Pre & Post Conference Workshops 2012
To Print out a POST CONFERENCE REGISTRATION FORM Click Here
Encaustic Monotype Basics - Paula Roland
May 29, 30, 31, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday10 – 4 pm
3 Sessions [SOLD OUT!]
$532
Skill Level: Intermediate Encaustic Skills and Beginning Monotype Skills
Artists wishing to extend their possibilities with encaustic by creating a body of work on paper, finished primary pieces, or explore wax and paper applicable for new formats such as installation arts, book arts, etc.
This workshop consists of lecture, multiple demonstrations, and three days of hands-on activity to attain a grounding in the process. We will discuss the history, materials, and equipment of encaustic printmaking, including possible alternatives to the HOTbox™. Demonstrations cover basic print techniques including additive and subtractive processes, print registration options, use of brushes & tools, texture, stamping, stencils, overprinting, paper selection and other variables. We will discuss relevance of the process to participants’ current works and ways to integrate content, form and materials. Presentation options will be addressed and students will mount prints to boards using wax, adhesives, and adhesive film. Three very full days!
Process Description: This is printmaking for painters, i.e., it is immediate and there are no rules, no boundaries, and no press is used. Encaustic in solid “stick” form is applied to a heated metal plate. The encaustic melts instantly and may be manipulated with brushes or tools. Paper is laid on the heated palette plate and the image is transferred to paper by hand. Fusing is not a separate process, it takes place on the plate as one works. Each participant will have a Roland Encaustic HOTbox™ provided for their use, and available for purchase.
Paula Roland is a life-long artist and teacher. Paula has had over 20 solo exhibitions of her works and more than 100 group exhibitions across the United States and in Europe. Paula was awarded an MFA from the University of New Orleans and has received numerous awards for her art, including one from the National Endowment for the Arts. Roland’s works are held in many collections, including those of the American Embassies in Uganda and South Africa.
Materials list and fee to be announced
Class maximum: 10
Bricolage: Making Fine Art With Found or Recycled Materials and Encaustic Nancy Natale
Wednesday, May 30 10 - 4
Re
$190
How do you make a work of art using found materials that does not just look like a bunch of junk on a panel? This workshop will address the conceptual and physical concerns involved in combining three-dimensional elements on a panel with encaustic. Beginning with a review of the components of visual art and of formal organizing principles, this class will focus on how each individual artist selects materials from the found and recycled objects supplied and composes an art work within a conceptual framework. After all works are completed, they will be discussed, analyzed and critiqued by the class.
Nancy Natale is an artist who is interested in memory and history: how they collide, interact, become reinterpreted and finally fade away in the blur of time’s passage. A native of Boston who has lived in western Massachusetts for the past ten years, she has exhibited her work throughout New England and in other areas of the U.S. Natale has received a number of grants, including a Pollock Krasner grant, and has organized award-winning shows combining art and the history of place. Her work has been collected by more than 25 large corporations such as Fidelity Investments, Manulife Financial and Western Asset Management in London, as well as by hotels, banks and private collectors.
Materials list and fee to be announced
Class maximum: 10
Demystifying Transfers Binnie Birstein
Wednesday, May 3010 – 4 pm
$190
Image transfers are a great component to incorporate in our art making. This workshop will not only include the non-toxic photo-transfer process but other ways to transfer your drawings and additional mark making within layers of encaustic paint.
We’ll begin with brief review of the basics as well as safe practices. Starting with techniques for achieving a smooth surface to begin our explorations using graphite, ink, pencils, oil stick, crayons, charcoal, foils and transfers papers, in addition to toner-based photocopies. We’ll see how rich layers incorporating our own personal imagery emerge from the wax.
Binnie Birstein has been working in encaustic for nearly a dozen years. Her expertise with the medium is evident in her large, multilayered encaustic paintings whose mysterious and dissonant imagery draws viewers in to ponder their meaning. Originally from New York City and now living in Connecticut, Binnie teaches individual and small group workshops in encaustic and is on the faculty at Creative Arts Workshop in New Haven CT.
Level: For beginners or all levels!
Materials list and fee to be announced
Class maximum: 10
Photo and Encaustic Elena De la Ville [SOLD OUT]
Thursday, May 31 10 – 4 pm
$190
This is an opportunity to study with a master of mixed media who incorporates photography into her own work. In this workshop you will learn how to incorporate photographs into encaustic paintings and to transfer photographic images onto a wax surface. You will learn mounting techniques to secure paper substrates or photographs, textural techniques such as stencils, and surface techniques such as encaustic pouring. Proper tools and safety procedures will be discussed.
