also gave me that jolt of inspiration that is so important when it comes to facing that blank panel in the studio.

So thanks again for being so generous with your knowledge and for making available such a great resource. In the meantime, best of luck with all of your artistic endeavors, in 2010 and beyond.
Susan McDowell

Thanks heaps for your DVD. It arrived safe and sound yesterday...I have totally enjoyed watching it already! You have done an awesome job in its creation and I will be watching it many times - much to learn...Congratulations. Thanks again. Take care,
Paula
New Zealand

Korea-all sewn up

2009-11-01T14:22:00.000-08:00

sewn strips of memories 2" x 32'

We are home, and are missing all the wonders of Korea. I've been experimenting with making that delicious deep flavored soup we had at the Lotte upstairs restaurant. It's good, but not even close or as rich as that broth. Kim and I are ready for a trip to local Korean markets, Ranch 99 in search of more hot chili paste, fresh kim chee, and pickled daikon radish.
It has been interesting to see how each of us chose to catalogue/chronicle our trips. Kim wrote about it in her terrific BLOG, Her Secret Garden. Wendy and Judy made fabulous scrapbooks/journals, on which they would work at the end of every day. I am jonzing to xerox their marvelous creations. I did not chronicle visually in any kind of linear fashion. I did write my daily morning pages.

makeshift studio in our Seoul apartment

I made a makeshift studio in our Seoul apartment, hand shredding bits of the days discoveries and gluing them onto strips like the drywall tape of which I am so fond. I looked for and never found any drywall tape in Seoul, but cut up long strips of papers to about that familiar 2 inch width. I came home with many glued up strips, and continued the process in the last few days, nursing my jetlag with gluing and sewing these strips.

paper memories about to be shred

glued strips waiting to get sewn
sewing strips of memories

Today I completed 5 strips of this memorabilia from Korea that are 32 feet long. Just long enough for the 3 story stairwell at the Museum of Art and History, where they will be a part of my Rydell Fellowship Exhibition, which opens December 19.5 sewn strips 32 feet long

Korea Day 12-flashback to Do-Ho Suh

2009-10-27T06:34:00.000-07:00

detail of Some/one 2001 Do-Ho Suh

Some/One 2001 Do-Ho Suh

This morning we visited the Deok Su Gung Palace. We arrived just in time for the changing of the guard. When I saw this fellow in full dress, I had a flashback to the first time I saw Do-Ho Suh's work at the Seattle Art Museum. I wondered if maybe this was some sort of inspiration for his 2001 work, Some/one. Mostly he talks about identity and the body, but I couldn't help thinking that maybe this was visual origin? I could be totally off the mark. I found a great interview with Do-Ho Suh with lots of wonderful photos of his work at designboom.

detail of Guard garb, Deok Su Gung Palace

Guard, Deok Su Gung Palace

Seoul Inspiration-the Marketplace-Day 11

2009-10-26T05:47:00.000-07:00

A continuing love affair with brooms-especially the lime green ones

Today we visited three markets, the antique, the medicinal plants, and the flea. I am more inspired by the marketplace than most galleries. The way items are wrapped, stacked and displayed really do it for me. I took about 375 photos today, ok it's a sickness. The fun is that Kim, Judy and Wendy are all doing the same. We all have our own ways of seeing, and it has been so much fun to view our slide shows at the end of each day. We all translate and assimilate differently: I shred and glue, Wendy and Judy have been collaging and journaling out-of-this world books, and Kim is writing a stupendous Blog. Traveling a quatre has been the most terrific fun and so expanding.

pojaji and bamboo at the antique market

woman with ginsing

orange lanterns

can you stand this wrapping!

greens from China?

burdock root

shizo leaves?

the cabbage wall of future kim chee

glasses at the flea

Those wrapped leaves are getting me all excited to resume with eucalyptus at home!

Cheongju Craft Biennale

2009-10-23T14:51:00.000-07:00

I'm so far behind in my blogging! Today is day 9 and we are leaving early for the Cheongju International Craft Biennale. Betsy has got us a van for the day. I think it's about a 2 hour ride, and will be our first foray into the countryside. Kim has been doing a stunning job of blogging about our travels day by day with great photos and her terrific writing. For the blow by blow, hersecretgarden is where it's at! For me yesterday, it was all about the walls. Omg, I can see a lot of artwork coming out of this wall of roof tiles.

