A Brief History of The Encaustic Conference: 2012

Conference 6

Wow! It's like the Who's Who of the encaustic world
all in one place!"

—Mazarine Treyz.

How do you report on an event that spanned 11 days—a three-day Conference and eight days of workshops—2 venues in adjacent towns, 12 gallery exhibitions plus 2 in-house shows, 30 presentations, 10 book signings and almost 250 conferees from 35 U.S. States, 5 Canadian provinces and 7 countries (including Australia, New Zealand, Norway and Panama) and do it concisely? There's no way. It's going to be a long post. Strap yourself in and come along for the ride.

Let’s Start with Provincetown

A heavenly location, shot from on high

Above you see an unusual view of Provincetown—taken from the International Space Station. The Provincetown Inn, site of the International Encaustic Conference (there's a nice symmetry), is at the very fingertip of the curled arm. On terra firma there’s a mix of real Colonial and classic New England architecture, and on aqua fluida the harbor holds the boats of the Portuguese fisherfolk who still go out to sea. Provincetown is also home to hokey head shops, outrageous drag shows, chic design stores (if a little heavy on the lobstah and seashell motifs), and a surprising number of galleries. The fabled light at Land’s End offers some transcendent evening skies, too.

Even the Colonial-era homes have a bit of the eccentric, this one with its pumpkin door and pink flamingo in the garden. (Hey, that wouldn't be John Waters's house, would it? The Pink Flamingos director is a Provincetown resident)

Provincetown is still a fishing village. Photo: Cherie Mittenthal

Color decisions for one shop

The Victorian-era schoolhouse, now home to The Schoolhouse Gallery, site of the Conference Instructor's Exhibition, a fabulous show of vision and experience expressed through the medium of wax

Look up. That's what Geralyn McGrath Robinson did in her beautiful shots of the Provincetown sky at evening. She even got the waxing moon, below, which reached fullness for the Conference. Yes, the moon also lived up to our motto: All waxing, No Waning

Some Voices
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Since this is a largely pictorial report, we first give voice to a few conferees who help shape the context of the event.

“I have been exposed at the Conference to such a high intellectual

and artistic level that once back home I could feel the difference in my critical thought. I am able to make artistic choices (in French we say trancher, meaning “to cut through”) with greater confidence and ease.”

–Marie-Claude Allen

“I am a relative newbie and this was my second conference. It was great running into people I met last year and I felt as though I made some good connections. I left each demo and talk feeling renewed and inspired and will bring that back to my studio.” –Rick Legge

"I got something out of every demo and lecture I attended . . . but perhaps the most valuable thing, which is harder to quantify, is the experience of being with so many artists, the generous sharing of ideas, the positive energy, and the quality of the entire program. Last year’s conference sustained me for an entire year, and this year’s conference was even more intense. I could have stayed another two weeks.” –Christine Aaron

“I got home to Oz with a renewed zeal to get back in the studio with many ideas on where to go next with my work.” –Mo Godbeer

“One of the most profound moments for me came during Laura Moriarty's talk on Funding Your Work. I raised a concern about beauty and literally felt the room rush to support me. I’ll never forget that.” –Deborah Winiarski
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“I am inspired by the week and a half I spent with some of my favorite colleagues and look forward to doing it again next year.”—Laura Moriarty

“The ongoing and growing relationships with art colleagues are invaluable. Conversations, laughter and the sound of the sea are the intangible takeaway. I plan to be there again in all the ”next” years.” –Susan Lasch Krevitt

“I take away a sense of possibility, both for myself and my colleagues.” –David A. Clark

“I enjoyed meeting so many new people, talking art, and just hanging out. Ed Winkleman talk was enlightening. He’s very generous and was a perfect fit for the generous spirit that pervaded the Conference. There were so many thoughtful exhibitions with so much terrific work. I was fortunate to enough to buy or trade with some wonderful artists and even sold or traded all my little shaped pieces. Looking forward to Conference 7." –Jeff Hirst, Minnesota

Inset: The Conference bag, filled with schedules, info, and samples from our vendors

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Print-a-Palooza

We go a bit over the top with the name of this session because we want to emphasize the bigness of it: three successive demonstrations on a related topic. Printmaking has remained of significant interest in the encaustic community, so after the success of the Monotype Marathon last year, we invited three artists –Jeff Hirst, Michelle Marcuse and Lisa Zukowski–to demonstrate different facets of encaustic printing.

Jeff Hirst went first, demonstrating Screenprinting onto Encaustic

Below: Jeff's Glow 44, a shaped-panel painting with printed elements on the surface, shown at Gallery Ehva in Good Vibrations, curated by Laura Moriarty

Next up: Michelle Marcuse demonstrating Transfer Printing From Wax Paper

Below: Michelle's Fly By, a transfer-print painting shown at the Conference Instructors Exhibition at The Schoolhouse Gallery

Lisa Zukowski demonstrating Gelatin Plate Monotypes. Photo: Mazarine Treyz
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Keynote Speaker: Edward Winkleman

Topic: The Commercial Art Gallery Demystified

Edward Winkleman delivered the much-anticipated Keynote. A presence in the international art world as a dealer, art fair entrepreneur and author (How to Start and Run a Commercial Gallery)—as well as an art blogger generous with his advice—he discussed The Commercial Art Gallery Demystified. In a well-over-hourlong presentation, Ed threw out questions to the audience and answered the questions that came his way. The sequence below gives you a tiny taste of the topics he covered, but nothing short of being there can convey the breadth and depth of his knowledge, nor his generosity and grace.