Elena De La Ville is an artist, instructor and beekeeper. She works out of her creative studio in Sarasota, Florida, and shows internationally. She teaches at Ringling College of Art in Sarasota, as well as in private workshops. Encaustic, Digital Photography, and Mixed Media/Collage are her specialties. She loves to travel and talk about encaustic. Elena was a recipient of the Director's Award at Conference 3 and a member of the Saturday Morning Panel in Conference 4. Materials: Come with your own photographs printed on water color paper, tissue paper or rice paper, as well as Xerox or laser-printed images for transfer if you wish.
Level: Some encaustic experience expected.
Materials list and fee to be announced
Class maximum: 10
Beginning Encaustic Carol Odell
Thursday, May 3110 – 4 pm
$190
Why encaustic? Wax as a painting medium offers the artist unique properties that strongly differ from other paint materials - it flows, but is also a dimensional solid that can be easily carved or transformed with heat. It is an adhesive; it is translucent and it “dries” almost instantly. This workshop is for artists wishing to learn the process of encaustic painting or for artists wishing to expand their experience with the medium. Demonstrations of a wide variety of techniques and materials will encourage students to experiment and adapt the medium to individual styles. Safety issues, resource information and reference materials will be discussed and shared.Carol Odell is a local painter working in a non-representational style in the media of oil, monotype and encaustic. She believes in art as means of transportation away from the routines of life to a place of new experience and revitalization. She exhibits regularly with Provincetown Art Assoc., the Printmakers of Cape Cod, the Monotype Guild of New England, New England Wax and 21 in Truro. She and her artist husband have owned a gallery in Chatham for almost 40 years. She has taught workshops at the Cape Cod Art Association, the Cape Museum of Art, PAAM and Castle Hill. Her work has been exhibited at galleries in New England and is in the collections of Newport Art Museum, Boston Public Library, the Cahoon Museum of American Art and the Cape Museum of Art and in private and corporate collections. She is a graduate of the School of the Museum of fine Arts Boston.
Materials list and fee to be announced
Class maximum: 10
Encaustic Transfer Process - Sherrie Posternak
Wednesday, May 31
10 – 4 pm [SOLD OUT!]
$190
In the one-day workshop, students will learn and rate, photo transfers on sample boards using 7 types of printed surfaces, 3 transfer methods, and 7 ways to “seal in” the image. Students will learn how to do a proper pour, as well as an alternative non-poured panel preparation. She will also demonstrate (and students will practice) transferring a variety of other media besides photos, such as oil pastels, charcoal, and foils. . There will also be time to compose and complete an additional piece using all the materials and techniques learned in the workshop.
Sherrie Pasternak exhibits and sells her work via art shows, exhibitions, and commissions. She has taught workshops in professional presentation; and the art of mosaics, collage, and encaustics (beginner, intermediate, advanced, and “encaustic transfer processes”), in her home studio and outside venues in the United States and Mexico, for 20 years.
Materials list and fee to be announced
Class maximum: 10
POST CONFERENCE - Monday, June 4
Inside the New York City Art World - Edward Winkleman
[SOLD OUT!]
Monday, June 4
10 – 4pm
$190
With some 500 galleries—from small, single-owner spaces to enormous, multi-venue operations—New York City has more galleries than any other city in the United States, possibly the world. Despite the variety, there are some behind-the-scenes constants, both in New York City and elsewhere: gallery etiquette, how dealers find artists, artist/dealer relationships, dealer/collector relationships, the intricacies of pricing and discounts, the vagaries of the art market, and just what takes place at an art fair. An artist with a good understanding of what goes on behind the scenes in the art world is more likely to find or make a place in it. 
Edward will discuss these topics and more in a relaxed Post-Conference class in which any question may be asked and discussed. Once you are registered you may email him with your questions so that he can structure the day around your particular concerns.
Edward Winkleman is co-owner of Winkleman Gallery in the Chelsea District of New York. Winkleman began his art career with a series of guerrilla-style exhibitions called "hit & run" that took place in empty warehouses in New York and London.Winkleman is the author of an eponymous blog that focuses on art (in particular, demystifying the gallery system)and politics. He is also a contributing editor to Art World Salon and the author of the book How to Start and Run a Commercial Art Gallery.
Class maximum: 15
Introduction to Pigment Sticks & Encaustic - Lisa Pressman
Monday, June 4 [SOLD OUT!]
10 – 4pm
$190
In this workshop you will be introduced to the wonderful possibilities of pigment sticks. Pigment sticks are oil paint combined with wax to hold together into a stick form. They can be used in a spontaneous way right on a surface without the need for brushes. Through various exercises students will explore how to develop their own vocabulary to use in their studio practice. They will be encouraged to work in a series, while revisiting the painting process. Edge, line, texture, mark making, color and the concept of “editing” will be addressed. Along with the pigment sticks we will experiment with graphite, ink, cold and hot wax. Activities will include exercises, informal group discussions, and individual support.