Seoul Searching-Day 5

2009-10-20T14:28:00.001-07:00

Kim continues to BLOG fabulously about our travels...here

Giant brush sculpture

Happy shoppers
Gathering our papers
Betsy oversees the counting!
Buddhist temple
Courtyard with 400 year old tree
Installation by Jong Sub Lee

We meet the charming Jong who signs his catalogue for each of us

Writing lovely sentiments for Kim

More paradise

Can it get more fabulous than this?

Jujube tea time with a few faux pas and a lot of laughs

Seoul Food-Day 4

2009-10-19T18:37:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the big department stores, Lotte and Shinshege where all the designer goods from all over the world are shown. We found it much more fun to go to the basements and view these culinary festivals...because it's all about the food! dried fish

sushi

sweets

fresh ginsing

peppers

doughnuts composed of the holes!

doughnut detail

containers of paper

Seoul Vision-Day 3

2009-10-19T16:35:00.000-07:00

detail of huge Tiger sculpture comoposed of plastic bottles

negative space says "We are all designers" in Korean

detail of "We are all Designers" (post its?)

The interior of the stadium filled with white "flags" on a grid-this brought me to tears!

interior ceiling of one exhibit

purse made of rubber bands!

a wall of milk crates filled with paper "balls"

where can we get this?

Drawing show performers

Today we visited the Seoul Design Olympiad at Olympic Stadium. The most profound concern was about recycling. Terrific use of materials, and wonderful innovative products from around the world. We were having another day in paradise. To finish it all off, a performance piece called Drawing Show was absolutely terrific!

Seoul Day 2

2009-10-19T04:12:00.000-07:00

Check Kim's blog...as always she is writing wonderfully about our trip!
I'm more with the visuals for now.
Day two we stayed in our neighborhood, Insadong. Some really great art!

Frame shop fascade

A show called SKIN at Grimson Gallery
the work of Kang, Young Min
this is one tiny unit in a large work

Here's most of the grid of tiny photos

Shred photo-one of five

sand blasted glass at another gallery

we made our way back to the dumpling shop!

chop blanks in a window

Hongik University art•design festival-installation from the textile dept

Painting composed of nails and acrylic

Seoul Delivery system

Heart and Seoul

2009-10-16T23:04:00.000-07:00

I fell in love with you, Korea-madlee the way a fool would do. Without reservation. I followed that feeling in my body and not my head. It started with seeing the work of Do So Huh at the Seattle Art Museum. Then a film on Chunghie Lee and Pogaji. Next, the Kyong Ae Cho show at the Belger during the SDA Conference in Kansas City, along with (render me speechless) Dorothy Caldwell-not exactly Korean but as good as! Then the Ballpoint Pen Abstractions of Il Lee at the San Jose Museum. Most recently in Sculpture Magazine, I saw the work of Jayho Lee. A few years back, Kim and I visited the new Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. Love fest on everything, until we got to the exhibition on Korea. It was as if Korea had some je ne sais quois-steroids? I dunno, but I got it and I got it bad for pretty much anything Korean: the aesthetic, the clothes, the people, and the kim chi, which I could eat 3x a day-because you know it's always about the food!
Wendy, my business partner at WaxWorks, I discovered early on, adopted 3 Korean kids, one who currently lives in Seoul. Last year, at the Encaustic Conference in Boston, Catherine Nash gives me the Rx that I should join the IAPMA. It turns out that they will have their International Congress in Wonju in September of 2010. Ok, so I'm goin'. Then last month, Wendy found some great fares on Singapore Air, which happens to be a magnificent airline. So here we are. So those of you asking Why Korea-this is my answer. Something at a cellular lever called to me via the voice of artists. There isn't anything a better than communicating to one another through our creativity. Kim saw a t shirt yesterday that read Korea the best kept secret in Asia.

Got Seoul

2009-10-16T05:47:00.000-07:00

Kim and Judy at an art store. Those are all brushes in cross section on the top shelf

Today was our first full day in Korea. We had absolutely the best time. Just wandering with no agenda. We saw so many art stores with lovely brushes, pigments, and every kind of paper imaginable. The clothing was divine. The fashion so surprising-hand dyed fabrics, expert and flawless tailoring, pojagi, gallerists inviting us in and chatting us up about their artists. Such friendly people. The food is terrific-spicy and interesting. I am in love with Seoul. I thought Korea would be wonderful, but this is ridiculous. There is constant visual inspiration, and a feeling of well being. Lee So Young who is doing beautiful work called Word Play. tiny shreds of paper that spin and move on thread

She works with paper, shreds of paper, and red thread in a book format. Her work was so terrific I almost burst into tears.

