Kathryn Dettwiller Journal

How to explore encaustic

2011-10-19T14:28:00.004-05:00

Have you ever wondered about encaustic paint? How does it work? What do I need? How do I use it?

My Cooled Palette

I'll have some answers this Saturday and Sunday, October 22 and 23, 2011, at Plaza Artist Materials here in Nashville from 12 to 3:00 each day. Plaza's address is : 633 Middleton Street, located on the corner of 7th Avenue South and Middleton Street one block off of Lafayette Street.

I'll be demonstrating the handmade paint produced by R and F Paints, which is my favorite brand. These encaustics are high quality, color dense, and silky. Their website is a treasure trove of information.

Encaustic work can be subtle:

Snuffed

Encaustic, matches, plaster on wood

13 X 13""

Or encaustic can be glorious in color:

Hot Window

Encaustic monotype

12 X 9.25""

Visit their website for resources, Q and A, workshops, and more.
and visit my page, The Buzz About Encaustic.

Drop in on Saturday or Sunday at 633 Middleton Street (Plaza Art Materials) to try it in person!

Goodbye, Nathan

2011-10-14T14:10:00.000-05:00

http://www.crownpoint.com/files/images/angelrocker_lg.print.gif

Nathan Oliveira
Angel Rocker, 2005
Color sugar lift aquatint with aquatint and drypoint
Image Size: 45 x 36"

I was about to write a post about how Nathan Oliveira influenced my work.

Influences are inevitable. One of the pivotal experiences of my art career was an off-campus residency with Nathan Oliveira at the Santa Fe Institute of Art in New Mexico. Although almost twenty years have past, his emphasis on "letting the form emerge" is burned into my psyche. That concept guides my work today and probably always will.

When I searched for links, I found this one:

In Memoriam: Nathan Oliveira 1928-2010

Tears welled up in my eyes and a hole opened in my gut. I felt like I'd lost my shining light. Even though we hardly corresponded, his importance to the artist in me was monumental. Nathan transformed my artistic practice from intellectualized to passion-driven. He emphasized credibility, the importance of process, and the concept that content and painting go hand-in- hand. His ideas will remain center stage in my practice.

Goodbye, Nathan. Your influence will carry on.

If you would like to read more about Nathan Oliveira, click on these links:

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2010/november/nathan-oliveira-obit-111710.html
http://www.conversations.org/story.php?sid=79
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-seed/nathan-oliveira-19282010_b_783995.html
articles.sfgate.com/2010-11-19/bay-area/24839837_1_arts-and-crafts-modern-art-richard-diebenkorn

Five Quick Sketches

2011-10-07T13:37:00.001-05:00

Quick sketches are just that. Quick and not preconceived, they are rough and free. The work says more about the moment than about "good art." Are they whimsical, scary, or menacing? You be the judge, and send me some comments.

Study 6

Charcoal and acrylic on paper

26 X 20"

Study 11

Charcoal and acrylic on paper

26 X 20"

Three Blind Mice

Charcoal and acrylic on paper

20 X 26"

Fret

Charcoal, pastel and acrylic on paper

26 X 20"

Study 11

Charcoal, conte and acrylic on paper

26 X 20"

2011-09-22T09:27:00.000-05:00

Meanwhile Back at the ~~Farm~~ Studio, I have been very busy.

Archiving my work has taken much longer than I ever expected. The process of selecting and culling, the schlepping of work and supplies to and from storage, the wrapping and detailing of work, the database work, photographing and Photoshopping...has been a monumental task. That says nothing about the emotional roller-coaster that many of the works generated for me.
I responded to an RFQ. That is really time-intensive!
I was selected to participate in Creative Capital's Professional Development Program (a weekend immersion in career matters for working artists). Creative Capital was brought to Nashville by our Arts and Business Council. My experience at the Capital PDP workshop stimulated a rethinking of my art practice, and I'm working through various iterations of it.
Life and death matters, family, and just plain living took time, too.
And, I have continued to show up in the studio. These quick drawings are meant to tap into that ever present ticker tape of information running in my mind. They are meant to be Brain-Drain work, but there is little doubt that reviewing past artwork has reprised some shapes and forms from deep in my memory bank.