Lisa Pressman received her M.F.A. in painting from Bard College and B.A. from Douglass College, Rutgers University. Her work incorporates oils, collage, wax and other mixed media. She has been teaching encaustic painting and painting with R&F Pigments sticks for the past 5 years. Lisa has classes privately, at the Center for Visual Arts, Summit, NJ, the Printmaking Council of NJ, Peter’s Valley Arts and Craft Center, Layton, NJ and the Newark Museum, Newark, NJ. Upcoming workshops are scheduled at R&F Encaustics, Kingston, NY, Snow Farm in Massachusetts and in Cortona, Italy. Lisa lives and works in West Orange, NJ.
Materials list and fee to be announced
Class maximum: 10
Painterly Effects and Pours - Bonny Leibowitz
Monday, June 4 [SOLD OUT!]
10 - 4pm
$190
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Painterly Effects and Pours takes you through several processes to produce dynamic contrasting effects; one painterly, the other a pour which will "break open" to reveal the painterly effect below. A composition will be created with watercolor directly on the board then layers of medium and fusing in of color utilizing R&F pigment sticks will be repeated along with the use of an iron develop the surface. Small objects can then be embedded and "walls" in interesting shapes will be built to hold back wax for the pour. Once these are secured, a pour can be made and the dams quickly removed and cleaned up.
Bonny has been teaching for many years now in several mediums including pastels, acrylic and oil paint and run workshops in composition and abstraction from my studio; www.thebonnystudio.com. In the last three years she has (voraciously) taken to encaustic wax painting as a diligent student and teacher developing and sharing a variety of techniques. Her specialties include painterly effects, texture, translucent layers, pours and monotypes. She opened The Encaustic Center www.theencausticcenter.com in Richardson Texas, partnering with Deanna Wood when a space became available right next door to The Bonny Studio three years ago.
Materials list and fee to be announced
Class maximum: 10
Off the Wall: Encaustic in Three Dimensions - Miles Conrad
Monday, June 4 10 – 4 pm
$190 Castle Hill
Back by popular demand! This hands-on workshop, led by an generous and engaging teacher, will cover the technical fundamentals for creating innovative three-dimensional works made of encaustic and/or incorporating mixed media and found objects. More than that, it’s fun. This is always the first workshop to fill. If you have been closed out of it in the past, this is your opportunity.
Miles Conrad is the Director/Curator at the Conrad Wilde Gallery in Tucson, Arizona, which hosts nine exhibitions a year including the Annual Encaustic Invitational. Miles has been working in the encaustic medium for 17 years and has exhibited his 3-D works nationally. Miles holds a B.F.A. from California Institute of the Arts and an M.F.A. from San Francisco Art Institute. He regularly offers classes in encaustic at all levels at his Tucson studio.
Materials list and fee to be announced
Level: Some encaustic experience expected. Class maximum: 10
Encaustic & Plaster Cloth - Cari Hernandez
Monday & Tuesday, June 4 & 5th
2 Sessions 10 - 4pm
$361
In this 2-day workshop, participants will delve into the complete process of creating three dimensional forms using the very versatile material of plaster cloth. Starting with the sculpting process, joining multiple forms, and concluding with the fine techniques of fusing and painting detail students will leave the workshop with their own encaustic & plaster cloth form.
Cari was born and raised in the Bay Area of Northern California. She studied fine art photography at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, CA. Prior to becoming a full-time studio artist, She operates her own commercial photography studio for 7 years in San Francisco, CA. As a full-time artist she teaches, lectures, and shows her work nationally. She is the founding board member of International Encaustic Artists, and have served as the creator and director of their past three annual retreat & conferences.
Materials list and fee to be announced
Beginning Encaustic - Lynda Ray
Monday June 4
10 – 4 pm
$190
Encaustic is a luminous medium that is made up of molten beeswax, pigment and natural tree resin. The resulting surface is characterized by luminous, lush and translucent color. The viscous medium can be smooth and shiny, textured and three dimensional. After a brief history and a short review of safety practices, demonstrations will be presented of melting and fusing, easy parchment paper image transfer, collaged book making and texture using a brush, heated tools and a rubber stencil. At the end of the workshop you will be familiar with a range of techniques and ready to either work on your own or be prepared for other more advanced workshops.