Wendy, Judy and Kim are terrific traveling companions. We are all quite compatible, and have similar interests-so that is making is the travel easy, and a whole lot of fun. smiling sisters at lunch

We all bought clothes today! I've taken so many photos-there will be a slide show!

the courtyard at lunch

Encaustic Events in Seattle

2009-09-08T11:14:00.001-07:00

I'll be giving a talk entitled
The Whammy Moment
Saturday, September 12, 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM-bring your lunch!
at the Contemporary Quilt Association
directions listed below

A Free Encaustic Demo for R and F Paints with a Q and A after
Saturday, September 19 from 1-3
in Georgetown at The Design Studio of Collette Collins
6355 6th Ave South
Seattle, 98108

For the Whammy Moment talk directions:
The address is 107 West Bertona. It's also called Bertona Classrooms. Look for Bertona Classrooms on the campus map at http://www.spu.edu/info/maps.asp. When driving, take I-5 to exit west on NE 50th Street. Drive west to Fremont Ave N and turn left(south). Drive south on Fremont Avenue and cross the Fremont Bridge to Nickerson and turn right. Head west on Nickerson. At the stoplight at 3rd Ave W, turn left. There is a parking lot on your left that you can enter by turning left into the driveway next to Stell's, a small restaurant. Our building is on the east side of the parking lot. It's a one-story dark red brick building. Parking in the lot is free on weekends for us, ignore the No Parking signs. See you there!

R and F Encaustic Photo Class at Spiro Arts

2009-07-27T07:55:00.001-07:00

The magnificent studio space at Spiro Arts in Park City 2200 square feet
perfect electricity and ventilation!
Terrific group of students...we are missing one. A talented and motivated group. Beyond my wildest dreams. Everybody did fabulous work and we all had a terrific time! How lucky for all of us!

Review of Lux Show!

2009-07-13T06:49:00.000-07:00

A lovely review of my work by L. Kent Wolgamott in the Journal Star in Lincoln Nebraska.

Two very different shows are on view at the Lux Center for the Arts this month. One is a hyperkinetic playroom that utilizes video, microcomputers, tiny clay figures and a green inflated ball, the other is a study of color in stripes done in encaustic on panel.

That they have nothing in common is what makes the combination of Jamie Burmeister’s “Needle in Cotton” and Daniella Woolf’s “The Audacity of Stripes” work well together — the entertaining action of Burmeister’s installation playing off against the soothing, quiet grace of Woolf’s tightly assembled wax paintings.

Woolf, a California artist, is one of the country’s leading proponents of encaustic art, which is enjoying a comeback of sorts and was the subject of an instructive exhibition at the Haydon Art Center earlier this year. Woolf’s exhibition is just what the title says, a group of works all about “The Audacity of Stripes.”

The stripes in all the pieces save two are individual strips of rectangular panel covered with pigmented wax. Those panels are attached to each other, creating rectangles, some strongly horizontal, others vertical. Each of the pieces explores color, either in contrast, combination or commonality.

“Vernazza” and “Vernazza 2” are variations on blue, some light and some dark, a patterning that can also be seen in “Monterosso” which alternates stripes in various shades of red. In contrast, “Her Favorite Combo” is an exploration of a very light blue. But the most interesting of the multipaneled works is a pair that is assembled to resemble landscapes, “Landscape DeLux” and the striking “Sunset Landscape,” which looks like a traditional sunset but falls apart with the stripes.

The two pieces that don’t use the small panels are “Wing 2” and “Wing 3,” a pair of triangular boxes that extend from the wall, each covered with light green wax. Moving in opposite directions with slight variations in the surface color, “Wing 2” and “Wing 3” work as stripes against the background of the wall — a pair that continues the exhibition’s theme while adding eye-pleasing variety.

Woolf’s pieces are technically impressive and offer strong examples of the visual power of stripes, providing a resonance of sorts with the stripes we encounter every day.

Like Burmeister’s exhibition, it succeeds on its own terms but it works even better viewed before or after his noisy installation — a pair of unrelated shows that demonstrate something of the breadth and variety of contemporary art.

Declaring my Independence!

