Oh yeah, I have work in some shows...

Subdivision - encaustic and oil on panel, 12" x 12"

My work is part of a group show, Shelter, at Olson-Larsen Galleries in West Des Moines, Iowa.

The show runs until January 3, 2009.

The Living Wood - altered book

I also have 2 artist's books in a juried book show, Dog-Eared: Revealing the Contents of Artist's Books at Purdue University.

F3, Languish - collage, oil pastel, solvent transfer, encaustic and oil on panel, two 12" x 12" panels

Upcoming:
My solo exhibit, Seeking Shelter will be on display at the Leslie Powell Foundation Gallery in Lawton, Oklahoma starting January 10, 2009.

Also:
You can follow me on Twitter now:
http://twitter.com/deannawood

I've actually been Twittering for quite a while now, but I set up a new public Twitter persona that is strictly art-related. I won't tweet about my cats or swear like my evil Twitter twin does.

Another Proposal

Today I'm working on getting out a couple of proposals for my "Beyond the Scrapbook" show. I'm happy that it was shown earlier this year, but I'd like to expand it and get it into a couple of more venues.

This time I included my resume, the proposal, 10 photos, an image list that corresponds to the photos, and a postcard from the previous show. This particular venue asked specifically for slides or photos. Otherwise I would have sent a CD.

I'm working on getting one out to another venue, but they want lots of really specific information like budgets for printing, shipping, catering, etc. It's stuff that I don't really want to think about, but I know it would be good practice to do.

As I mentioned above, I'm trying to expand the show since a couple of the original artists dropped out (one of them has even disappeared!). All of the artists are people that I know and went to school with, so I'd like to find some new people from different areas, especially from different cultural backgrounds.

So if you or anyone you know has some artist's books lying around that fit the definition of the show, please let me know. I don't actually need the book until we schedule a show, and then you can send the book directly to the venue.

Here's a brief summary of the show:
Beyond the Scrapbook features artists that remember, examine, and present family histories through the medium of book arts. The artists have each presented their family histories in very different ways. Some celebrate their past while others delve into the dark side of family memories. But each has used the medium of book arts to preserve the past and create a work of art that transcends the traditional scrapbook.

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Now playing: Natalie Merchant - River
via FoxyTunes

Plug - a couple of shows

I know I said I was going to post about the conference today, but I thought I'd just post this little plug...

I have work in a couple of local group shows:

Raged, 24" x 24", charcoal, oil, and encaustic

Visual Arts Society of Texas 19th Annual Juried Members Exhibition
Meadows Gallery, Center for Visual Arts, Denton, Texas
400 E. Hickory
Gallery hours: Tue - Sun, 1-5 pm
The show is up until August 27th

Inside, 24" x 24", collage, oil, and encaustic

Visual Arts Society of Texas Members
Banter
219 W. Oak, Denton, Texas
Open 7 days, 10 am - midnight
(try the tapas!)
The show is up until August 30th

Now I'm off to hang another show for the same group - I'm not in this one, just helping out. It'll be fun, too, because we're hanging it in the gallery at TWU, where I was a gallery assistant during grad school.

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Now playing: The Velvet Underground - Oh! Sweet Nuthin'
via FoxyTunes

First National Encaustic Conference, Part 3

OK, enough silliness - back to the conference report...

On Saturday, the first full day of the conference, I attended the morning panel discussion. The panel was moderated by Joanne Mattera and included Timothy McDowell (artist), Katherine French (curator), Richard Frumess (artist and founder of R&F Paints), Hope Turner (gallery owner), and Barbara O'Brien (curator and critic).

I found the discussion interesting and lively. I took some notes on the highlights:

On the fragility of encaustics - no one seemed to be concerned - just suggested that you have to be a little more careful. Tim McDowell related a story he'd heard about Anselm Kiefer - Kiefer's gallery person called him to let him know that the new owner of one of his straw paintings was staring at a pile of straw in their living room. Kiefer replied, "It must be beautiful."

Someone else mentioned that throughout history, wax has been used as protection and a preservative.

Encaustic lends itself to expressionism. Color can be entrapped in and bounce out of the layers of wax in the painting.

On encaustic painting as a ghetto or cult - most panelists agreed that the idea or formal image is the most important aspect of a work of art, not the medium chosen by the artist. The medium can be interesting but it is secondary (this idea was repeated several times).

Barbara O'Brien stated that art doesn't speak for itself, an artist has to educate the viewer.