Lynda Ray is curious about color and texture in the environment in which she lives. The viscous nature of encaustic creates the sense of constructing a painting. Methods of building up and carving into layers of paint leave a trace of process on a work's surface or edges. Originally from Boston, she earned her BFA at Mass. College of Art and Design and attended Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture before moving to NYC. She exhibits her work in solo and group shows nationwide and conducts encaustic workshops throughout the country. She currently lives in Richmond, Virginia.
Materials list and fee to be announced
Class maximum: 10
Encaustic Monoprinting with Stencils - David A. Clark
[SOLD OUT!]Monday, June 4
10 – 4 pm
$190
Encaustic Monoprinting with Stencils is an exciting introduction to the techniques involved in producing repeatable images while printing with wax. The purpose of this one day workshop is to expose participants to a wide variety of different paints, papers, stencils and tools connected to the monoprint process and to give students access to varied printing techniques that will allow them to fine tune their prints. Students first begin by learning the basics and variables of the encaustic monotype: heat, paint, paper and pressure. They then progress to layering color and pattern using different types of stencils and masking in order to further refine their visual imagery. Come discover how much fun you can have monoprinting with wax.
This class functions well for a wide variety of skill levels in printing, but some previous experience working with encaustic is necessary.
David's encaustic print work has drawn attention for it's graphic style and fineness of execution. David has exhibited nationally, showing his work in more than six shows in the last year including the 33rd Bradley International Print and Drawing Exhibition and ACE at the Palm Springs Art Museum. Currently David is curating an exhibition of encaustic prints at the R & F Gallery in Kingston, New York, and he is also preparing for an upcoming solo show of his prints at the Process Museum in Tucson, Arizona. That show will be devoted to a single encaustic print of David's and the more than 100 process pieces that went into it's creation.
David lives and works in Palm Springs, California.
Materials list and fee to be announced
Class maximum: 10
TUESDAY
Screen printing onto/ into Encaustic Paint - 
Jeff Hirst
Tuesday, June 5
10 – 4pm
$190
The Screen Printing workshop Screen onto/ into Encaustic Paint, is a demonstration that shows the unique process of screen printing oil paint and pigment sticks into/ onto encaustic surfaces. I use a simplified approach towards screen printing that makes this process easy to grasp and unites graphic print elements with painting surfaces and motifs. The demonstration will exhibit multiple print applications/ runs as well as single monoprint ideas and is designed for intermediate to advanced level encaustic practitioners.
Jeff Hirst has over twelve years experience working with encaustic paint combined with an in-depth working knowledge of multiple print media including screen printing. He has taught encaustic workshops including advanced level classes for over five years and gave a variation of this demonstration at the Encaustic Conference Three (2009).
Materials list and fee to be announced
Class maximum: 10
Ironing out the Wrinkles: De-mystifying the iron as an encaustic tool! -
Andrea Bird
Tuesday, June 5
10 – 4pm
$190
Ironing out the Wrinkles: de-mystifying the iron as an encaustic tool! with Andrea Bird
This one-day workshop will delve into the seven + ironing techniques that Andrea has been teaching for several years, both at the Conference and in her encaustic school: the hive. This hands-on workshop will give you a chance to try out various ways of creating textured or incredibly smooth surfaces with the encaustic iron. You'll also use the iron to gouge, collage paper/fabric/organic items, and much more. Many artists have discovered the joys of ironing over drips and drops and other textures. Techniques will be demonstrated and then there will be time for you to try it out. This self-directed workshop will allow you to use the various methods in a way that supports your own practice and ways of working, while inspiring you to tread into new, exciting territory. Please bring your own substrates to work on, no larger than 12"x16" (suggested number to bring: 4-6). Supply fee: $60 per student.
Andrea Bird, AOCAD/OSA, is a Canadian artist living a few hours outside of Toronto, ON, inspired by the rural landscape. She has exhibited her work and taught encaustic and collage for over 20 years.
Materials list and fee to be announced
Class maximum: 10
DIY (Do It Yourself) Casting - Mile Conrad
Tuesday, June 5 [only 2 spots left!]
10 – 4pm
$190
Utilize the power of multiples and repetition to make contemporary encaustic sculpture using basic casting techniques! This one-day workshop offers the hands-on skills necessary to cast simple forms in encaustic using inexpensive, non-technical materials found at your local hardware or hobby store. No previous casting experience is necessary.
Miles Conrad is the Director/Curator at the Conrad Wilde Gallery in Tucson, Arizona, which hosts nine exhibitions a year including the Annual Encaustic Invitational. Miles has been working in the encaustic medium for 17 years and has exhibited his 3-D works nationally. Miles holds a B.F.A. from California Institute of the Arts and an M.F.A. from San Francisco Art Institute. He regularly offers classes in encaustic at all levels at his Tucson studio.
