TexasWAX Opening Night

l to r: Kate Miller (with back to camera), Joanne Mattera, Cheryl McClure, Carolyn Fox-Hearne (with back to camera), Janet Reynolds

Our opening reception on Friday, February 22, was a great success! The people at CAMP really did it up nicely for us. They were extremely gracious and they put on a great spread. One really great touch was the video camera "hidden" in the main gallery space. It was streaming live video that was projected in another room (and someone said it was streaming on the internet, too, but I'm not sure about that).

We were extremely excited that several high-profile people from the "encaustic world" stopped by, including Joanne Mattera, author of The Art of Encaustic Painting; Richard Frumess of R&F Paints, and Kathryn Bevier of Enkaustikos Wax Art Supplies.

The show is up until March 16, so if you haven't seen it yet, please stop by and check it out!

Collaborating Artists Media Project
2631 Commerce St. Suite B, Dallas, TX 75226
Gallery hours M-F, 9 am - 5 pm

Here are some more photos from the opening:

Carolyn Fox-Hearne

Deanna Wood

Gwen Plunkett, Kate Miller, Franziska Bader

Diane reader Dorn

Trayc Claybrook

Diane reader Dorn and Carolyn Fox-Hearne

In Overwhelm. But in a good way...

I started to write this last weekend and I'm just now getting around to finishing it...

I've had a whirlwind few days! Last week I attended the CAA (College Art Association) Conference, which was very conveniently held in Dallas this year. I might not have gone if there hadn't been so much encaustic stuff going on.

The exhibition, The Divas and Iron Chefs of Encaustic is on display at the McKinney Avenue Contemporary in conjunction with the conference. On Wednesday night, the MAC hosted a reception and artist's talk. All of the artists (Kristy Deetz, Peter Dykhuis, Lorraine Glessner, Cheryl Goldsleger, Reni Gower, Heather Harvey, Jeffrey Hirst and Timothy McDowell), were in attendance and all talked very eloquently about their work. The show is just fabulous, and to hear the artists talk about the meaning behind the work and about their processes was so wonderful.

Gwen Plunkett attended the talk with me. She had driven up from Houston to attend the conference and our TexasWAX show.

The next day, all of the artists, joined also by Joanne Mattera and Richard Frumess from R&F Paints, spoke on a panel discussion about encaustic. Richard discussed the history of encaustic, Joanne talked about her work as well as some artists who work in encaustic, and all of the other artists spoke about their own work.

It was wonderful to see more images of the artists' work and to hear more about their processes and themes.

Then, as if that wasn't awesome enough, the next morning there was an encaustic workshop. I had no idea what to expect. I knew Richard Frumess would be there, so I was thinking it would just be an informational type of thing where he would talk about products and demo them. But almost all of the artists were there with their hot plates set up and they were doing demos (Timothy MacDowell was not there and Heather Harvey was there but just taking photos).

They were spread out, so everyone could just bunch around a table and watch and ask questions. I was a little frustrated at the beginning because all of the questions were very basic. I wanted to get to the nitty gritty! I did pick up a few techniques, but the best part was just to hear the artists talk more about their processes and see how they work.

I feel so fortunate that I was able to attend all of the events. Alone each one would have been great but to experience them all together as a whole was truly wonderful.

More about the TexasWAX show next time...

Ultra Extra Arts Mix

The Second Annual
Greater Denton Arts Council

Ultra Extra Arts Mix

Center for Visual Arts, Denton, Texas

Friday, February 29
7-11 pm

Live Music -- a Mariachi band, local alternative bands Fishboy, and Dokodemo Doa, plus DJ no2self
Dance -- performances by TWU dance faculty and students
Art -- the national juried show Materials Hard and Soft is on display, plus a variety of interactive and new media artwork, including work by Max Kazemzadeh, Colby Parsons, and students from both UNT and TWU
Film -- new this year - short films, including the winner of the Jury Prize at the 2007 Fine Line Film Festival
Poetry -- Ed Casey and Aaron Leis
Food -- provided by a variety of great local restaurants including Fuzzy's Taco Shop, Hannahs, the Wildwood Inn and many more
Beer and Wine -- included

Tickets are $20 per person or $35 for two.

Advance tickets are available from the Center for Visual Arts (382-2787).
Tickets will also be available at the door on the night of the event.

Denton Record Chronicle article

Center for Visual Arts
400 East Hickory, Denton, TX
directions

It should be a memorable night. We hope you'll come out and experience it for yourself!