Krista Svalbonas offers this brief report on her blog.

A Few Tips I Learned from Edward Winkleman's talk:

1. Building a relationship is key, whether it be attending gallery openings and chatting with gallery staff or getting to know artists who are represented at the gallery. A referral is always the strongest way to get a gallery to look at your work.

2. Pay attention not only to the work that the gallery is showing but also its standing as a gallery. Approach galleries that make sense to you not only in terms of your artistic style but where you are in your career as an artist.

3. Find alternate ways to be involved in the art scene, flat-files, curating, writing or taking professional development courses specifically for artists.

4. Network, network ,network!! Did I say network? Yes we may hate it or not be good at it, but find a way that networking makes sense to you and you feel comfortable with.

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Saturday Morning Panel

Topic: Igniting the Spark, Fanning the Flame: Creativity in our Practice.

What is this thing called creativity? Where does it come from? How do we grasp it and allow it to illuminate our practice? Five artists with significant exhibition histories and teaching experience addressed the issue. Participants in order of presentation were: Pamela Blum, Paula Roland, Toby Sisson, Howard Hersh and Elise Wagner. Each panelist held the podium for 10 minutes to show images of their work and talk about their particular approach to the muse. Pamela Blum got the biggest laugh of the morning when she responded to a question about mentors. "I didnt have a mentor," she responded dryly. "I learned more from my tormentors." Some comments:

Pamela Blum: "Intuition is not enough . . . the mark leads to structure . . .the more you refine the surface, the less you have to depend on the wax . . ."

Paula Roland: "Nothing in the work should be arbitrary, even if it is unplanned. . .sometimes we find meaning during process . . .wax is optical, magical, but is it enough? . . .we should be putting materials at the service of content . . . "

Toby Sisson: "Interrogate your practice (sit quietly, almost meditatively with your work) . . . Be self reflective (who are my 'artistic ancestors'? what do I wonder about?) . . .Expand the dialog (the meaning lies in the question) . . .Interrogate the artwork (what do I notice and why? what is unexpected? what do I want to see more of?) . . .Continue the cycle (be patient with process) . . .give up the pursuit of the answer by the framing of the question . . ."

Elise Wagner: "I have a dialogue with the piece, reflect, read, invite people into the studio so that they can respond . . .I don't think about the outcome of the painting . . . I'm less concerned with materials than how they convey a message . . ."

Howard Hersh: "Are there any magic bullets for inspiration? . . .I have kept at it . . .I had one good art teacher who said, 'Just finish one hundred paintings' . . .I have kept at it, one hundred after one hundred . . ."

After a brief break, we reconvened as a panel to take questions. I shot this from the moderator's chair. The questions came from . . .

You!

(I couldn't shoot when the panelists were talking, so I aimed the camera the moment it was over. Lunch would follow, and folks were on the move)

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Demonstrations

“Don’t tell me, show me,” is the motto for many of our conferees. So we gave you want you wanted: demos, and lots of them. While we focus on the professional aspects of the medium in terms of ideas and presentations, learning the right way to handle the medium is an essential element to working in it. Including the three Print-a-Palooza demos, there were 17 technical presentations over the course of three days.

Binnie Birstein teaching Basics of Encaustic on Friday afternoon. Conferees new to the medium learned the terms and techniques that would carry them through the Conference. Photo: Cherie Mittenthal

In keeping with the basics on Friday, Lynette Haggard and Andrea Bird team taught Fusing Comparisons. Lynette, above, demonstated techniques and options with the torch; Andrea, below, with the iron. Even experienced artists attended this one to broaden their repertoire of options. (We also liked the international fusing that took place here, in the Massachusetts/Ontario pairing)

Photo: Cherie Mittenthal

On Saturday afternoon, Bonny Leibowitz demonstrated Painterly Effects and Pours.aDemos and talks in the enormous Mayflower Room were projected onto a large screen at stage left

Meanwhile, in the Alfredo Room across the hall, David A. Clark demonstrated Finessing the Monotype. A presentation like this took viewers beyond the basics and into the subtleties of the technique. Photo: Cherie Mittenthal

In the next session, Elena De La Ville demonstrated Photography and Encaustic

Below: After the demo proper, conferees came up for a closer look. Photos: Diana Quinn

Across the hall in the Alfredo Room, Lynda Ray demonstrated Texture and Color. Typically two demos and two talks took place each hour for three hours each day, separated by half-hour breaks. Photo: Dorothy Cochran

Later in the day, Lorraine Glessner demonstrated Printing with Rust..