Level: Some encaustic experience expected,
Materials list and fee to be announced
Class maximum: 10
Combining Two Ancient Media: Paper and Encaustic - Catherine Nash
Tuesday & Wednesday, June 5 & 6 [SOLD OUT!]2 Sessions
$361
Stain, paint, embed, layer, stitch, crumple, fold, form and dip: Combine encaustic and paper to create unique waxed based collage, assemblage and mixed media works. Participants will learn paper batik, encaustic drawing/painting on papers, dipping for translucency, using wax as an adhesive, transferring photocopy imagery and how to layer for depth. Using an etching press, create paper embossings on which to subsequently paint and stain with waxes, perhaps combining embossed components into a larger work. Use a wide variety of purchased papers including recycled paper elements, old book pages, photographs, vintage letters and envelopes, magazine imagery, and small 3D objects.
Catherine Nash freely mixes the media of paper, books, and encaustic to express her artistic ideas about nature and the movement of time. Nash balances creative studio work with teaching workshops and artist residencies. A passion for travel and different cultures has inspired her to live, exhibit, research and teach on four continents.
Materials list and fee to be announced
Class maximum: 10
Critical Feedback - Francine D'Olimpio
June 510 – 4pm
1 Session
$190
Critical feedback sessions are designed to give you what you might have gotten in art school but rarely get now: an evenhanded, non-emotional assessment of your work--not the uncritical I love it from friends, or the What does it mean? from a supportive but perhaps unenlightened family, but a larger and more useful consideration, such as What is your work about? How do you talk about it? Where does it fit into the larger picture? In this daylong workshop, Kobalt Gallery owner (and Beeline juror) Francine D’Olimpio will discuss these and other issues as you present your work for discussion in a supportive group. This is an opportunity to engage with a multifaceted gallerist whose background includes studio practice and who can offer unique insights into the possibility of breaking into the Provincetown gallery scene.
Francine D’Olimpio has been owner and director of Kobalt Gallery in Provincetown since its inception in 2006. A Cape Cod resident since childhood, she returned to Ptown, after a long career as a restaurateur, to pursue her interests in the business of making and selling fine art. A painter and photographer herself, Francine earned her BFA from Mass College of Art in Art Education and Photography, and her MFA in Graphic Design from Boston University.
Class maximum: 10
Advanced Transfers And Working Large - Tania Wycherley
[only 3 spots left!]Tuesday, June 5
10 – 4pm
$190
This workshop provides the opportunity to try out the advanced image transfer techniques demonstrated by Tania at the 5th Internat’l Encaustic Conference. We’ll be working on panels that push the 11 x 17 inch paper barrier that most toner-based printers provide. Participants will cut their enlarged digital print divisions, plan and prepare their base and seamlessly piece it all back together. We will also have a chance to try some surface techniques (toner stacking, water-soluble wax pastel applications, and dry brush) to further diminish lines. In order to finish the day with a completed piece, we will be working on 18 x 14 inch or 16 x 16 inch panels. However once you have mastered the technique, your image resolution will be your only size barrier. Join us for this exciting new workshop that will leave you with the tools to enlarge your photographs in wax. Go big!
Level: This is an advanced level workshop. Experience with encaustic and image transfers is expected. Tania’s “Advanced Image Transfers: Going Large” Conference Demo is not required, but is recommended. Please note there is serious elbow grease in burnishing.
Tania Wycherleyis a Canadian artist who combines her love of photography with a passion for encaustic painting. Her latest work focuses on balancing large image transfers with the medium. Creating depth and movement within the image is a constant focus. Last fall Tania exhibited her work in the group show. The Whole Ball of Wax: A Celebration of Encaustic, in Toronto.
Materials list and fee to be announced
Class maximum: 10
Rust Printing & Composting on Paper and Fabric - Lorraine Glessner
Wednesday, June 6 [SOLD OUT!]
10 – 4pm
$190
This workshop takes the exciting combination of fiber and encaustic far beyond straightforward collage to include innovative materials and mark-making techniques. Working on wood, paper and fabric, participants will explore the mark-making possibilities of rust and compost printing as well as branding (creating marks and patterns with fire, heated metal tools and objects). With an emphasis on mixed media, participants are encouraged to respond to these marks utilizing various encaustic techniques as well as other media. Participants will also combine encaustic with the textural possibilities of heated Tyvek fabric and papers. The heating of this polyester-based material with an iron or heat gun renders it malleable, thus creating highly textured and sculptural surfaces in combination with encaustic, other collage materials and stitch. Other materials covered in this workshop include the layering possibilities of instant indigo (freeze-dried indigo dye) and drawing with horse and human hair. Open to those with an intermediate to advanced level of encaustic experience, participants are encouraged to step out of their current comfort zone by a series of thought provoking exercises designed to increase their ability to create, see and respond to mark-making, to utilize a variety of styles and media, to draw intuitively and to integrate this new information creatively. A slide lecture discussing the historical and contemporary applications of encaustic, fiber and mark-making will be shown.