FYI - I'm the committee chair for this event. That's why I haven't posted in so long!

The Birth of TexasWAX

Back in the fall, I received an email from Gwen Plunkett, an artist from Houston who uses encaustic. She invited me to join her newly formed encaustic group in Houston. She said that they were considering becoming a chapter of IEA but weren't sure.

I was excited about the prospect of a Texas-based encaustic group. I had intended to start one but just hadn't gotten my act together enough to do it. Gwen's email finally got me going. We decided to create one Texas group with separate groups in the larger cities, starting with Dallas and Houston.

Gwen mentioned that she's going to be in Dallas for the annual CAA conference and perhaps we could get together. There are some encaustic-related things going on in conjunction with the event. We decided that we would try to find a place to have a group encaustic show in the vicinity of the conference.

So I emailed all of the artists who had taken my workshops over the years and invited them to help form our encaustic group.

We met this past Saturday at the home and studio of Janet Reynolds. There were nine of us: Deanna Wood, Pedrameh Manoochehri, Darlyne Hartman, Kathy Lovas, Susan Sponsler Carstarphen, Silvia Thornton, Janet Reynolds, Junanne Peck, and Trayc Claybrook.

There are several others who are part of the group but weren't able to make the meeting:
Vidya Kagal, Charlotte Cornett, Cheryl McClure, Robin Walker, and Fran Strebel.

We came up with the name - TexasWAX/Dallas - talked about the focus of the group, affiliations, etc. We're currently looking for exhibition space for a joint Dallas/Houston show during CAA.

I'm very excited about the group - it's a diverse, talented, supportive and encouraging group of artists.

You can keep up with our progress on our blogs:
TexasWAX/Dallas
TexasWAX/Houston

We're looking for artists who use encaustic in San Antonio, Austin, Corpus Christi, etc...

Unpacking and Packing Instructions

...where I continue my campaign to ban packing peanuts.

Her Secrets Flocked Around Her Like Birds
11.5" x 11.5"
oil on paper on panel with pastel
2007

I just sent a painting off to a show and even though it was just one painting and it seemed like anyone could have done it with no problem, I decided to make a sheet with unpacking and packing instructions. I learned my lesson back in the summer...

Here's a screen grab of the unpacking instructions:
I try to follow all the rules for successful packing:
- 2 boxes (painting wrapped well and snug in inner box, inner box snug inside sturdy outer box)
- no peanuts (I complain about peanuts all the time - even the environmentally friendly ones - they're a complete pain in the ass*)
- everything is loosely packed with minimal taping to avoid someone having to fight to get something open...
- I draw arrows and write "open here" to indicate where I want my box opened
- I write my name on all sides of the box

I like to pack the box and then unpack to make sure it's easy. I take photos of each step and then I create a simple document with the photos and easy to follow steps for each photo.

In this particular case, I was only shipping one painting, so I used a custom-made cardboard box that was lined with small bubble wrap. I put a piece of archival paper on top of the painting to protect it from the bubble wrap. It rattled around a little when I tested it, so I taped some bubble wrap to the sides and top just to make it a little more snug. Then I wrapped that inner box with large bubble wrap.

My outer box was actually a super sturdy, cow-spotted Gateway box (with a handle, even!) that I spied in the trash at my last job. It was the perfect size. I lined that box with some foam and then slid the bubble wrap-wrapped inner box inside. I placed more foam on top and a sheet of foam core for extra protection. I liked the handle, but decided to remove it in case it got hung on something in transit. I taped some cardboard over the hole for extra protection.

I'm in the middle of unpacking boxes now for a show. The artist's galleries are shipping his work to our local art center. I'm very disappointed in their packing! Well, they're actually packed really well, but not for re-use. I suppose galleries are used to shipping things out and not worrying about getting them back... Most of the paintings are wrapped with paper (which is good), but they're heavily taped (which makes it hard to remove without shredding the paper), then they're wrapped with bubble wrap (which is good), but then heavily taped again (same problem - I have to cut it and mangle the bubble wrap), then (God help me) the boxes are FILLED with peanuts. Today I worked for 2 hours and spent a good 30 minutes of that time wrangling peanuts...

*Enough with the peanuts. Seriously, people.

Sorry. Just had to vent!