Miles Conrad asked the panel if encaustic is seen as a medium used mostly by women. He has noticed an overwhelming majority of women artists entering his encaustic invitational every year. Someone on the panel suggested that perhaps women are more open to trying new media or are more willing to learn from other people (I have noticed, too - I've been teaching workshops for a year and a half and haven't had one male student...).

But historically, male artists had passed down the knowledge of the encaustic process - Brice Marden learned from David Aronson, who learned from Karl Zerbe...

On shipping encaustic work - Someone said that they use 1st or 2nd day FedEx and only ship on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday to arrive on Friday. This eliminates the danger of the artwork sitting in a hot truck or warehouse over a weekend. Never use the US Post Office. Never put anything in contact with the surface. Use a crate within a crate. Someone suggested using Ethafoam. Tim McDowell says he usually ships overnight. He also suggested never to list the contents as "artwork." They won't pay the full insurance value on artwork. In the description line he writes, "hand-painted signs." They'll insure those...

On getting into galleries - Look at galleries in your area. Look at the gallery's stable and get a dialog going with the gallery director/owner. Produce a web page that focuses on your art. Keep it businesslike and easy to migrate through. Go to openings and network. Just because a gallery says no once, it's not final. Send them information later with new work and they'll often look at your work again. Don't give up. Gallery owners put a lot more weight to recommendations from their current artists.

Debra Ramsay

After the panel, Tricia Lazuka, Heather Harris and I walked over to see Hot Stuff, the juried group show of encaustic work. I took photos of most of the work and you can see it here. I'm working on finding the names for each work, so if you know who did any of them, please leave a comment.

To be continued...

Related links:
My Flickr set of the Hot Stuff show
Joanne Mattera's in-depth synopsis
Linda Womack's on-going report
Daniella Woolf's blog
International Encaustic Artists

Beyond the Scrapbook

Alison Hahn - Burned (detail) - altered book

Tarrant County College
The Art Corridor II
Southeast Campus, Arlington, Texas

May 7 - June 15, 2007

Reception
Monday, June 4, 4:30 - 6:30 pm

Artist's books by Joy Christiansen, Brett Dyer, Hannah Frieser, Allison Gillies, Danielle Grove, Alison Hahn, Jana Perez, and Deanna Wood

Curated by Deanna Wood

With the popularity of scrapbooking, it is apparent that people are motivated to present their family memories in an aesthetically pleasing way. Beyond the Scrapbook shows how artists utilize the book form to present their family memories in a way that transcends the traditional forms and materials generally associated with family scrapbooks; essentially creating works of art from painful, joyous, or mundane events and stories remembered from their childhoods.

These artists sometimes use standard, traditional scrapbook materials but also introduce new materials and methods such as photocopies, solvent transfer, photo manipulation, and non-traditional bindings.

In “Soap or Being Raised on Avon,” Hannah Frieser takes a comical look at the hazards of getting caught using bad language. Frieser created a book that tells the story of having her mouth washed out with soap. The book is nestled in a box that contains sweet-smelling handmade soap embossed with the offending words.

In her book titled, “Mom’s Lunches,” Alison Hahn lovingly pays tribute to her mother. The book is “inspired by the memories of the lunches my mother packed for me and my brothers and sisters growing up.”

Clearly coming from a different childhood experience, Jana Perez created “i am not crazy,” an artists book of Xeroxed photography which deals with her mother's battle with depression and the artist’s response to it both as a child and as an adult.


Deanna Wood celebrates the fun and freedom of childhood with her book titled, “At the Park.” She photographed her son playing and swinging at a park. The artist created an accordion book that hangs from chain on a metal structure that mimics a swing set.

These and the other artists featured in Beyond the Scrapbook have each presented their family histories in very different ways. Some celebrate their past while others delve into the dark side of family memories. But each has used the medium of book arts to preserve the past and create a work of art that transcends the traditional scrapbook.

A viewer can touch and feel these books - the texture of the paper, the weight of the book in his hands, the smell of the contents, and the interactive nature of turning the pages. Artist’s books beckon the observer to become a participant in the art as she immerses herself in the artist’s lives in an intimate way that is unlike any other art viewing experience.

See installation shots here.

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Gallery hours:
Mon-Thu 8 am - 9 pm
Friday 8 am - 5 pm
Saturday 9 am - 3 pm

For more information, contact Devon Nowlin at 817-515-3406.

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I'd like to say a special thanks to Devon for doing such a great job with installation and marketing!