Lorraine Glessner holds an M.F.A. in Fibers from Tyler School of Art, where she is currently an Assistant Professor in the Fibers and Material Studies Department. Lorraine also holds a B.S. in Textile Design from Philadelphia University and an Associate’s Degree in Computer Graphics from Moore College of Art & Design. Recent awards include two Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Artist Fellowship Grant in Crafts, the Anne K. Allison Award, Woodmere Museum of Art. Her work is included in the recently released Encaustic With a Textile Sensibility by Daniella Woolf. Lorraine lectures, teaches, exhibits her work nationally and maintains a studio in Philadelphia.
Materials list and fee to be announced
Class maximum: 10
Photo and Encaustic - Elena De la Ville [only 1spot left!]
Wednesday, June 610– 4 pm $190
1 SessionThis is an opportunity to study with a master of mixed media who incorporates photography into her own work. In this workshop you will learn how to incorporate photographs into encaustic paintings and to transfer photographic images onto a wax surface. You will learn mounting techniques to secure paper substrates or photographs, textural techniques such as stencils, and surface techniques such as encaustic pouring. Proper tools and safety procedures will be discussed.
Elena De La Ville is an artist, instructor and beekeeper. She works out of her creative studio in Sarasota, Florida, and shows internationally. She teaches at Ringling College of Art in Sarasota, as well as in private workshops. Encaustic, Digital Photography, and Mixed Media/Collage are her specialties. She loves to travel and talk about encaustic. Elena was a recipient of the Director's Award at Conference 3 and a member of the Saturday Morning Panel in Conference 4.
Materials list and fee to be announced
Class maximum: 10
Sculpture in Wax - Kelly McGrath
Wednesday, June 6
10 – 4pm
$190
This workshop is about merging materials, methods and function for sculptural works in wax. We will work with paper, fabric and thread to build simple sculptural forms both with and without armatures. Then we will review the different properties of raw materials such as beeswax, damar resin, carnauba, paraffin, micro-crystalline, etc., in order to create recipes and ratios that are best suited for our particular projects. We will also do a simple casting 
project as a way to keep a record of all our wax formulations.
As an instructor at R&F Kelly has been teaching and participating in encaustic based workshops for the past three years. She has been developing and executing a sculpturally based curriculum for R&F’s workshop program, which is showing a growing popularity. As part of the development of this subject matter she has been doing numerous experiments and samples for combining different ratios of waxes and using wax with other media. This area of research has been focused on the processes of casting, hand building and working over armature.
Materials list and fee to be announced
Class maximum: 10
Beyond the Cover, Beeswax Meets Mica, Altered Book Assemblage
Supria Karmakar
Wednesday & Thursday, June 6 & 7
10 – 4pm $361
First Day – Altered Books – Assemblage of books, with niches, drawers and overall preparation of books
On the first day participants will begin by preparing a hard covered book (vintage or new) for
assemblage. Demonstration of what kind of books to work with, how to prepare for cutting will
be shared. Specifically preparing niches, drawers, a cover and an insert page. Participants may do
alternative layouts, to encourage unique, creative and personal designs; however, these basic
structural elements will be demonstrated and discussed as a place to begin. Participants will map out their own design for their books and plenty of examples will be available for them to begin their own creative process.
Second Day – Using Mica within Books, an Insert Page & Cover
Working with the gorgeous natural properties of mica will be taught and how to use it within the cover of the book, as an insert page with collage elements between, and or over a niche area, we will also cover ways to secure it with rivets, brads or hinges and metalsmithing. Using encaustic, collage, mixed media. Discussing spine applications to prevent cracking using advanced encaustic techniques, such as textures, mono printing papers for the spine and leaving with a finished product.
Supria Karmakaris a full-time artist, teacher and facilitator, currently living in rural Ontario, Canada. She was raised in England and is of Eastern Indian heritage. It is these diverse life experiences, Eastern and Western cultures intertwined, that have been the source of her inspiration. Supria uses encaustic mixed media, as well as the altered book form as avenues to work out her musings about life’s journey. These mediums are the perfect ‘vessels’ for her work, as they unfold stories. Her artwork has been shown in commercial and public galleries across the province of Ontario, throughout parts of Canada and in the United States.
