What I did on the weekend

The title of this post is bringing back memories of the yearly What I Did On My Summer Vacation essay we were subjected to in school! This weekend I set aside two days to devote exclusively to encaustic painting. My friend Carol had an Open Studio and there were four artists working side by side to create encaustic work. We shared ideas and inspirations.

This is Carol's studio in Torbay just outside St. John's . It's a very conducive spot to paint because it is perched on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. You can hear the ocean in the background. Luckily the wind was gentle and blowing in the right direction for the fans in the windows. Four hot palettes need lots of ventilation.


It was a beautiful day (16 degrees) and we had lunch on the patio. That's hard to believe for November in Newfoundland. From left to right Carol Bajen-Gahm, Anita Singh and Carolyn Morgan. I am represented by my plate.

As I noted in my last post I'm going through a dry spell and this was a way to kick start my painting focus again. It worked. I was rearing to go and kept up an energetic for the two days. I arrived with everything but the kitchen sink.


The work I created took several different routes and it isn't all finished yet. I find encaustic a great process material that encourages you to experiment and go where the materials lead. If you are stuck in a rut it is the perfect way to break free.

I began with several warm up pieces that were small 6 x 6 inch squares that I will display in a set of four. Fragments of Beauty II continues an ongoing exploration of what I find beautiful in the world. The rose petals and other organic materials in the pieces were given to me by Anita who is the best collector and sharer of materials I know.

Here's an idea of how the first of four pieces was developed:


Stage 1 -- Apply two coats of encaustic medium ( clarified beeswax and damar resin), then gold embossed paper& another coat of medium, fusing between each layer.
Stage 2-- Dip dried rose petals and stem (from a pineapple actually) in encaustic medium and apply quickly to heated wax on surface. Fuse.
Stage 3-- Add torn bits of gold embossed papers around the petals. Apply one coat of medium with a brush. Fuse.
Stage 4 -- Pour wax around the petals to further embed them. Fuse.

Step 5-- Brush several coats of clear encaustic medium to further embed the petals. Fuse.

Step 6-- Use R & F Pigment Stick (Gold) to scribble over the surface and rub off with a cloth. Fuse again.
Step 7- Shine when cooled.

The remaining pieces in this series include:

Still fiddling with a way to organize them.... not happy yet!

More to come...

One man: Pattern and decoration -1

While the Pattern and Decoration Movement of the 60's and 70's was female dominated there were several male presences. In particular, I am attracted to the work and beliefs of Robert Kushner . His connection to the movement was not the result of any strong beliefs that he held about feminism. He was very interested in the universality of decoration and thought its marginalization wasn't useful . Unfortunately , his decision to treat a traditionally female and non-Western art with the same respect given to male Western art at times saw Kushner perceived as a less serious artist who was playing a dangerous "game".

In a interview in EuroArt in 2008 he spoke at length about how he saw his practice fitting in to modernity. Rather than falling from grace because of his interests, he felt that

" there were few great artists who could ascend from modernity to the decorative. I truly feel that it is just as difficult to make convincing, intelligent, sustaining decoration as it is to make good art". ....... decoration can more easily delve into experiences of visual ecstasy and profound seriousness than many other art forms. By fully and openly accepting the decorative traditions of the world as a valid source book, I think that artists (not just me) can learn from the masters, both anonymous and known, and build an art that is original, modern, heart felt, intelligent and even edgy. And Modern."

Kushner's early work in the 70's blended his love of Islamic pattern, French modernism, and the art of the Far East. In the fall of 1974 he set off on a three-month trip to Turkey, Iran, and Afghanistan with his friend and mentor, critic Amy Goldin. This trip was the first of many that proved to be extremely important to his development as an artist. He later travelled to India and Japan.

Aurora's Chador, 1976

Arcadia Dreaming, 1984

In the early 1980s, he moved away from using strict repeating patterns and began painting using live models. He was interested in exploring the "furthest fringes of what could be seen as decorative". While the figure remained in the province of "high art", Kushner decided to treat it ornamentally to the point where the figure became a decorative motif.

Daphne 11, 1985

In 1986 Kushner began painting on canvas developing an extended series of flower paintings that were inspired by his own garden. He discovered that flowers were multi-faceted as subject matter; they were erotic and they could evoke memento mori, an awareness of the brevity of life itself. He took a perverse pride in depicting flowers because they were generally considered debased subject matter and often relegated to the status of practice material for amateur painters. Kushner is careful in his choice of flowers and is attracted to ones for which he has a strong association either in terms of history or personal memories.