Meanwhile Cari Hernandez was demonstrating the sculptural possibilities of Encaustic with Plaster Cloth. Photo: Cherie Mittenthal
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On Sunday afternoon Pamela Wallace demonstrated Wax and the Collograph Print. Photo: Tracy Spadafora

The name of this printing method has been spelled several ways. Here's the word from Pamela on correct spellling: "As far as I can ascertain, either collograph or collagraph is an acceptable spelling. Apparently "colla" refers to pasting--collaging materials on a printing plate--while "collo" refers to using glue to build an image on a plate. Fritz Eichenberg in Art of the Print (Abrams), says the terms are used interchangeably. I tend to use them interchangeably as well.".

In a subsequent session, Supria Karmakar demonstrated The Altered Book. Note one of her books, foreground. (Supria curated The Wax Book for the Castle Hill library gallery; we'll visit it later in this report). Photo: courtesy of the artist
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Other presenters: Gregory Wright, Patterned Effects with Mixed Media and Encaustic; Tracy Spadafora, Layers: Optical and Physical; Charyl Weissbach, A Flash of Metal; Tania Wycherley, Advanced Image Transfer. (If you have a good photo of any of these demos, please email me and I'll post with photo credit: joanne@joannemattera.com)

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Talks

.Because The Encaustic Conference draws participants at all stages of their careers, slide talks and discussions are an essential element of the program. Talks allow us to discuss the what and why of out practice, not just the how.
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Talks began at 10:00 am on Friday. I scheduled one talk that hour, Marybeth Rothman's, Wax Collage: Beyond Technique, thinking that between registration, and folks arriving throughout the morning, the small lecture room would be large enough to hold everyone. I was wrong. So wrong that I couldn't get close to taking a picture of her. For everyone who missed her talk, not to worry, we're bringing her back for a repeat presentation in Conference 7.

Next on the schedule, and scheduled in a larger room, Nancy Natale presented Bricolage: Collage with Muscle, a slide talk in which she discussed the work of artists who use objects and dimensionality in their work. You'll see images from Nancy's Pre- and Post-Conference workshops later in this report

About that pink glow: The windows in the Harbor Room have no shades, as it's normally used for dining (the Provincetown Inn has never had a conference as large as ours). The facilities manager promised to cover the windows, and he did. When the room was illuminated, the pink bedspreads looked like curtains, but no one considered the Martian illumination when the lights were dimmed

Friday afternoon held two more talks. Joanne Freeman, a New York artist with a long career, presented Process, Medium and Content, in which she discussed the development of her ideas, expressed physically in a variety of media

After early use of encaustic in her geometric paintings, Joanne settled into a mix of oil and cold wax, but she is equally fluent with gouache and acrylic, medium being in service to her idea. Joanne's talk may mark the first time that "Giotto" and "encaustic" were used in the same sentence.

Laura Moriarty presented Funding Your Work: A Practical Guide to Dreaming Big

A recipient of many prestigious grants, Laura shared her knowledge, with tips and advice, not only in a wonderfully organized talk, but with a takeaway, an eight-page guide to the topics she discussed. Is your presentation professional? Is your work a good match for the grant you want? Are your goals articulated? ("No one's going to give you money unless they know what you plan to do with it.") Oh there was more, much more.

Laura drew a huge, note-taking crowd. Top photo: Cherie Mittenthal

On Saturday after lunch (and did we mention that it was a very good buffet--with dessert), Patti Russotti, a professor in the photography department at Rochester Institute of Technology, addressed Photographing Your Work

Patti discussed image size, where and how the various image formats are used, as well as scanning tips, file-name protocols, and offered numerous illustrated tips for successful photographing. Some tips:

. "Shoot it once and use it many times." For instance, save a jpeg as a Tiff file so that you have an archived image

. Practice "good housekeeping" by backing up and archiving images

. Do you need expensive equipment for photographing your work? Not necessarily. You can get bowl reflectors and tripods at Home Depot. You can stack the lamps to illuminate a large area. ("Duct tape is a requirement.") Oh, there was more, much more.

In the same timeslot, Lisa Pressman took her audience on a tour of Visiting the Encaustic Studio

Photo: Cherie Mittenthal

Lisa had presented an earlier version of this talk at two previous Conferences. It was so popular that she updated it. We got to see the workspaces and everything about them: where the work gets made, what the view out the window is like, ventilation--oh, and the artists and their work.

These next two events on Saturday afternoon took place at the same time. Susanne Arnold, an artist who is also an art historian and curator, delivered a beautiful talk on Ephemeral Figures in Wax

Susanne's research produced images of sculptures that came from the Middle Ages and and continued through the Renaissance and into the 21st Century. Even Kim Karsadhian turned up (via Madame Tussaud). For a long time, Susanne told us, wax was considered an inferior material for artmaking. Still, historical works have survived. You don't have to kick yourself for missing Susanne's talk; she'll reprise it at Conference 7

Meanwhile, Sara Mast and Cherie Mittenthal were leading a discussion on Standards and Practices in Teaching Encaustic

Sara, a professor in the art department at Montana State University, Bozeman, and Cherie, whom you know as the director of Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill, took both an academic and practical approach to the topic. The audience, comprised largely of artists who teach--from independents instructing out of their studios to tenured professors who are either teaching encaustic or are working to introduce encaustic painting at the university level--discussed expectations for standards in safety, curriculum and experience. For Conference 7 this discussion will be expanded to two one-hour sessions. Toby Sisson with join Sara and Cherie.