Materials list and fee to be announced
Class maximum: 10
THURSDAY
Layer Upon Layer: Creating Optical & Physical Depth with Encaustic - Tracy Spadafora
Thursday, June 7
$190
In this workshop I will discuss in detail the ways of achieving and controlling depth & transparency in an encaustic painting. I will go over materials, equipment, and techniques used for creating the illusion of depth. I will give tips on layering, smoothing, polishing and pouring wax while adding other media, such as oil, collage, transfer & organic matter. This demo would be mainly for beginner and intermediate level students, however some advanced students may also benefit.
Tracy Spadafora has been working in encaustic for 17 years and teaching it for 15. She started as a paint maker for R&F Handmade Paints and continued her career in encaustic through teaching, curating and her her studio practice. Her work has been shown throughout the US and is published in several books, including the Art of Encaustic Painting by Joanne Mattera, and Embracing Encaustic by Linda and William Womack. She recently curated the exhibition, Beyond the Surface: Biological Explorations in Wax, for the Fountain Street Fine Art Gallery in Framingham, Mass.
Materials list and fee to be announced
Class maximum: 10
Day of Flames: Fusing w/ the Torch - Lynette Haggard
Thursday, June 7
10 – 4pm
$190
In this workshop you will practice hands-on fusing with a variety of torches so that you develop a comfort level using an open flame. Exercises include: creating a smoother surface, embedding 3D elements, and understanding the best type of torch and flame for the project you wish to do. You'll use this knowledge to create a painting or paintings of your own, working in a way that gets you comfortable with the range of options available for fusing with a flame. Safety practice and resources for purchasing will also be covered.
Lynette Haggard is a Massachusetts-based artist who returns for her third year as an invited presenter at the National Encaustic Conference 2011. Exhibiting her work nationally, she maintains a studio practice in Saxonville, Massachusetts. In 2010 she launched her blog, where she has interviewed dozens of artists. One of the founding members of New England Wax, Lynette is an enthusiastic contributor to the regional encaustic community. She holds a B.F.A in painting from Philadelphia College of Art.
Materials list and fee to be announced
Class maximum: 10
Bricolage: Making Fine Art With Found or Recycled Materials and Encaustic - Nancy Natale
Thursday, June 7
10 – 4pm
$190
How do you make a work of art using found materials that does not just look like a bunch of junk on a panel? This workshop will address the conceptual and physical concerns involved in combining three-dimensional elements on a panel with encaustic. Beginning with a review of the components of visual art and of formal organizing principles, this class will focus on how each individual artist selects materials from the found and recycled objects supplied and composes an art work within a conceptual framework. After all works are completed, they will be discussed, analyzed and critiqued by the class.
Nancy Natale is an artist who is interested in memory and history: how they collide, interact, become reinterpreted and finally fade away in the blur of time’s passage. A native of Boston who has lived in western Massachusetts for the past ten years, she has exhibited her work throughout New England and in other areas of the U.S. Natale has received a number of grants, including a Pollock Krasner grant, and has organized award-winning shows combining art and the history of place. Her work has been collected by more than 25 large corporations such as Fidelity Investments, Manulife Financial and Western Asset Management in London, as well as by hotels, banks and private collectors.
Materials list and fee to be announced
Class maximum: 10
Encaustic-Covered Sculptures with Concave & Convex Surfaces -
Pamela BlumThursday & Friday, June 7 & 8
2 Sessions
$361
Pamela Blum has focused for sixteen years on encaustic painting and sculpture. Her work, celebrating the reassessment of meaning in art throughout human history, can be assembled many different ways to prompt viewers, including herself, to change interpretations over time. Her professional experience includes drawing, painting, sculptural installation, performance art, architecture, physical planning and graphic design. Her BA degree in studio art and art history comes from the University of Pennsylvania, her MFA in sculptural installation from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. She has taught at all university levels but specializes in foundations programs. She has tenure at SUNY Dutchess in Poughkeepsie, NY, lives and makes art in Kingston, NY, and has exhibited her work throughout the United States and in France.
Materials list and fee to be announced
Class maximum: 10
Advanced Encaustic: Mainly Metals Charyl Weissbach
June 7, Thursday [SOLD OUT!]
10 – 4pm
$190
As our practice continues, we may find ourselves looking to explore some materials more deeply. This advanced workshop focuses on the metallic. Boston-based painter Charyl Weissbach, who uses metals extensively in her own work, will demonstrate a variety of techniques and materials: gilding above and below the surface with various metallic foils, metallic oil sticks, the use of metal flakes, mica, and iridescent pigments. You will integrate these materials and techniques into your own projects with Charyl available to work with you.