Anyway, I can't say this enough - if you want your work to come back safe and sound, think about how easy it will be for someone (most likely an unpaid volunteer who might not have any experience handling artwork) to unpack it first and then re-pack it later. The more they have to wrestle with your tape, bubble wrap, peanuts, etc., the more likely it is that they will not re-pack it well.

As someone who has unpacked several national juried shows, I appreciate artists who send packing instructions. It might seem kind of OCD or anal-retentive, but it really makes life so much easier.

By the way, I shipped the above painting to Eastern Kentucky University for a show called Space, Life, Place. It will be on display January 23 - February 29, 2008

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Now playing: Rachel's - The Last Light
via FoxyTunes

Mourning the ORG

During the year that Ze Frank was doing "The Show," his daily online video program, he created an online social network called the ORG. It was a place for his fans (with various nicknames like Sports Racers, Duckies, The Flock, or members of the League of Awesomeness) to congregate, celebrate their love for Ze, contemplate why he never blinked, show off their creative work, and collaborate with each other.

I had been contemplating writing a post for this blog about online social networks for artists and I was going to mention the ORG. I don't see the point for most of the networks - I join them (myartspace.com, 723.com, artscuttlebutt.com, indiepublic.com, etc), post some images of my artwork, look around at other members for a while, log off, and forget about it until someone posts a comment or friend request.

But the ORG was different. It wasn't an art social network per se, but a lot of the members were very creative in some way - artists, musicians, poets, writers, photographers, filmmakers, designers, illustrators, etc. And others were scientists, engineers, students, and self-described geeks and nerds. The thing that brought everyone together was a desire to connect with other like-minded people and create something new.

ORG members could post photos, videos, writing, and links to their blogs. Members were encouraged to leave short, positive comments. You could also send messages to members via the ORG's message system. Oh, and I don't think I mentioned what I liked most about it - it looked really good. The complete opposite of MySpace, which is so full of ugly (on many levels) that I can't even begin to describe my loathing...

And it all seemed to develop and grow organically. It started very basic but as people commented on the features and functionality, new things were suggested, added and tweaked all the time. It was fun to watch it grow.

One of the collaborative aspects of the ORG were the projects. Any member could create a project and invite other members to join in. Some were based on things Ze mentioned in his show and others just came out of nowhere and got a life of their own. Often someone would post a photo or video, other people would connect with it, play off of it, post something else, and something new and wonderful would be born.

I have to admit that I wasn't as active an ORG member as some. I don't know how to do video (and quite frankly don't want to see myself on video!). I mostly posted some photos, perused the photos that people posted and commented on them. I would "quack" at people (I guess it was the ORG's version of a nudge, wink, or friend request). I would read some of the blogs and occasionally watch a video. There was one young guy from New York that posted some beautiful poetry... Oh, and I really enjoyed the Secret Santa project this Christmas...

OK, so why am I in mourning? Because when I tried to log in to the ORG on New Year's Day, I saw this:
... and it never went away. And I was sad.

It had became a real community. I felt like I had some friends there. I was a fan of many members and looked forward to their contributions - dangeramy, oldgrimy, viscousplatypus (still the best username ever), astropixie, imagine, blissee, awed job, snooge, ohkatherine (incredible photographer)... So many! A bunch of the ORG members are planning a get-together in Chicago this March at QuackerCon 2008...

Luckily I had some ORG member emails and some ORG contacts on Twitter and Flickr, so we were able to stay in contact while we figured out what happened (in fact, I've been enjoying our Twittering these last few days...)

Some of the more industrious (and smart) ORG members are scrambling to create a new place to meet. Right now it's called PostORG. ORG members are coming together and offering their talents to help create something new.

There was discussion on the forum about trying to get the code for the ORG to bring it back up and have someone else maintain it. But I love the idea of us creating something new. And of course by "us" I mean all those smart people who know how to do that sort of thing...

So if you were a member of the ORG and want to reconnect with it, go to PostORG or send an email to explodedorg@gmail.com.

Or if you want to be part of something new and awesome, watch The Show first, and if you like what you see, then hop on board.

And if you do join, look me up. I'm enchiladaplate, of course.

Happy Holidays

origami gift box (my son is very into origami and has to show me how to do the top part every time...

I feel like an elf - I've been busy making presents this year.