In the last Saturday session, Catherine Nash presented Paper and Wax: International Trends, a look at some of the work being done in these combined mediums

The artist in the projected image is Valerie Hammond, whose is known for her poetic prints and drawings of hands trailing garlands--as well as sculptures of hand and flowers in cast wax. Catherine drew her report from ongoing research for an e-book on the same topic. Look for another Book Signing at Conference 7, when Catherine's volume should be available.

On Sunday, continuing the international focus, Mo Godbeer of Sydney, offered a glimpse of the work being done by contemporary artists in Australia in the cheekily titled Waxing Down Under

For many Australian artists the rugged landscape is an influence. Mo also brought us into artists' studios, a lovely opportunity to see how the outside makes its way to the inside. While the names were unfamiliar to most of us, the art resonated. We expect to see more artists making the trip from Oz to Conference 7.

In the next hour's session Richard Frumess, the founder and a principal of R&F Handmade Paints, continued his Investigation into Materials series, which is unique to The Encaustic Conference

While last year Richard addressed color fastness under various conditions, this year his topic was adhesion. Applying two different color paints, an umber and a cadmium, to a variety of substrates and then subjecting them to the extreme stressors of freezing and thawing in repeated cycles as well as impact, he was able to suggest reasonable expectations for adhesion performance with a range of substrates.

While Richard was addressing adhesion, Jane Guthridge was presenting Bringing Light into Your Work

Jane is a primary practitioner of luminous encaustic, as her practice consists almost enclusively of encaustic monotype. In her talk Jane showed the work of several artists, including Paula Roland, whose image is projected in the photo above, as well as her own work.

Encaustic monotypes, or more specifically, Painted Landscape into Monotype, was the subject of Alexandre Masino's talk

Addressing his own work, Alexandre started with images of his Montreal studio and talked about the transition between his paintings and his monotypes, a toggle in which his landscapes retain their esthetic integrity as the medium changes.

Other presenters: Marybeth Rothman, Wax and Collage: Beyond Technique; Hylla Evans, Copyright Law for Artists; Deborah Kapoor, Displaying Work Outside the Frame; and Miles Conrad, Presenting to a Gallery. (If you have a good photo of these talks, please email me and I'll post with photo credit: joanne@joannemattera.com)

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The Hotel Fair

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Sunday morning's Hotel Fair was so popular last year that we expanded the hours for Conference 6: 9:30 to 11:00 for one side of the Inn, 11:00 to 12:30 for the other. It's a good thing, too, because with every one of the 100+ rooms filled and the lobby given over to those who were staying elsewhere, we needed every minute for viewing. I photographed as much as I could,given that I was also showing my own work in the second timeslot.
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We start with the dramatic, three installations that I've dubbed Bed, Bath and Beyond . . .
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Bed: David A. Clark's performance piece in the room he covered completely in his signature arrow. Photo: Nina Marcia Borland

Read Laura Moriarty's blog interview with David

Bath: Milisa Galazzi's bathroom installation, To Do, in which she covered the walls with pages from her notebooks

Beyond: Elena De La Ville's rain forest, replete with music and mangoes

The sense of the dramatic continued with Shelley Gilchrist's simple but strong installation

Below, a peek behind the wall

Esther Kirshenbaum's elegant installation, which she described as "experimenting with the role of the scroll in encaustic, monotype and collage"

Continuing with scrolls, Patricia Spainhour's achromatic translucence . . .

. . . and these seeminly casually placed scrolls Lisa Pressman and Sara Mast, made during Paula Roland's three-day Pre-Conference workshop on Encaustic Monotype

Thinking outside the box, Gregory Wright showed his work on his room's exterior space . . .

. . . while Stephanie Green transformed the john and sink into pedestals for her small works

Also working small, Corina Alvarezdelugo showed tiny textured paintings in the medicine cabinet

Is this the work of Susan Lasch Krevitt? Well, yes it is

Sherrie Posternak showed her fabulous artist book, which consisted of individual pages contained within a box

I don't have notes, but I'm pretty sure the work above is by Bonnie Leibowitz, and that below is by Sarah Rehmer

Patricia Dusman's scribed paintings

A formal layout: Cherie Mittenthal's paintings on the left; digital prints inspired by my Silk Road series, right. I brought two paintings from the series, but you can't see them here

Conferees without rooms at the Inn took over the light-filled lobby. Above, Kay Hartung

Below, Elise Wagner. You've gotta love the clothesline (and the prints!)

The elegant simplicity of Lynette Haggard's display

Pamela Blum with her sculpture

For more great Hotel Fair photos, check our Mo Godbeer and Diana Quinn's blog, Encausticize

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Going Postal

The Postcard Show

The Hotel Fair and the Postcard Show offered all conferees the opportunity to show their work. The Postcard Show had the additonal benefit of being a sale to support the new Conference Scholarship Fund. All proceeds will go toward nine scholarships for Conference 7. Details will be on the Conference blog soon.