Charyl Weissbach works in encaustic, metal leaf and metallics. Through the use of abstraction, her paintings attempt to convey nature’s patterns and rhythms, a significant theme in her compositions. Charyl received a BFA from Massachusetts College of Art with a concentration in painting and art history. She is a founder and curator of The Luminous Landscape, a conceptual group initiative that explores the diversity of nature in the context of encaustic painting. Charyl lives and works in Boston.
Materials list and fee to be announced
Class maximum: 10
Patterned Effects and Visual Texture w/ Encaustic and Mixed Media - Gregory Wright
June 8, Friday [SOLD OUT!]
10 – 4pm
$190
This workshop gives you the opportunity to dig into some of the techniques that Greg will present in his conference demonstration: achieving various textural and surface effects through the (careful) use of dry pigments and amber shellac, fused with a torch. Focus will be on how to incorporate these techniques into each artist’s personal painting style. Safety issues will be emphasized and alternative products discussed.
Greg is an engaging teacher who takes safety seriously. You must be experienced in fusing with a torch; otherwise the prerequisite for entry is Lynette Hagard’s Monday workshops, Day of Flames: Fusing w/ the Torch.
Gregory Wright works in encaustic with mixed media to create aquatic, cosmic, and microscopic fantasy worlds in his paintings. His most recent solo, Microcosm/Macrocosm, was at The Carney Gallery of Regis College in Weston, Mass., part of a visiting artist program. Gregory is a featured artist in the book Embracing Encaustic by Linda Womack. He is a member of the Galatea Gallery in Boston’s South End where his solo show will take place in May 2011. Gregory’s latest project is curating Pollination, a thematic group exhibition of artists working in encaustic, at the Brush Gallery in Lowell, Mass., in October 2011.
Materials list and fee to be announced
Class maximum: 10
Ask Madame Bricolage: How to Solve Physical Problems in Creating Bricolage Works - Nancy Natale
June 8, Friday
10 – 4
$190
This workshop will help provide answers to questions artists may have about using dimensional materials on panels. Beginning with a talk and demonstration followed by a hands-on session of experimentation with various materials and objects, it will answer such questions as: How should I attach certain three-dimensional objects to a panel? What is the best way to attach panels together? Which hangers should I use for my panels and how should they be attached? What should I do to the backs of my panels to give them a professional appearance and/or secure objects on the front? What happens over time when I apply encaustic to various objects? Is there anything I should do to make the objects I use archival? When should I use encaustic gesso and can it be applied to all objects? Students should bring objects or photos of objects with them that they have questions about. (Homework – http://artofbricolage.blogspot.com
Nancy Natale works with found and recycled elements that she combines with encaustic paint. Shecreates muscular, richly-textured works with layers of detail and physical presence that emphasize color and painterly use of materials. Her blog, Art in the Studio, is widely read for her humorous and personal views on making, looking at and thinking about art; her insightful narratives about the lives of well-known artists; her political enthusiasms and opinions; her Questionnaire interviews of other artists; and her active interchanges with her blog readers.
Materials list and fee to be announced
Class maximum: 10
Wax from the Hive to the Gallery -
Joanne Mattera
This workshop is free to those who have attended the conference, there is a limit to 20 people. So please sign up if you are interested.
This informative and interactive session consists of two parts. In the morning Rebecca Matarazzi will discuss Beekeeping for Beginners as we visit her hives, which are at Castle Hill. Beekeeping is a great way to increase your self sufficiency, bring in some cash, and of course enjoy the fruits of your (and the bees’) labor: honey and wax.
Beekeeping Basics
The estimate number of beekeepers in the U.S. is more than 211,000, while the number of honey-producing colonies of bees in the U.S. is 3 million. Be part of a fulfilling and growing hobby that sustains us, teaches us, while giving us the privilege of benefiting from the by products of honey production: beeswax, honey, propolis, pollen and of course apitherapy!
After lunch (together or on your own) we will venture into Provincetown where Joanne Matterawill lead a Wax Walk to visit the galleries in which wax and encaustic are featured. At each location we’ll spend some time with the exhibition in a way that might not have been possible during the openings, and we’ll hear from the gallerists themselves abbut the work. You must be registered for at least one post-conference workshop to attend this event because . . . it’s free! Our gift to you.
Class maximum for the Wax Walk: 20
Class maximum for the Beekeeping portion: no limit
About Us
A location, nestled in the dunes of Truro and within walking distance to Cape Cod bay, provides an inspirational and meditative backdrop that enhances the workshop experience.
A distinguished faculty that consists of prominent artists in the fields of painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, jewelry and writing.
A student body consists of both working artists and art students who hail from all over the US and Canada. Today Castle Hill celebrates its 40th year Anniversary.