Here are three:


Study 4 © 2011 Kathryn Dettwiller Charcoal,acrylic,conte on paper 26 X 20"

Study 14

Charcoal,acrylic,on paper

26 X 20"

Octopi

Charcoal,acrylic, on paper

20 X 20"

Paint, Paint, and More Paint

2011-05-27T22:16:00.004-05:00

In an earlier post I remarked that I was ready to paint again with vigorous, big strokes. That meant OIL PAINT.
I haven't used oils in years.

When I began using encaustics in 1996, I was smitten. I left my old medium, oils, for a new one. I loved encaustics then and I still do, but the limitations of the hot wax make it challenging to work in a larger scale. The wax hardens before I can make a long stroke of paint.

Then I unpacked my oils. Yikes! Absence did not make my nose grow fonder. The odor was so pungent that my allergies rebelled.

But, I reasoned, oil paint is compatible with encaustic paint.

So I squeezed out some oils, heated up the wax, and painted. The painting was awful. The surface of the painting was gobby, the design poor, and the smell of the oils made my head hurt! I'd been away too long, and now the odor was a problem. I put the painting away.

Still yearning to paint boldly, I remembered an old stand-by of mine---black and white tempera paint. Powdered tempera is a liberating medium since it is quick to dry, can be made thick enough to have some heft, and it's cheap.The flip side, though, is that it can be brittle when dry. The first "Brain-Drain" painting, Study #2, was crumbly and fragile when it dried.


©2011 Kathryn Dettwiller Study # 3, Charcoal, Acrylic on Paper,	26 x 20"

Since I had acrylics on hand, I thought they could substitute for the tempera. Here I worked some black and white as well as colored acrylic into the charcoal base layer. The finished work is now mostly acrylic paint without the brittleness of tempera.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Page

2011-05-17T10:42:00.001-05:00

Richard Serra, September

Intellectually, I know that there's nothing new under the sun. But the scope of visual influences astonishes me. My last post image bears a too-canny resemblance to a photo in April's issue of ARTnews, featuring Richard Serra's drawing retrospective exhibit at the Met in New York.

When I saw the magazine last month, I saved the article and put it aside. In it the writer detailed Serra's choice of media...ink, charcoal, paint stick...which are materials that I use quite often. Obviously, the visuals imprinted my brain.
Alas, Alack!!

Granted, I thought I was sourcing from my unconscious when I stepped up to my page. I guess in a way, I was. But today, when I sat down at my studio table, it was clear: Richard Serra's drawings spoke to me in a visceral and compelling way. He is quoted as saying that drawing is nothing "less than a language and a way of seeing and thinking." I understood his language.

Why I Don’t Draw Much in a Sketchbook

2011-05-14T16:01:00.002-05:00

Artists are supposed to keep sketchbooks. I do. But mine is filled with more words than pictures. I discovered a long time ago that I like to work with shapes and lines that flow into and out of shapes. Plus, I really like to work standing up and with some degree of size, so that I have to use big arm movements to fashion an image. Using paint to make those big shapes is a better fit for me.
This spring I have made a number of quick drawings/paintings that represent a kind of brain-drain. The paintings are spontaneous with no preconceived imagery. They are mixed media on paper, generally about 26” x 20”.

Water, Water Everywhere

2011-04-03T13:54:00.000-05:00

Water can be so destructive. The people in Japan know that firsthand. Nearly a year ago, Nashville was flooded...not by a tsunami, but from torrential rain.The Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission put out a call for submissions for their juried show, Spirit of the River, and my painting (above) was accepted.It will be on display in their Metro Arts Gallery until May 6th. Stop by and see what 14 area artists visualized about the Nashville Flood of 2010.

Life Turns on a Dime

2011-02-07T14:39:00.001-06:00

There's an old saying that life turns on a dime, and that is quite clear to me. Three friends that are about my age have cancer. For two of them it is a recurring cancer. Another friend had a massive stroke last week and died. An elderly relative of mine fell in mid January, was hospitalized and now is in a nursing facility. His apartment and belongings had to be dissolved, his bills canceled, and his future care arranged.