There are several reasons for this -
1. I really like making things
2. I can't really afford to buy much
3. I don't really want to buy much
4. I decided to make or buy handmade items whenever possible

I'm sure you're like me and you enjoy creating things. I made a bunch of my collage boxes for a gallery in Fort Worth recently. While I was making them, I listened to a bunch of my backlog podcasts - specifically This American Life. In one episode, Meet the Pros, David Rakoff talks about how he loves to make stuff and he wonders if he could love it as much if it were his job. He makes things for his friends but he's afraid that it must be like having a fitness-loving friend come over and do 25 push-ups in your living room and then say, "Happy Birthday!"

All I can hope for is that the recipient can feel the love that went into the creation of the gift. It would be a bonus if they actually loved the gift itself.

Anyway, here are some of the things I've been making:

Shrinky Dink pins for Tracey (inspired by wee wonderfuls)

Recycled bow made from strips of a magazine (inspired by Simply Green)

Tag/card (inspired by Lisa Solomon) - I had a ton of green paint chips left over from my son's room - I promise I didn't steal these for this project!

Sisters, 12" x 12"
Collage on panel with Lazertran, paper from Rag & Bone, solvent transfer, and gold colored pencil.
My mom asked me to make this for my cousin - these are her daughters. I finally used some Lazertran that I've had for about 3 years.

Another "commission" from my mom - she asked me to make a book from the same photos of my cousin's girls. I made a little flag book with some more Rag & Bone paper...

Detail of inside the book.

Another detail (that photo on the bottom in the center cracks me up every time).

Colleen's tote (inspired by the library tote from The Crafter's Companion)

Detail of embroidery on tote.

So as you can see, it's been busy and varied. Sewing, painting, collaging, bookmaking, Shrinky Dinking, and even some jewelry making!

I'll post more photos of projects later (don't want to spoil any surprises!).

The day after Christmas, my son and I are going with my mom, stepdad, and 2 nieces to Albuquerque and Santa Fe. We're planning on skiing, sledding, visiting the aquarium in Albuquerque (I love that little aquarium), and of course gallery-hopping! I've been promised a day by myself on Canyon Road. Woo hoo! I'll be celebrating my birthday there, too. I'd considered canceling it this year but then I wouldn't get any presents.

I hope everyone has a great holiday!

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Now playing: Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Blue Hotel
via FoxyTunes

Book: Creative Careers by Elaina Loveland

I got this book from the library and thought it might be helpful for someone who was thinking about a career in art.

The subtitle is: Paths for Aspiring Actors, Artists, Dancers, Musicians and Writers.

There's a very short introduction about the book and then each section has an introduction with an overview of careers for each category (actor, artist, dancer, musician, and writer). Each section has profiles of different careers within that broad range.

I have to admit that I was only interested in the section on artists, so I'll concentrate on that here.

There are several career options for artists - animator, digital filmmaker, video game animator, architect, landscape architect, art gallery director, art therapist, artist, illustrator, photographer, art teacher, art professor, art director, industrial designer, floral designer, graphic designer, interior designer, web designer, fashion designer, fashion editor/stylist, jewelry designer, conservator, museum curator, preparator, and museum educator.

There is a basic overview for each one, including a job description, training and educational qualifications, job outlook, salary, and industry resources.

Each career also includes a Q&A profile with someone doing that job, with questions about internships, the best cities for that job, favorite and least favorite aspects of the job, professional associations, helpful publications and websites, and advice for people who are interested in pursuing that particular career.

The artist profiled is Tiffani Taylor, a self-employed artist who paints murals, paintings and pottery and lives in Savannah, Georgia.

A couple of great quotes from Tiffani:

I believe fear is a major factor that stops most art careers--the fear of putting oneself out in the world for others to see. Additionally, artists are faced with the problem solving of being self-employed.

and

Don't let fear of the unknown stop you. Take it a day at a time and live the life you have imagined. work each day toward "self-actualizing;" become the best person you know you can be. Don't listen to "dream squashers." Surround yourself with positive people who inspire you and believe in you. Ask for advice from people you admire.

There's not much here for creative professionals who are already doing what they love, but this would be a great book for someone interested in changing careers or for a young person just starting out.

The author's website:
Creative Careers: Paths for Aspiring Actors, Artists, Dancers, Musicians and Writers by Alaina Loveland

International Shipping

I got a question recently from someone wanting advice on shipping sculpture from the US to Europe.

Have you ever shipped art internationally?

Do you have recommendations on methods and companies to use and/or avoid?

Please leave your response in the comments.

Abundance

First of all, before I forget, congratulations to Kaija, Mary, and Ben on the Pay It Forward project! I'll get something fun out to you soon.