We start with Debra Claffey showing her work in the lobby for The Hotel Fair. In the room behind her you can just about make out a wall of postcards. Photo: Diana Quinn

This is the wall of postcards. Additional cards were posted on the cork walls around the room. Photo: Cherie Mittenthal

The sale took place on Sunday afternoon. Conferees drew a number when they picked up lunch, and there were three waves of sales during the breaks. This is a shot after the first flush of shoppers hit the room

That's a Cherie Mittenthal postcard in the center. Hers got snapped right up. Indeed, most of the postcards sold. The price was a very reasonable $30, and many of the postcard donors also purchased the work of others--a nice big win/win. Many trades took place after the fact as well. Thank you all!

Book Signings

Friday Late Afternoon at the Inn, Sunday evening at Gallery Ehva

With a critical mass of authors of commerically published and privately published books, as well as a plethora of catalogs, how could we not hold a book signing? Friday afternoon had 10 books and their authors gathered in the lobby. The authors were Miles Conrad with the Conrad Wilde Gallery Encaustic Invitational catalog, Supria Karmakar and her crew with the exhibition catalog of The Wax Book, Laura Moriarty with her newly published Table of Contents, Greg Wright with the catalog from his curated show, Pollination, and books and catalogs by Lynn Basa, Linda Cordner, Catherine Nash, Nancy Natale, Sherrie Posternak, and Elise Wagner. Here's a sampling of photos from the event:

The authors of each of the 10 books had their own signing stations throughout the lobby. That's Linda Cordner, foreground. Photo: Cherie Mittenthal

Elise Wagner

Linda Cordner

Catherine Nash

Lynn Basa

Sherrie Posternak talking to Howard Hersh

Gregory Wright

Nancy Natale surrounded by Karen Fraser, David A. Clark, Maritza Ruiz-Kim (I think) and Susan Lasch Krevitt

With an editor and designer, as well as about a dozen artists involved in The Wax Book--exhibition and catalog--Supria Karmakar's section in the center of the lobby was a hive of activity

Laura Moriarty

Photo: Cherie Mittenthal

On Sunday evening, we gathered at Gallery Ehva for a group book signing of Encaustic Works 2012, the exhibition-in-a-book published by R&F Handmade Paints. This book is a continuation of R&F's series of biennial exhibitions, which have taken place since 1997. The book was overseen by Laura Moriarty. I was the juror, and . . .

. . . the folks you see here are some of the artists included in the book. From left: Shelley Gilchrist, Gregory Wright, Howard Hersh, Susanne Arnold, Ruth Hiller, Jane Allen Nodine, Sara Mast, Binnie Birstein, Marybeth Rothman. Standing: Nancy Natale, Alexandre Masino, JM, Susan Delgavis, Lisa Pressman, and Catherine Nash. Many are holding copies of Encaustic Works 2012. Photo: Deborah Winiarski

The book!

If you have photos Miles Conrad signing, please send them to me at joanne@joannemattera.com

The Exhibitions

In addition to the Hotel Fair and Going Postal, there were 12 galleries in Provincetown and two at Castle Hill which showed the work of conferees. Openings took place on Friday evening, June 1, begining at 5:00 and lasting until 10:00 under an almost-full moon.

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Kobalt Gallery

Confluence: Water and Light juried by Francine D'Olimpio

For this conference-sponsored exhibition, we asked conferees to submit work that related to the extraordinary light of Provincetown, a spit of sand that is surrounded by the Massachusetts Bay on one side and the great Atlantic on the other. Big thanks to Francine for hosting the exhibition. You can see more installation shots of this and other echibitons on Cherie Mittenthal's blog.

The easy entry from the street

View from the mezzanine

Up on the mezzanine, Shelley Gilchrist's Liquid Sky, Race Point was on view

At Street level, there's work by Karen Nielsen-Fried, Patricia Dusman, Nancy Natale, Kelly Weeks and Mo Godbeer. Nancy Natale received the Juror's Award

Patricia Malarcher with her work, a sculpted cloth-and-wax painting, which pushed the limits of painting and embodied the confluence of water and light. Pat received the Castle Hill Award

David A. Clark's painting received the Director's Award. Each award comes with an entry to Conference 7. All photos: Cherie Mittenthal, except the Shelley Gilchrist work, which was provided by the artist

See Diana Quinn and Mo Godbeer's video of the Kobalt opening for a look at Mo's work and a sense of the crowd; read Nancy Natal's blog post on the show

Gallery Ehva

Good Vibrations,curated by Laura Moriarty

When she was invited to curated a show here, Laura wisely decided to draw not from artists accepted into Encaustic Works 2012, whose production she conceived and oversaw, but from the many wonderfully talented artists who were not included in it. The resulting exhibition was in no way a salon des refuses but a strong exhibition of beautifully conceived and executed work deserving of recognition. Big thanks to Laura for curating and installing, and gallery owner Ewa Nogiec for hosting the exhibition.

View of Gallery Ehva from the parking lot

Curator Laura Moriarty talking with George Mason. And is that Cherie Mittenthal at right?

