Fall action

The weather cools and my thoughts turn to a more scheduled life. My extended stay at my summer house comes to an end every year in early September. There will be two more short visits there and then the doors close until April. The summer flew by. I created seven paintings in all , four for my new series which I'm getting ready to unveil, and three poppy paintings, two of which already sold in the Leyton Gallery summer show. The other one I'm saving for the Christmas show at the gallery.

This weekend my friend Carol and I are teaching a two day introductory encaustic workshop to 5 participants. Today is out set up time and tomorrow we refine out teaching topics. It will be a great weekend. We have a series of open studio days and intensive workshops planned throughout the fall. All are sponsored by R & F Homemade Paints. With our small population 5 participants in a workshop is a great number. Carol and I are planning an encaustic group blog that will highlight all things encaustic that happen in the area. as a result of our worshops and out own explorations in the medium.

Silver thaw

I seem to have an attraction to metallic paints this year. At the recent encaustic workshop where we used R and F encaustic, I was drawn to the these encaustic colours:

Pearl Encaustic, R & F Paints

Silver Encaustic, R & F Paints

German Silver Encaustic, R and F Paints

My favourite was pearl. It really did have the look of crushed pearls. It is great used alone but you can also use it with other encaustic colours to make iridescent colours.

I would like to say that I had a well thought out idea for the work below, but the truth is I just wanted to use these three colours. As I gathered my materials and began to work an idea formed. The colours made me think of silver thaw, a weather condition that we are all to familiar with in spring in Newfoundland and away I went.

Silver Thaw (8 x 10) metal mesh, paper, encaustic on board

Endless possibilities

Encaustic provides a wonderful world for experimentation with mixed media. I've only just begun to explore the many applications possible.

This image was created using a gum arabic transfer process in the printmaking part of the encaustic workshop. It started out as this ...





I cropped it tightly and applied it to plywood 6 x 8 board that had been primed with R &F encaustic gesso. This is a wonderful product that was created specifically for use with encaustic painting. It is a brushable white ground that dries to an absorbent surface. It works like standard acrylic gesso, but it has a lower proportion of binder to solid and remains very absorbent. I applied two layers of encaustic medium and then laid the print in a puddle of encaustic medium on the palette and quickly transferred it on top of the encaustic coated board. I used a piece of matt board and the heat gun to smooth it in place. I found it is best to start at the middle and move toward the edges. I like how the gesso enhanced the light areas of the print giving the work more contrast.

This work was also created from a gum arabic transfer process and was applied over a coat of clear encaustic medium. When I applied the print the white areas took on the cast of the plywood colour underneath giving the work a warm patina overall.

Here's the original print that I cropped.

While I was pleased with my efforts in encaustic, I liked both prints better before I cropped them. It was a case of working to fit the boards I brought along. I saved the cuttings from each so maybe there might be a way to make a second piece to keep the dialogue in the work going. With that in mind, I still consider both pieces successful. I haven't decided if they are finished yet. Time will tell!

After the encaustic workshop

Well, my four day printmaking and encaustic workshop is officially over. We had a special visitor or two to the workshop to liven things up. Torbay Bight Studio is on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean in the town of Torbay, Newfoundland. Two humpback whales kept us company just outside the studio window giving us glimpses of their size and blowing prowess. I'm sure no other instructor has this kind of competition in their workshop history. The whales put on quite a show that caused participants to forget about their work in progress.

On close inspection I see the instructor, Laura Moriarty and her husband/assistant Wayne on the right whale watching! Not to mention Carol Bajen-Gahm who I partnered with to organize the workshop. Everyone needed breaks outside.

The workshop is over and its time to clue up and leave. Some participants stay around to unwind with a glass of wine/beer. Neighbours from up the street stroll down to chat and everyone gets in on the excitement of the day.

The following evening we had a BBQ and a bonfire on the beach below the studio. What a great way to wind up four days of sharing. The whales were still in the harbour and provided a calming backdrop to the crackling of the fire.

Being with the same seven artists for four days and having three different instructors gave great exposure to a range of techniques and individual applications. There's nothing like a workshop to get the creative juices going.

This is where all my creativity was unleashed. We had the best of materials, equipment and instruction for the workshop through the sponsorship of R&F Paints. I am excited that this partnering will continue for future encaustic workshops at Torbay Bight Studio.


It's good to know some of the participants are hard at work. Evelyn Peyton Murphy and Tara Bryan are enjoying their introduction to encaustic

I can't say that I produced any masterpieces in the workshop, but I did hone my skills in encaustic. I've done enough work in the medium to know what aspects of my application I needed to improve. I created small boards to allow me to do that . Some of them I will develop further into a finished art work, others will remain evidence of learning. I like to attach a sheet of paper to the back of work created in workshops to record what I learned and any new questions I might want to find answers to.

I'm in the process of photographing my work so it will appear in a later post.