I've been thinking a lot lately about scarcity and abundance. And I guess generosity and stinginess also come into play.

Like most things, I think it's all in how you look at it. I have enough. I have a cute house, a nice studio, a great family, wonderful friends, good health, and basically a great, stress-free life. I have more than I need. Until I start comparing myself to someone with a bigger house, nicer car, more income, handsome husband, skinnier body, etc.

In "Creating Affluence," Deepak Chopra says,

"We experience health when our identity of who we are comes from reference to the self. When we identify with objects, whether these are situations, circumstances, people, or things, then we relinquish our energy to the object of reference. As a result, we feel lack of energy and vitality. When our identity comes from the self, then we keep our energy to ourselves."

He's talking specifically here about health, but I think it applies to anything. When you compare yourself to others, you will come up short in some way. That's not to say that you shouldn't strive for more. I believe that we should all grow and change.

It's kind of like that bumper sticker, "Begin Within." Or the Gandhi quote, “we must be the change we wish to see in the world.”

So, maybe it's naive, but I try to apply this to the art world as well. Everyone agrees that it's a very competitive business. But if you approach it with an attitude of abundance rather than scarcity, it all changes. Instead of self-absorbed artists just in it for ourselves, we can all help each other. I think deep down we all want to be helpful in some way.

I've always thought that it's sort of a numbers game - you have to send out 50 proposals to get 2 shows; you have to approach 100 galleries to get representation in 4 of them; you have to have work in several shows before you build up a following, etc. There are exceptions to this rule, of course, but I think for most of us it's true. You have to get your work out there and eventually the right people will see it.

There's more to it, of course - you need have good work, be able to talk confidently about it, conduct yourself professionally, etc.

I have to remind myself of this concept of abundance often, though. I think there's a tendency to be self-protective and think, "It's competitive out there. I found this call for entries and I want to keep it for myself. If I let Artist X know about it, he might get in the show instead of me." But if you come at it from abundance, then there's enough for everybody. And if you help your fellow artists and cheer for their successes, they will help you and cheer for you in return.

I ask myself often if what I'm doing is coming out of generosity or stinginess. I have to remind myself what I want to be: Generous.

Gratitude is another concept that's important. Remember to thank those who help you along the way.

So thank you all for reading and for the great comments and encouragement. I'm inspired by all of the talent and generosity of spirit in the artist-blogger community.

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Now playing: The Decemberists - Think About Me
via FoxyTunes

Pay It Forward

I don't know where I heard about her, but I've been reading Francesca's Mrs. Eliot Books blog for a while now. She makes some wonderful little wooden books. I'm a sucker for books.

Recently she mentioned a new blog meme called "Pay It Forward," where you promise to send a handmade item to the first three commenters and they promise to do the same on their blogs.

I love the idea of lots of handmade items flying all over the place to new people.

So here's the deal:

Pay It Forward (via Sia, via Sandra via Camilla, via Bibbi and so on) - here are the rules:

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

I'm excited to see what happens!

I'm working on a ton of things right now and will blog about it soon.

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Now playing: Kasey Chambers - Hollywood
via FoxyTunes

A Learning Experience

Which is what people seem to say when something goes wrong and they're trying to be positive...

I received work back from a show and the work was not packed properly. I was mad at first but now I'm just mad at myself. It's mostly my fault. I helped unpack the work but wasn't there to pack it up at the end. I just assumed that someone who helped unpack would pack it up or at least clue that person in...

Never assume.

So what happened was that whoever packed the paintings didn't put the archival paper on top of the paintings. This allowed the bubble wrap to lay directly against the surface of the painting and the pattern of the bubble wrap was transferred to the wax. It's hard to photograph but you can see it in the photo above in the right half - those shiny areas.

Maybe it's easier to see in this one - you can see dark and shiny circles:

What gets me, though, is that there was a piece of paper in EVERY box. Every painting was sent back packed in the correctly labeled box but the protective paper was disregarded underneath... Somewhere along the line it seems like someone would have wondered what it was for and clue in. Oh well...

Lesson: I should have included detailed packing instructions.

Fortunately it can be fixed. I will have to reheat each piece very carefully with a heat gun - that seems to make it go away. If you've done encaustic, though, you know that that can be tricky. Sometimes if you heat something just a teeny bit too much the wax will begin to run and you can lose your images, sharp lines, etc.