From left: two by Bonny Leibowitz, two by Kim Flora, grouping of small work by Martiza Ruiz-Kim, a glimpse of Lynda Cole's big pink and black painting (sold!) and the wall at right with an installation of shaped paintings by Jeff Hirst

From the back of the gallery looking down the long wall: Pamela Wallace, facing wall; Hirst, Winston Mascarenhas, Cole, Lynn Basa . . .

. . .and a view from Jorge Bernal's suite of six painting, looking back up

Lynn Basa painting on an easel once used by Hans Hoffman

Michael Billie's suite of three, perfectly placed on a brick-red wall

Christine Aaron paintings by the entry

Art Currents

Pollination: Beyond the Garden curated by Gregory Wright

The first incarnation of this show took place in Lowell, Mass., earlier in the year. When Cherie saw it, she was determined to find a place for it during the Conference. She spoke to the owners of Art Currents and the result is what you see here, a poetic and metaphoric exporation of the curatorial theme. You can see more on Greg's blog post about the show.

View of Pollination, with work by Lynette Haggard, Kim Bernard (on far wall) and Binnie Birstein. Photo: Nancy Natale

Curator Greg Wright with one of the gallery's owners

Greg's own work with an installation of small paintings by Laura Tyler

Nancy Natale talking to Martiza Ruiz-Kim, with Nancy's work on the far wall

At the opening

Binnie's foursome on the wall. In the distance Supria Karmakar and Julie Shaw Lutts discuss this diptych . . .

. . . by Cherie Mittenthal

Is that Misa Galazzi behind her work? Why, yes, it is

All remaining photos by Cherie Mittenthal, except the mage of Cherie's own work, which was shot by JM

Ernden Gallery

Featured Gallery Artists: Milisa Galazzi and Deanna Wood

The small gallery was crowded on opening night so on the Wax Walk, which I led on Friday afternoon of Post-Conference, we stopped in and owner Dennis Costin pulled out work by both artists.

Ernden Gallery

Peeking into the window, we see work by Misa Galazzi and Deanna Wood

Ownder Dennis Costin showing us one of Misa's paintings

Rice Polak Gallery

Improbable Topographies curated by Joanne Mattera

Inspired by the implied geology and geography of these artists works, I put together a show of unlikely "landscapes". Big thanks to gallery owner Marla Rice for giving me the opportunity to curate it. You can see more on my blog post about the show.

The gallery, with its inviting display window . . .

. . . which you see in closeup here. From left: Nancy Natale, Christine Kyle, Laura Moriarty, Joanne Mattera

Christine Kyle sculptures, Nancy Natale, Ruth Hiller

Laura Moriarty, Ruth Hiller

Charles Baltivik Gallery

Binnie Birstein and Ilene Charles

A wall of small paintings by Binnie Birstein

A wall by Ilene Charles

Bowersock Gallery

Distinctly Encaustic, featuring gallery artists Kim Bernard, Alison Golder, Catherine Nash and William Thompson. While many galleries in P-town represent artists who work in encaustic--and some, such as A Gallery, are taking on artists as a result of The Encaustic Conference--Bowersock Gallery has has a longstanding commitment to artists working in the medium. Big props, Steve Bowersock!Read more on the gallery's website and blog.

Looking into the back gallery: Alison Golder on wall left; Catherine Nash on window wall right

Looking past Alison Golder wall on right to Kim Bernard on window wall

View of work by Golder, Nash and Bernard

A Gallery

Wax.

Gallery owners Adam and Marian Peck curated a show of achromatic works that referenced the moody atmospheric elements of Provincetown weather. The Pecks invited several conferees as well as their own gallery artists. The result was a spare and elegant exhibition, every bit as quiet as the mist that sometimes settles over the Cape. Additionally, the Pecks published a limited-edition book about the edition, with statements by and images of the artists along with the exhibited work, as well as a video of the artists talking about their work or process. A lovely bonus: several artists from the Conference-- Margaret Bertrand, Debra Claffey, Bob Dodge and Patricia Spainhour and perhaps others--were invited to show throughout the season as what the gallery calls "visiting artists." Big props and kudos to Adam and Marian. You are awesome!

The medium, message, and art are fused: Wax by Adam Peck

Enthusiastic conferees entering the gallery on the Friday night opening. I recognize Molly Geissman at left; Martiza Ruiz-Kim in the blue jacket, center; and Kim Flora, right. If you're in the picture, let me know and I'll get your name in here (joanne@joannemattera.com)

With the entry to our left, we look to the left side of the gallery and a painting by Leslie Ford . . .

. . . which you see larger below (and, by the way: sold)

Moving along that wall we see work by Christine Aaron

Pulling back, we see the Aaron and two by Adam Peck, including the Wax painting

On the other side of those walls we see work by gallery artists John DiMestico and Christopher Sousa, and on the back wall, by Debra Claffey and Mary Farmer

Above, foreground: a closer view of Christopher Sousa's collage

Below: a closer look at Debra Claffey's Smoke and Ice

With Linda Cordner's Cinquefoil Gray on the right (which you can see in closer view here), we look into the small back gallery which had work by Tracy Spadafora, Marian Peck, Charyl Weissbach and others. A feature here was the video in which each of the participating artists in the show talked briefly about their work.