I have a favorite saying: life has run away with me. Sometimes our best laid plans get blasted by grim realities, personal responsibilities and demanding health issues. We can dream, plan, and forecast, but sometimes that train derails.Attention to something else demands our energy. So we put the plans aside to take care of immediate business. And when the coast is clear we begin again. That's where I am today. Beginning again. To blog, to paint, to muse.

How is a Painting like a Symphony?

2011-01-07T21:54:00.042-06:00


Mimed Words © Kathryn Dettwiller 2007 Encaustic Monoprint 18 x 24"

At the Nashville symphony last night I was struck by the similarity of the conductor to an artist. The conductor leads the grouping of players and instruments much like the artist orchestrates a painting.

He (in this case) chooses the format, a concerto, overture, symphony, etc : the artist chooses and creates the form...the design and structure of the work, selects the subject matter and the materials that best express the intended meaning
He establishes a general rhythm: the artist sets the flow in the 2-dimensional plane (or 3-dimensional, if the artist sculpts)
He calls on various instruments to take charge at a particular moment: the artist may allow one element, such as color or line, to take charge on the picture plane (the surface of the art)
He summons a little bit of this instrument and more of that one: the painter employs the tools of most art... line, color, value, texture, and shape... to create the minor and major areas of the picture
He can quiet down or emphasize a section of the orchestra: the artist uses a variety of methods to accomplish these actions...tone, placement, color, quality of line (thick, thin, ragged or smooth, etc), horizontal or vertical shapes
His intent is to leave the listener with an experience: the artist's intent is to leave the viewer with a pictorial experience

Do you agree?

Beginning Again

2011-01-01T22:46:00.001-06:00

There is a heaviness to the air and a slowness of movement on rainy days such as this. Rainy days are perfect for thinking. Since this is the first day of 2011, planning for the new year is on my mind. It's a day of evaluating 2010 and mapping out goals for 2011.

Always We Begin Again by John McQuiston II is a favorite little book that I read and reread. Based on the Rule of Saint Benedict, the premise is simple. If we take "control of our lives, if we are intentional and careful in how we spend the hours of each irreplaceable day, if we discipline ourselves to live in a balanced and thankful way, we will create from our experiences, whatever they may be, the best possible life." (p.5)

It is within this context that I plan for each day and for the future.

May your 2011 be all that you wish and desire.
Happy New Year.

Joy!

2010-12-24T16:51:00.001-06:00

O Christmas Tree

2010-12-23T16:06:00.002-06:00

Christmas Colors

2010-12-21T16:03:00.002-06:00

A Confession of Sorts

2010-12-19T15:38:00.008-06:00

The pursuit of order that I began in my studio in August prompted a different quest... the tidying up of my archives of artwork. Glancing at my inventory...not of supplies, Yikes!, but of artwork, I realized the need for a clean-up there, too. While my organization skills are pretty good, the records for my artwork were haphazardly incomplete. Keeping up with the details of each piece of work for more than 35 years has been quite tedious. I confess that I left out some of those details, like the size of the piece, for instance. So, I am returning to the archives for another look, and likely, a fill-in of the missing blanks. If you would like a shortcut to an inventory form, Harriete Estel Berman has created a masterful inventory and provenance form.

After beginning this project, I remembered some Christmas posters that I created many years ago. I thought that I'd share some of them with you in the next few posts.

Enjoy.

Let Me Count the Reasons...

2010-12-17T15:38:00.002-06:00

First, a list of all the rational reasons that I use encaustic:

Color: The colors are vividly rich. The suspended pigment in the beeswax allows the brilliant colors to sparkle with energy
The colors can be opaque or transparent, and can be applied thinly (glazes) or thickly (impasto)
There can be total coverage of one color with another, with no bleeding through
Line elements can be as varied as you wish: thin, thick, scraggly or sleek
Infinite texture capabilities: Textures are easily created, literally and figuratively speaking. From silky smooth to rough, bumpy textures, from the illusion of texture to the real thing
The surfaces of the work can be textured, smooth, poured, scraped, dipped or incised
Forms can be created 2-dimensionally or 3-dimensionally
Wax has an adhesive quality that is good for embedding, pasting, or collaging
It is quick to "set up" (that is, become a permanent, finished artwork)
Reworking possibilities are endless, since the wax is malleable with heat
Encaustic readily lends itself to image transfers
The layering that is inherent with encaustic gives a sense of space and time
Encaustic is one of the cleanest and least messy media for the artist
It is non-toxic when properly used
It has a sweet smell