2009-07-04T13:21:00.000-07:00

Today is a good day to declare my INDEPENDENCE-from wood! Is it because this morning, I scored a 6 x 6 foot map of China at a yard sale? Was it a sign from the universe? I'm feeling that I'm done with working on wood panels. No offense, Rodney-you know how I love your gorgeous, delicious and absolutely pristine panels. You know how I think they are works of art in themselves. I am so in love with and intrigued by paper. Hiromi, I'll be right there next month, save me some kozo and kitakata. Two weeks ago, thanks to R and F Paints, I took the Photo Encaustic class at The Center for Photography in Woodstock in NY, and at R and F in Kingston with lovelies Fawn Potash and Danielle Correia. I'll be teaching this class in a few weeks at Spiro Arts in fabulous Park City. I worked my photos only on paper, and was happy with the results. I could build up some amazing areas with wax on paper. So I'm going to use up the panels I have, and not buy any more. I'm going to become a Paper Girl. Stay tuned. The 2 new series I'm developing now are called Men and Black (really Turkey Umber Greenish) and White, and Someone's in the Kitchen. Visuals will be coming soon to a neighborhood near you! My independence this afternoon will be celebrated with listening to the crazy beet of Dan P and the Bricks, munching hot dogs and turkey burgers, and fireworks at the Marina.

Squeak-Yes!

2009-05-14T07:07:00.000-07:00

Squeak Carnwath, Promise, 1999. Oil and alkyd on canvas 80" x 80".

Totally inspired by Squeak Carnwath: Painting Is No Ordinary Object at the Oakland Museum. Don't miss it, and see the short film on Squeak, it was fabu! Also, a great new gallery in Oakland, Slate. Wonderful work by Caroline Seckinger.
And across the street, Burma Superstar-be sure to have the tea leaf salad! For dessert, and maybe a sandwich, Bakeshop Betty's! Because, it's all about the food, right? Loved the ironing board tables!

Happy Earth Day

2009-04-22T09:42:00.000-07:00

The old Herve Leger store on Melrose in Hollywood

After walking the dogs this morning, I just had to deadhead the plants...it's Earth Day! Susan Else had a rose bush that was peaking and off the charts. One of my favorite Roses in the 'hood is called Intrigue...mmm what a fragrance. I think about this building in LA, the old Herve Leger store. Patrick Dougherty meets retail? I was teaching earlier this month, for R and F Paints, and was driving home to my pal Laurie's who does Inlay Floors. I gasped, when I saw this beauty and had to post it. My class in LA had terrific and talented painters, and it was so much fun to be back in my home town. My first nite, I had dinner with my two BFF's from grad school, Barbara and Yael. Barb now writes a terrific blog, and wrote a terrific piece about us. On to eat wonderful Brazillian, Vietnemese and the Velvet Margarita with new friends I met on the flight home from Toronto. There is way too much going on in my life now, and I wonder why everything is overlapping, and nothing ever seems completely finished...so I could take a break-sans guilt!

In Memoriam-Kathleen Flowers

2009-04-12T20:09:00.000-07:00

Altar for Kathleen on our mantle

On this lovely Easter spring morning, our dear friend and neighbor Kathleen Flowers left this earth. Kathleen was an extraordinary poet and being full of light and love. We are grieving along with so many people whose lives she touched. She leaves her adoring husband Howard, her mother, father, sister and brother, nieces. She taught kindergarten in the Spanish language immersion project. She touched the lives of so many children and parents who also adored and respected her. In just a few short minutes the poetry show on KUSP will be devoted to her. I chose one of her poems from Call It Gladness, her publication from the 2008 In Celebration of the Muse Chapbook Award publication. Here is her poem In These Five Remaining Days.

In These Five Remaining Days

After Hafez

In these five remaining days, I see
I've spent my life bellowing like a mule,
feeling broken beneath a burden
that was mine to learn to carry
or the weight of another's I could not ease.

In these four remaining days, the robe,
that has been my body revels in
its own unraveling. Inside, a hummingbird
hovers, half-inside a flower, then zips
away, stitching the sky with iridescence.

In these three remaining days, I am still,
knowing what ripens below, soon breaks
through the duff, finds some light-
a rose-colored mushroom, quietly
glistens in the redwood mist.

On this, the second to last day, I ride
a riptide out to sea, find myself
fixed again to the ocean's umbilicus.
Rocked upon her heaving breast, I taste
the briny tears we share, let go my thirst.

On this, my final day of living,
with every last breath, I make a plea
for the chance to hold aloft a hundred more
burdens, a friendship to sip, a forest to sit in,
singing thank you, thank you, thank you!