Above: Charyl Weissbach on screen with an audience of Susan Lasch Krevitt, Binnie Birstein and Marsha Hewitt

Below: Charyl talking with Adam Peck

A peek at the exhibition book, Wax, created by the Pecks. It's open to the image of Marian Peck's Sourire, which was in the show

That's Marian Peck, in the floaty white shirt. You may have seen her and Adam making the rounds at the Hotel Fair (along with New York gallerists Ed Winkleman and Murat Orozobekov, Boston critic Shawn Hill, and several other Cape Cod curators, gallerists and journalists). Photo: Cherie Mittenthal

Schoolhouse Gallery

Conference Instructor's Exhibition

We can thank Conference co-producer Cherie Mittenthal for facilitating many of the connections between artists and galleries. Here, she contacted gallery owner Mike Carroll about a concurrent exhibition. The result brought together nearly 40 Conference instructors for a diverse show by artists whose combined history with the medium numbers well over 500 years. Big thanks to all the instructors for participating and to Mike Carroll for installing such a great show.

View from the entrance: That's my Diamond Life painting at right, with a painting by gallery artist Clark Derbes over the desk and a glimpse of Howard Hersh's diptych in the distance

In the small gallery to the right of the entrance: Joanne Mattera, Lynette Haggard, Pamela Blum, Michelle Marcuse, Patti Russotti

Blum, Marcuse, Russotti, Jeff Hirst, artist unidentified

Paula Roland, foreground

Jane Guthridge

On wall: Marybeth Rothman, Mo Godbeer, Lisa Zukowski, Lisa Pressman . . .

This image orients you to the back gallery, owned by ArtStrand and generously donated for the exhibition, and with Susanne Arnold's small sculpture at right, to the middle gallery that we will visit on our way out

Over the flat files: Catherine Nash; on the little shelf, Lynda Ray; other work is unidentified (hey, I'm doing this all without notes)

Corner over the flat file: Charyl Weissbach, looking into the ArtStrand gallery space

From right: Howard Hersh, Tracy Spadafora, Deborah Kapoor

Deborah Kapoor sculpture (sold, as was Pamela Bum's sculpture show in the first gallery)

Continuing counterclockwise around theArtStrand space: Bonny Leibowitz, Cherie Mittenthal, Alexandre Masino

You can't see Cherie's painting, Harbor, very well, so let me show it to you here:

From left: Tania Wycherley, Supria Karmakar, Gregory Wright

From left: Sara Mast, Binnie Birstein, Andrea Bird

Back in the Schoolhouse Gallery, heading out: Joanne Freeman, Richard Frumess, Laura Moriarty (on pedestal), Lorraine Glessner, Elise Wagner

Pulling back and turning toward the right: Susanne Arnold sculpture, Elise Wagner, Clark Derbes sculpture, Pamela Wallace, Nancy Natale; in entry gallery, Paula Roland

David A. Clark's work is not shown, but you will see a number of his prints in the Merge exhbition, coming up momentarily.

Provincetown Art Association and Museum
Pairings: Art of the Garden curated by Richard Lacasse
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This exhibition paired garden-themed painting and prints from the museum's permanent collection with current work from Outer Cape artists who work in encaustic.We are delighted to see the influence of The Encaustic Conference on a museum of this stature, which has a history of involvement with Robert Motherwell, Hans Hoffman and others from the abstract expressionist school.

Cherie Mittenthal standing with curator Richard Lacasse in front of her paintings, which just happen to be centered on the long exhibition wall under the exhibition's title

The astroturf Green Wave Bench by Jamie Calderwood serves as a point of orientation for these images. Pulling back and looking at the far wall . . .

. . . we see Cherie's foursome and, to their right, a painting by Cid Bolduc, shown closer below

Panning around counterclockwise we see Joe FIorello's achromatic painting in oil and wax . . .

. . . shown closer below

Maggie Simonelli's springlike threesome in encaustic and metal leaf are on the far wall

Swinging around we see a four-seasons vignette by Carol Odell, Peter Watts oil painting, and a mixed media-with-encaustic painting by Maryalice Johnston

Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill

Merge: Contemporary Print Invitational curated by Cherie Mittenthal

Castle Hill hosted two exhibitions as well as the Pre- and Post-Conference Workshops. Cherie has posted some great workshop scenes on her blog, so here I will focus on the two exhibitions. We start with a look at how artists are using printmaking, whether monotypes, transfers or digital prints integrated into encaustic collage.

These five images will give you a 360-degree view of the exhibition. Here, an illuminated triptych by Paula Roland and three prints by David A. Clark. These artists could not be more different, but both are breaking ground with encaustic monotype, Paula with illumination and David with repetition and narrative. Photo: Cherie Mittenthal

My image is not as good but it gives you a sense of the illumination in Paula's work

You can see another by David A. Clark before the imagery shifts abruptly to four achromatic works by Toby Sisson. JM Photo

These are prints pared down to their core, painterly and printerly in equal measure. Their almost cinematic sweep leads to Lisa Pressman . . .