Here are the foamcore boxes that I make for my paintings. There are a few that I made out of cardboard, too...

I put labels on the top and sides with my name and address and I tape a thumbnail image on the top and sides as well.

Yes. I'm anal retentive.

But in a good way?

Update:
Kirsty Hall wrote a great post about packing artwork.

I also posted about packing and shipping previously (and obviously didn't take all of my own advice!).

And I should also mention that Cheryl McClure found some perfect already-made boxes.

Etsy Shop

Etsy Buy Handmade deannawood

I added a bunch of stuff to my Etsy shop. Please check it out. If you're not familiar with Etsy, it's a wonderful collection of cool handmade things for sale. Mostly craft and designerish stuff - jewelry, purses, baby items, blank journals, greeting cards, prints, etc. But there's some good fine art there, too.

I had created my Etsy shop over a year ago and posted a few paintings but I was advised against it. Since I'm going the commercial gallery route (as opposed to alternative venues, selling only online, etc), it's seen as being in competition with my gallery. I completely agree with that. BUT, I've got all these small paintings that galleries don't want. And I need to make some money!

So I decided to create some small, fun things that are much different than my work that the galleries feature and will be more affordable.


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Now playing: the pillows - MARCH OF THE GOD
via FoxyTunes

Thanks and welcome!

Thanks to Alyson Stanfield at the wonderful artbizblog for mentioning this blog twice recently!

And Joanne Mattera mentioned my work at Ernden Gallery in Provincetown, Massachusetts recently. Thanks, Joanne. I'm proud to be included in your "Wax Walk!"

Welcome to those of you who found your way here through Alyson or Joanne.

If you're here for the first time, check out the list on the right of "Helpful Posts." You'll find information on writing an artist's statement, putting together a proposal, designing a postcard, and many other things that artists often struggle with when starting out.

Please leave a comment. I love hearing from artists and the comments are often how I find new, interesting blogs to read.

Thanks for stopping by!

Don't Try This at Home!

Every now and then I'll be looking at my inventory of paintings and come across one that I don't really like any more. If this happens when I also happen to be out of blank boards, the painting will be "recycled."

When I teach my encaustic workshops, I usually talk a little about storage and shipping of encaustic paintings. One of the things I always say is, "Don't leave your paintings in the car." But secretly I've always wondered what would happen if someone did leave a painting in their car. So, for the sake of science, I did a little experiment with one of those soon-to-be-recycled paintings.

We actually had a fairly mild summer (by Texas standards) until the end of July, when it was in the upper 90's. So I took the opportunity to wrap the painting in bubble wrap and I put it in the back of my car. I left it in there for a couple of weeks and took it out to peek at it. It actually wasn't too bad. But then it got really hot and we had about a week of 105 degree temps, so I stuck it back in the car for a couple more weeks.

It cooled down a bit (back to the upper 90's), so I took it out the other day. As you can see in the photo above, it didn't look too promising. The archival paper that I use to protect the painting from the plastic on the bubble wrap had kind of soaked into the painting. This most likely happened because the wax was so warm that it seeped into the paper. I've never been able to find any Tyvek paper, but that (or glassine) might solve that problem... Also, not letting anything touch the surface of the painting is always a good idea, but it seems like that would involve some sort of crate where the painting is screwed in from the back...

I was surprised when I removed the paper - it's not so bad, really. You can see where the paper stuck to the wax, but I think it could be fixed with a little light fusing. I expected to see a big glob of wax...

But I think if the painting were in that melty stage (that allowed the paper to stick) and was somehow bumped or poked with something, the damage would be much worse.

So while I would never leave a painting in the car on purpose, this makes me feel better about shipping and transporting encaustic paintings, as long as they're packed well.

Other tips:
- ship overnight or second day
- never ship on a Thursday or Friday because the artwork might end up sitting in a warehouse over the weekend

More on packing and shipping here.

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Now playing: Spoon - My Mathematical Mind
via FoxyTunes

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

Productive!

I had a very productive day today. I worked on putting proposals together for the Waxy Buildup exhibit.
I made a few minor changes after I shot these images, but it's basically how it looks. I included our resumes, a CD, an image list that corresponds to the images on the CD, and a statement. This image shows a postcard, but I ended up not printing them because the prints off my computer scratch too easily. I want to get some professionally printed postcards to include in future proposals.

Each packet also includes a cover letter and a SASE.