Inspiration-Lynn Mizono

2009-03-21T11:40:00.001-07:00

Lynn Mizono on Whidbey

My friend Lynn Mizono is a designer extraordinaire. She works in fashion, and has designed and built a gorgeous home here on the Island. She is responsible for inviting me to be in the Paper Invitational here on the island. Her home is featured in Metrpolitan Home this month. I was having tea with her yesterday at her inspiring home, and Monday we're going to collaborate with a bunch of "snowballs" for the upcoming paper show in June on Whidbey. Ah, how lucky can this girl get?

High Fiber Harvesting

2009-03-19T21:23:00.000-07:00

Happily I was accepted into the Conrad Wilde paper show for the summer, entitled High Fiber. Today I went to WAIF, one of my favorite thrift stores on Whidbey, which benefits animals. I met the most handsome Collie Pit Bull mix, named Ford, because sometimes he works. I bought up all the pattern papers they had. I realized that I thoroughly enjoy the harvesting process. Taking the pattern tissue out of their envelopes, and separating the instructions from the tissue. Ah, I am recycling, benefiting animals, and repurposing materials.

Tea, tea tabs, empty teabags, and slices of the tea bags

Earlier this week, I harvested several bags of teabags thoughtfully gathered from Lynn Mizono. I removed and composted the tea, and ended up with many inches for the Paper Invitational here on Whidbey for June at Museo gallery. I love the process.

Favorite quotes from the Sue Bender Book, Plain and Simple, A Woman's Journey to the Amish.Recycling on a grand scale at our "transfer station"

Surprised that I just bought these woven rice bag Keens?

Encaustic-Textile Playday

2009-01-22T09:57:00.000-08:00

I'll be teaching an Encaustic Workshop for Textile and Fiber artists at the SDA conference in May. I thought I'd do a fun run at the studio and to see what people liked to work with, their reactions, and just what would happen when these artists married fiber and wax. Each time I've presented this, the results have been surprising and inspiring. Everyone had a great time, they all did amazing work, and basically, I had to kick them out of the studio! Wendy said, "Doncha hate that when you get a knot in your thread"? Susan's reply, "Welcome to my world"! I can't wait to do this with 12 people. The synergy of the group is sure to blow the roof off the KCAI!

Wendy applies india ink to her waxed burned silk organza, prayer flag piece

Debbie Wambaugh applies wax to her layered complex cloth

Susan Else with her painted water and sculptural fabric stones

Debbie Wambaugh's heat set polyester work, waxed

Judy Stabile works on a variety of dipped fibers; a nest of possibilities

They are so quiet, and just can't get enough!

Barak-The Flag-Tuxedo

2009-01-20T11:05:00.001-08:00

We are just back from celebrating with our neighbors. We had to fly the flag. I had to wear my Tux! We ate wonderful food, passed the kleenex box, applauded, cried, drank champagne, and were in community. All is well in the hood and in our world today. We are elated ! Our neighbors and wonderful hosts and chefs-Larry and Debbie and pooch Katy.

In This House That I Call Home-The WAXY part

2009-01-18T08:47:00.000-08:00

Table top and contents are all encaustic!

Encaustic installation by Wendy Aiken and Judy Stabile

Yesterday, we had a "playday" at Waxworks. People come to the studio to use our space and work on projects in community. We are there to answer questions, and help with projects..we also get to paint! I knew that Wendy and Judy had been working on an installation as a part of the Assemblage+Collage+Construction art fest that is going on in every venue in Santa Cruz from January - April. We asked if they would take us over to see what the installation, in advance of the opening on the 25th. In This House That I call Home is a transformation of the PVAC gallery back into it's original state as a beautiful home. Many talented artists are working on this venue, curated by Jane Gregorius and Janet Fine. I'm going to concentrate on the waxy part. . I can tell you that we went through the entire house and all we could do was repeat OMG over and over. It is astonishing. This is a show that is not to be missed..Here are photos only of Wendy Aikin and Judy Stabile's portion.

Wendy and her encaustic candlelabra books and parakeet
The couch with everything you'd fine between the pillows on the surface, beneath clear plastic

The house/gallery is located at 37 Sudden Street in Watsonville
831-722-3062
Wednesday-Friday 11am-4pm Sat-Sun 12-4
January 21-March 15

Working Small-Thinking Large

2009-01-07T20:15:00.000-08:00

Theresa soldering a dome

This week I've been taking an earrings class with Theresa Vu at Cabrillo winter session. It's only a one week class, and has a semester's worth of information! I'm thinking about large sculpture. I'm fabricating tiny work,which is simulating larger ideas. It feels like a form of model making. I've been loving sawing metal, acrylic and bamboo! Encaustic painting and earrings made with architectural stencils.