. . . whose work is shown below. The combination of prints on paper and transfer elements within the paintings blurs the boundaries between and among the disciplines represented. There's a glimpse of one more Clark print. Both photos: Cherie Mittenthal

And then a jump past the entry to two series by Marybeth Rothman, who rescues what she calls "orphan photos" by giving them a new narrative and setting them into collage paintings with a strong sense of history just beyond the threshhold of recognition. Photo: Cherie Mittenthal

...

In the Library

The Wax Book: Altered, Repurposed, Remade curated by Supria Karmakar

This exhibition had the smallest space, but it was perhaps largest in its concept: an almost encyclopedia exploration of the altered book, referencing the body, the natural world, literature, dreams, pleasure, blasphemy, everyday chores, imagined history, politics and more.

Ontario-based artist Supria Karmakar, a maker of visually enchanting book objects, approached us last year about curating a show for Conference 6. What emerged was an exhibition so poetically lovely that Cherie and I knew we would have to offer a Conference Curatorial Program in which at least one conferee each year would be given the opportunity to curate an exhibition, either in this space or elsewhere. I'll have more on the Curatorial Program soon, so let's view the show.

The artists of The Wax Book: Sherrie Posternak, Catherine Nash, Julie Shaw Lutts, Christine Kyle, curator Supria Karmakar, Nancy Natale, Corina Alvarezdelugo, Patricia Dusman (back), Sarah Rehmer (foreground), Deborah Kapoor (back), Milisa Galazzi (foreground). Deborah Winiarski, Neverne Covington. Photo: Winston Mascarenhas

The curator with her exhibition. Photo: courtesy of the artist

Panorama of the room in which Supria is standing. The subsequent images will follow the path of this panorama from left to right. Photo: Deborah Winiarski

Deborah Kapoor, Bloodmilk

We loved the idea that Castle Hill's library, with its books and albums, would contain this show. Atop a bookshelf are six works made collaboratively by Supria Karmakar, Julie Shaw Lutts and Catherine Nash

Closeups of two sets of panels

An inclusive but not panoramic shot of the far end of the building. Photo: Cherie Mittenthal

Neverne Covington, Inviting Pleasure

Milisa Galazzi, None Dare Call it Treason, and Patricia Dusman, Bark

Sherrie Posternak, Pulp Fiction

Panorama of the opposite end of the Library. The subsequent images will follow the path of this panorama from left to right. Photo: Deborah Winiarski

First, a work that is not visible in the panorama, as it's out of the left side of the pano: Christine Kyle, Lost Lists

Nancy Natale, Lift and Separate, with detail below. Behind Natale's work, two by Deborah Winiarski, which contain lines ot poetic text. Deborah writes: "Particularly intriguing to me was the idea of altering the book while maintaining its continuity." Photo: Cherie Mittenthal

Continuing around the room, books by Catherine Nash and Julie Shaw Lutts on shelf; by Sarah Rehmer collages from book pages and Supria Karmakar book on the walls. Photo: Cherie Mittenthal

Julie Shaw Lutts, detail from Lepidopterous Journey

Sarah Rehmer, Looking Back

Closed and open views of Supria Karmakar's Terra Incognita

Working our way around back toward the entry, with work by Julie Shaw Lutts on shelf and Corina Alvarezdelugo on pedestal. Photo: Cherie Mittenthal

Corina S. Alvarezdelugo, Pangaea 20

A catalog for The Altered Book, authored by Supria Karmakar, edited by Nancy Natale, designed by Sarah Rehmer and marketed by Milisa Galazzi, is available for preview and purchase on Blurb.

See Suprias blog post on the show

Workshops

Full-day workshops took place at Castle Hill for three days before and five days after the Conference. I've posted some images on the sidebar. Cherie's blog, Muse, Process & Flow contains photos of the numerous classes that took place over those eight days. Other blogs that report on the workshops: are noted below in the Links list. If you have included workshop photos on your blog, email me with the link and I'll post (joanne@joannemattera.com)

Kelly McGrath in her Wax Casting workshop

Vendors

Where would we be without our fabulous vendors? We are thrilled that Artists' Woodshop, Miles Conrad Encaustics, Enkaustikos, Evans Encaustics, Kama Pigments, Paper Connection, and R&F Handmade Paints participated this year. A special thanks to Enkaustikos, Kama and R&F for donating materials for the raffle, and to R&F, Enkaustikos and Evans for donating materials for Conference demos and Workshop classes. Look for Vendor pics on the sidebar, coming soon.

Links

Many conferees wrote about their experience. Some posts are day-by-day recollections, others are snapshots or musings. Some are general, others specific to the artist. Taken together, along with thie report, they provide a rich, full view of the professional offerings and serious fun offered at the Conference.

Jane Davies

Mo Godbeer and Diana Quinn, Encausticize

Lynette Haggard

Supria Karmakar

Joanne Mattera: Improbable Topographies

Cherie Mittenthal: Pre Conference Workshops & Day 1

Cherie Mittenthal: Day 2

Laura Moriarty Interview of David A. Clark Hotel Fair Performance

NancyNatale: Arriving in Provincetown

Nancy Natale: Pre-Conference Bricolage Workshop

Nancy Natale: Hotel Fair

Nancy Natale: Kobalt Show