There's one packet that I had to customize because the venue had really specific proposal guidelines. You have to do that sometimes, so it helps to be flexible.

I'm sending out 8 proposals tomorrow. Wish us luck!

I also entered my work in a couple of juried shows and put together a packet of my work to send to a curator.

I like days like this.

I've got some new stuff going on in my studio but I'll talk about that later. I'm still trying to figure out what's going on with it.

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New Body of Work

Deanna Wood - Poise, 12" x 12", collage, wax transfer, and encaustic

I finally completed the series of "Waxy Buildup" paintings that Trayc Claybrook and I collaborated on.

I'm working on a proposal now and we're going to send it out to art centers and galleries. Hopefully we'll get to show it somewhere.

Alyson Stanfield mentioned SlideShare on her blog the other day, so I thought I'd check it out. It's kind of like YouTube but for PowerPoint presentations. Normally, I try to avoid PowerPoint, but I did one for the proposal CD and thought I'd upload it. Check it out:



Despite my aversion to PowerPoint, I actually liked SlideShare. There are some examples of really well-designed presentations. You can also see some really atrocious ones, which is helpful in showing you what not to do. In fact, after looking at some presentations on the site, I redesigned mine to make it be more readable.

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How Galleries Choose Artists to Show

Panel Discussion sponsored by the Greater Denton Arts Council. June 14, 2007

Panelists:
Nancy Whitenack from Conduit Gallery, Dallas, Texas
Marty Walker from Marty Walker Gallery, Dallas, Texas
Burt Finger from Photographs Do Not Bend, Dallas, Texas

The GDAC hosted an exhibition of emerging artists that are represented by galleries in Dallas (Denton is about 35 miles north of Dallas). They also hosted this panel and invited arts groups and art students from the area universities. I took notes and wanted to share them with you.

Nancy Whitenack:
Her gallery features two major spaces and a small "project room" where they show artists that they don't represent.
She sees the gallery/artist relationship as a journey.
She watches the artist change and brings the public around to the changes.
She picks artists instinctually.
She does studio visits and views juried shows.
She responds to work that she immediately resonates with and connects with - she has to love the work.
She tries not to overlap other types of work - not have two or more artists that do the same thing.
She likes work that examines a story in a different way.

Marty Walker:
Suggests that you take time to visit the gallery or website to see what the work looks like before you approach a gallery.
She sees several variables - she must like the work - the resume and exhibition history is important but not the final decision. She's willing to take a chance on an artist.

Burt Finger:
He looks for an artist that will add something to the gallery.
He thinks about his clients, not just what he loves.
Suggests that you do research on a gallery before you approach it.
He prefers artists who have work in major museums and who have a monograph.

Q&A:
What is the role of an alternative space?
Alternative spaces are important - Some recent grads are not necessarily ready for a commercial gallery. They're great for creating a community of artists and are important for experimental work (there were several artists present who are on the board of the 500X, a prominent alternative space in Dallas). But all of the gallery directors said that if they believe in an artist, they would be willing to show experimental work.

How should an artist approach a gallery?
If you're local, go to the openings and meet the gallery director.
Build up a relationship first.
Make a personal connection.
If you have work in a local show, ask them to visit to see your work.
Participate in major local juried shows (in this area it's the Contemporary, the MAC, Art House, Art in the Metroplex, TVAA, etc.)
Show work in non-art spaces to begin with - coffee shops, etc.

What makes you want to visit an artist's studio?
The artist has to be serious.
It helps to have built up a relationship.

What about exclusive contracts?
Marty Walker and Nancy Whitenack said that their contracts are usually just locally exclusive (if you show with them you don't show at another competing gallery in Dallas).
Burt Finger said that he prefers his artists to be exclusive to his gallery.

Other thoughts:
Most galleries will send out packets with info on their artists to museums and collections.
They all said that they didn't have any bias against self-taught artists.
If energy is happening in your studio then everything else will fall into place.
Don't expect to produce part-time effort and expect full time results.
Artist's recommendations are very important. They place a great deal of importance on recommendations from other artists.

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First Annual Encaustic Conference, Part 5

Finally! The much-promised final chapter in the Encaustic Conference saga...

The final day of the conference (Sunday) featured some more demos in the morning. These are the ones that I chose to attend:

Encaustic Monotype by Paula Roland
www.paularoland.com

Paula's work is featured in The Art of Encaustic Painting and a couple of my students have attended her workshop in Santa Fe, so she's a bit of a celebrity in the encaustic world.