Night Garden 2000, Acrylic, oil, gold and silver leaf , 60 x 60

Spring Scatter Summation Panel (2005)

Donald Kuspit wrote that

"no American decorative works have the visual richness of Kushner's paintings Spring Scatter Summation, 2005, and Seattle Summer Meadow, 2006. Far from being simply adornments for an environment, these works are environments in themselves. If, as Greenberg thought, "traditional Western easel painting ... subordinates decorative to dramatic effect," Kushner convincingly integrates the dramatic and the decorative, revitalizing a treatment of surface that had become stale and routine--not to say shallow--in so-called pattern painting. Each quality--drama and decoration--is given its due without the other being compromised.

"I really believe the public deserves something beautiful" - Kushner

For further reading about the Pattern and Decoration Movement and Kushner's contemporaries check out this article in Aesthetica.

Thoughts on beauty

"All artwork is about beauty: all positive work represents it and celebrates it. All negative art protests the lack of beauty in our lives." (Agnes Martin , 1989)

"When I think of art, I think of beauty," she wrote. "Beauty is the mystery of life. It is not in the eye, it is in the mind." Agnes Marin

"I think that our minds respond to things beyond this world. Take beauty: it's a very mysterious thing, isn't it? I think it's a response in our minds to perfection. It's too bad, people not realizing that their minds expand beyond this world." Agnes Martin

The art, life and musings of Agnes Martin gave artists much to think about. When I want to rebut anyone who questions the role of beauty in art, Agnes Martin is one of the artists I depend on to help me in the debate. Her life and her art were one and she spoke bluntly and often about the role of beauty in art and life.

Born in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada, she was a contemporary of Georgia O' Keeffe, and a strong woman who lived her life and created art her way. She was never swayed by current trends in art. Matt Schudel, Washington Post wrote in her obituary.

"Ms. Martin was admired for the purity of her artistic vision and was considered a symbol of integrity in the materialistic, sometimes venal world of modern art. In addition to her deceptively simple, gridlike paintings, she also wrote and spoke of the deep spiritual purpose of the artistic life, saying that an artist's goal is not to make political statements but to create lasting beauty ...... She also disavowed politics and any connection with the feminist movement. In 1967, when she was honored by Harper's Bazaar as one of 100 "Women of Achievement," she came to the luncheon wearing moccasins and an unironed skirt and blouse."

Hilton Kramer, critic and editor of the New Criterion, described Martin's work as "like a religious utterance, almost a form of prayer."

It seems Agnes Martin found her artistic voice and continued to produce in a very minimalist style until she died. I find her work strongly patterned in a structured, austere way and it gives me the same sense of peace that I spoke about in previous posts about art that uses pattern. You become one with the work by focusing on the repeating elements; calmness pervades the experience. It is beautiful in a profound way.

You will find these letters written by Joanne Hunt in response to Agnes Martin's work and life" teachings" very interesting I think. They are posted on Red Revine blog.

See more of Agnes Martin's work, a bio and a critique here.

You may also want to check out Katharine Cartwright's blog post on The Role of Beauty in Art . We have been having an interesting discussion back and forth about the role of beauty in art. Where do you weigh in?

Sky calligraphy

Every tree has something to say to those who bother to look. While out for a walk one day in Birr town in County Offaly, Ireland I came upon a lovely garden on the grounds of Wilcot B & B. The branches of this dead tree stood out because of their graphic quality against the overcast sky. The strange beauty drew me away from the lushness of the leaves and blossoms everywhere esle in the garden. What were their secret messages?

Choosing beauty

When I decided to become an artist, I also made a conscious decision to explore ordinary things that have a precarious beauty often overlooked by many people. My interest in beauty extends to the paintings I create . I want the surfaces to be lush, layered and inviting to touch.

Choosing beauty has caused me more than one moment of angst in the last seven years and, at times, it has led me to feel apologetic about my work. Today I needed to remind myself that how I see the world has value as subject matter.

Something to think about:

Beauty is everywhere, but one may see the beautiful view and the other sees a dirty window. You have the power within you to choose what you see, what you think and what you paint. (Leanne Cadden)

Beauty in things exists in the mind which contemplates them. (David Hume)