Next, a few of the subjective reasons:

From the moment I began using wax, I felt an affinity to the medium
I love the feel of the cooled paintings and the lingering beeswax scent
Paraphrasing from Reni Gower, curator of the show, The Divas and Iron Chefs of Encaustic, wax/encaustic work has a "seductive surface, luminous color and ethereal image layering"
Encaustic informs my work with the hazy, muted quality that is inherent in memory...necessarily out of focus, but nonetheless, genuine in its authenticity
Encaustic is a challenge to use. Too much heat, and the image is forever lost...like a fleeting idea that escapes into thin air.

Encaustic Revival

2010-12-13T21:59:00.003-06:00


A Tray of Many Colors

Jasper Johns is credited with reviving the use of encaustic paint for contemporary artists. It is said that he wanted something that would help his paintings dry faster, and he remembered hearing about the wax paintings of ancient Greece. So, voila! the old becomes the new again!

After Johns' show at Leo Castelli Gallery in 1958, many other artists were mesmerized by encaustic's spell, including Brice Marden, Lynda Benglis, Nancy Graves, Kay Walkingstick and Arthur Dove. Today many contemporary artists use encaustic.

I began using encaustic in 1996 when there was little information available about the medium. Trial and error is a great teacher! Today there is plenty of information both on the web and in print. One of the best information resources on the web is R & F Paints, who specialize in encaustic paint and pigment sticks.

When I am asked about my work and I reply that I work in encaustic, many people wonder what encaustic is. If you click on the Buzz page above, you'll find some historical information.

The real question is why? Why use encaustic instead of oil paint or acrylics or any other paint? That's for the next post....

Looking for Comments

2010-11-28T20:44:00.004-06:00

One of the best descriptions of how to comment on a blog is the one penned by my fellow classmate, Karen F. Rose . We are in the Blog Triage class that is expertly led by Alyson Stanfield and Cynthia Morris.
Sometimes this new technology is a steep learning curve for those of us who did not grow up with an electronic life. Karen aptly describes commenting on posts on her blog My Painting Journey. Give it a look and then pen a comment to me here,

Series or Cereal? That is the Question (pardon me, Mr. Shakespeare)

2010-11-11T22:46:00.055-06:00

Artists create their work in many different ways. I prefer to work in a series format, while others like to be more random in their subjects, styles, and content, like many cereals.

What is a "series?" you may wonder. A series is a group of like-minded, like-themed, on-topic works that explore a central idea. To work in a series format allows you to spend time with an idea, to develop it or to abandon it for something else. For me, creating in that fashion allows the process of making art to unfold in a personal and meaningful way.

How do I decide what idea to explore? First and foremost, the idea has to have some personal resonance for me; it has to substantially relate to my world. When something speaks louder than the rest or when Sera (short for serendipity, or the Holy Spirit, if you will), keeps reminding you again and again, that topic has significance for you. For example, many years ago my husband and I thought about a taking a trip to Santa Fe. As never before, the city came up in conversations, in print, and on television...others were mentioning Santa Fe before we had a chance to say that we might go there!


Zola on the Couch ©1992 Kathryn Dettwiller, Oil on Canvas, 18 x 24"

From 1992-1995, I painted my dog, Zola, a brown standard poodle. The Zola Series was a time for learning about myself and channeling those various facets into a surrogate form, Zola. She appeared in almost 50 paintings, ranging from serious representation to downright wacky portrayals.


I Don't Think We're in Kansas Anymore ©1992 Kathryn Dettwiller, Oil on Canvas, 36 x 36"

Cleaned Up & Fixed Up

2010-11-06T21:59:00.007-05:00

A Cleaned Up & Fixed Up corner in the studio. This makes me smile!

I feel lighter and ready to go to work.

Who would have guessed that this is the same corner that I photographed on August 18th, before the closet was built?