She talked a bit about the teacher that she learned the monotype technique from, Dorothy Furlong Gardner, from New Orleans.

Paula has developed her own painting palette, seen here in the first photo on the right. The heat stays even all over and it's a light color to allow you to see the color of the paint.

The ideal temperature to have the palette set for monotypes is between 160 and 200 degrees. You'll get more detail at lower temperatures and more wax flow or saturation at higher temps.

Things to consider - temperature, type of paper, amount of wax, proportion and kind of pigment.

She uses 50% pigment and 50% medium for grittiness and texture and saturation.

It's easier to layer on thicker paper with thicker medium. Paper absorbency affects the outcome, too.

Often uses masa paper - a type of rice paper. Also uses kitakata paper, Rives BFK and other printmaking papers.

She will put dots of paint in the corners to indicate area to print. Apply paint to the palette and lay the paper down. Apply more paint and lay it down again to add more or to blend.

You can put the paper face up on the clean palette and blot with newsprint to take off some surface paint. You can use rice paper to blot and then use that to build up a print. While it's laying on the plate you can also draw into it with charcoal, pencil, add more encaustic... Graphite becomes fixed in the wax.

Silk flowers can be stamped into the paint on the palette and then stamped onto the paper when it gets saturated with paint.

Use wood block stamps.

You can block areas with newsprint on the palette.

Ghost image can be picked up with thin paper.

Create lines and shapes with dental floss, scrape with combs, rubber-tipped shaper tools, credit cards - anything that won't scratch the palette.

You can use a saturated print as a plate.

She showed some slides of other artist's work. One featured what she called "inlay" with a smaller piece of paper in a cut out hole of a larger piece. Scrolls - large rolls of rice paper printed with encaustic on both sides and worked back into with other media.

You can paint with watercolor on the un-waxed parts of the paper.

Recommends mounting a print to board with acrylic medium on the back (keep the back free of wax).

Way too much information for such a short demo! I'm sure she barely scratched the surface of what can be done with encaustic monotypes...

Encaustic Sculpture by Kim Bernard
www.kbernard.com

I really like Kim's work and was hoping that she would talk about HER work, but she gave a presentation about several artists working 3-dimensionally with wax in some way.

I'll just list the artists that she talked about and a website if I can find one... You should look at their work. It's quite amazing.

Melissa Stern - NY

Sylvia Metzer - NY (her work is in the Mattera book but I can't find a website for her)

Lynda Benglis - NY/Santa Fe

Johannes Girardoni - NY/Austria

Nancy Azara - NY

Michelle Stuart - NY

Martin Kline

Wolfgang Laib - Germany

Text Pictures by Mary W. Hart
www.winchesterartistsnetwork.org/hart_fs.htm

She showed various ways to incorporate text into encaustic, most of which involved collage.

Writing with ink on rice paper - when collaged into the encaustic the paper absorbs the wax and almost disappears.

She painted white gouache or chalk onto collage elements before adding the wax. The white will show up when it's waxed.

She used transfer letters (Letraset rub-on letters) and carbon paper.

Creates lines and rubs oil pastel or oil bars into the line. Wipes with walnut oil and fabric to remove excess.

Stencils - she creates stencils from transparency film.

Another interesting technique for collage materials - she painted words in white gouache on watercolor paper, let it dry and then covered it with waterproof in. Then she washed off the gouache and used it to collage into the encaustic.

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That was it for the demos. There was a final closing session and some get-togethers but I had miss them because I had to rush to the airport.

One last travel story...
As I mentioned before, I was flying standby and all the flights were full for the next couple of days and I was worried that I would be stuck. As it turned out, I was able to get out of Manchester but I got stuck in Chicago. I considered spending the night in the airport but that's depressing and also way too much like camping, so I went to a nearby (probably over-priced) hotel. I got to the airport super early the next morning and finally made it to Houston and then finally to Dallas. Quite an ordeal! But hey, it was "free!"

So the conference was fun and very informative and definitely worth the trip. I'm hoping to make it again next year!

A request
If anyone else happened to attend any of the other sessions, I would love to read the notes that you took. I'm especially interested in the one by James Meyer (Jasper Johns' assistant), the panel discussion about Wax, Paints, Substrates and Grounds and the discussion about beekeeping - Wax in the Context of the Hive. I wish I'd had a couple of clones that I could have sent to all of the sessions!

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