Blogging for You and Blogging for Me

2010-10-28T22:43:00.013-05:00

I have been blogging since May 2010 to the World-Wide Ether, just trying to get a feel for the process and the commitment. Having a wandering commitment hasn't served me well. Like learning a new skill or technique or, more to the point, learning to use the "new technology", blogging has been a challenge.
Since blogging is a self-driven activity, it has been very easy to avoid...until now.

I have signed up for an online course, Blog Triage, which #1, I paid money for, and #2 requires homework completed timely. Why? I needed the incentive to proceed.

Fresh out of the gate, our fearless class instructors Alyson Stanfield and Cynthia Morris, have started with a basic question: who do I want to visit and read my blog?

Initially, I am writing to keep friends, family and collectors up to date on my work and my activities. By providing a glimpse into my world as an artist I want to share the influences, the inspirations and some of the challenges that are addressed in the final product, the actual art itself. I believe that this kind of information will enhance their experience of viewing not only my work, but the work of other artists.
As time goes by I hope to broaden my audience and connect with curators, other artists and art professionals who would support my work.

In my initial post, A Painter Speaks, I wrote about my focus for this blog, which is informing viewers while informing myself. I would like to become more proficient in verbalizing about my work, both orally and in the written word. Since composing with words is far more difficult for me than composing with shapes and colors, this blog will hopefully engage the reader in some measure while it engages me in a different language of expression.

I've Missed Painting

2010-10-11T20:45:00.011-05:00

Is it the fall air? I've missed painting. The stand-up kind. I had a discussion not too long ago about working methodology. For several years, I have worked with encaustic and it is most agreeable to work with the work flat, that is, parallel to the floor. The arm/hand movements are necessarily short and contained. After all, the wax cools so quickly that a short stroke is all you get, unless you heat it and move it around. Oil painting, though, is so different. The strokes can be however you like them to be. And if you change your mind, well, you can just do it differently. And I am a "stander" when I paint.
A couple of weeks ago I began some encaustic paintings on Claybord, smallish ones, 12x12". Before I realized it, I was dancing with the paint and an electric spatula...all over the surface. It was fun!!

For a good while, I have made contained work. Easily contained on the surface of the board. But these, wow, these spilled all over the edges and I used some thread to visually rein in the shapes. To contain the bedlam of color and shape, I put a tiny thread fence that is useless.

Visual Clutter...Ugh

2010-08-18T20:36:00.007-05:00

It seems that everywhere, visual clutter is overwhelming my eyes. From electrical lines to billboards to roving vehicles, my eyes have no place to rest. Even in my studio, piles of books, files, papers, compete with racks of supplies. I feel like I'm drowning in STUFF.

What to do? Clean up, straighten up, and throw out. I have begun to attack the weight of things, both done and undone. My desk area is straight, and I'm leaving it that way each day when I turn out the lights. That's a small step in the right direction to lighten my load.

I am having a closet built to hide all of my supplies. I have stripped the walls of those myriad printouts of sayings, of cartoons that spoke to me, of photographs and assorted other visuals that make my eye dance. I like the empty white walls. It is peaceful and inviting. Soon, the whole room will be like that!

Today's Menu: Take it or Leave it

2010-07-30T17:39:00.001-05:00

A while back I chatted with Jane Braddock on the phone. We compared health notes, as we both had had some major hospitalizations, and we concluded that we were fine and healthy now. She invited me to her home for lunch and more conversation. I couldn't refuse!

Jane is a good cook and a hostess with the most-ess, despite this plaque over her cooktop:

If I had invited her to my home for lunch, I'd probably have given her a sandwich. But Jane grilled salmon for me. I am really lucky!

And it was yummy.

Jane graciously gave me the first class tour of her wonderful home. It is chocked full of fabulous art from her friends, her travels, and her African collection, not to mention her own work. Impressive does not fully describe it!

Next came the studio... Jane and Birdie.

And in her living room...a large diptych. On the left is a painting from her Shakti series. It is married with a newer work, Sweet Cold, from her text series.

You can see more of her fine work at http://janebraddock.com

More from Martha Christian

2010-07-16T12:22:00.005-05:00

Martha sent this updated photo of the tapestry with this note:

"Hi, Just to prove I finished sewing slits and blocking the "rough" version!"

Martha

Isn't it spectacular?