In the Path of the Old Masters

In
s
r
e
the
t
s
a
Path
By Dot Brovarney
methods lend unique
of the Old Mproperties
to the paint.”
Lazurite from Chile, hematite from Spain,
How did an artist with a background in
lignite from Cologne, cinnabar from China – these are just corporate marketing build a successful business serving
four of the minerals and sources that George O’Hanlon professional artists worldwide? It began with O’Hanlon’s
and Tatiana Zaytseva tap to create their extensive line of interest in icons, which he shares with wife Tatiana,
natural pigments and paints for artists. Transformed to whom he met during a research trip to Russia in 2000.
pigments, the minerals take on more familiar names – Iconography, with an esteemed history in Russia, involves
lapis lazuli, Venetian Red, Van Dyke Brown, and vermil- the use of traditional materials, including gold leaf and
ion. A riot of color greets the visitor to Natural Pigments egg tempera paints. Teaching icon painting, O’Hanlon
in Willits. Jars of pigments, organized by hue and stacked realized that traditional materials were not readily availon shelves, await shipment to professional artists across able to his students.
the globe.
Natural Pigments, founded in 2003, initially operated
Combining historical research, geologic exploration, as a supplier. O’Hanlon and Zaytseva, who might be called
and chemical experimentation, the owners of Natural the Hewlett-Packard of traditional artists’ paint, first marPigments have developed artists’ colors using pre-indus- keted Russian pigments out of their garage in Santa Rosa.
trial traditional formulas. They’ve studBy 2005, the couple had relocated to a Willits commercial
ied materials and methods of the
space and obtained a small mill and large baker’s mixer
Old Masters and even the
to manufacture oil paints. O’Hanlon’s
ancient Egyptians, Greeks
discovery of purchase records
and Romans.
from Old Master painters in
“Traditional paints are
Italy helped him recreate tramaking a comeback,” says
ditional oil formulations.
company owner George
Named Rublev Colours,
O’Hanlon. “More artists are
the company’s paint line
considering them, especial- Left: A chunk of Cinnabar, the mineral from which vermilion is honors renowned 15th cenly as we’ve begun to find made. Right: Lazurite (lapis lazuli) from which the color lazurite (or tury Russian icon painter,
that historical materials and natural ultramarine) is made. Photos provided.
Andrei Rublev.
12
Mendocino Arts Magazine
In 2006, Natural Pigments introduced watercolors oil colors, for instance, we use linseed oil. Stabilizers that
based on natural pigments and historical colors, following diminish the individual effects of pigments in oil aren’t
recipes recorded in the 18th and 19th centuries. The com- added. You’ll find different consistencies from color to
pany’s other products now include egg tempera, fresco, color due to individual pigment characteristics. Some
gold leaf, a vast selection of pigments, varnishes, drying colors brush out long, others short and buttery.”
oils, resins, and gums.
Mendocino County watercolorist and teacher Ann
“We’re not suggesting old material for old material’s Maglinte, herself a Willits resident, has tried Natural
sake,” says O’Hanlon. “We’ve recPigments watercolors.
reated historic formulas because
“The neat thing, besides the
they offer a different way of worknew colors we haven’t seen, is that
ing not possible with modern pigthe paint is not as finely ground as
ments.”
commercial watercolor,” she says.
In the latter half of the 19th
“This lends a textural effect that’s
century, industrialists began to
ideal for backgrounds.”
use additives and mechanical proScientific research supports
cessing in the manufacture of artcompany claims
ists’ paint. Both altered the nature
about paint conand behavior of paint. Mechanical
sistency and
processing creates crystalline
color. Art conparticles of very small, uniform
servators find
shapes. Traditional methods
that traditional
resulted in a more varied array of
formulas and
particle sizes and shapes.
processes, with“The particles of natural pigout the addition
ments are larger and more varied
of modern synthan pigments in modthetic materials,
ern artists’ oil colors,”
result in paint with
says O’Hanlon. “When
a different consiswe remember how crystency and texture
talline pigments, such
that has been lost
as azurite and malain commercial
chite, were used in Old
paint manufacMasters’ paintings, it’s
ture. Conservators
easy to understand how
point out that
these beautiful surfaces
paintings made
with broken lights were
before 1850 with
obtained. An examinatraditional formution of azurite particles
las have held their
under the microscope
color much longer
Owner George O’Hanlon and his assistant, Vlad, making green earth (terre verte)
reveals the beautiful oil paint with a three-roll mill. Right: The final product in the tube.
than those of the
mass of blue and blueImpressionists,
green crystals, reflecting light in all directions, enhancing who were the first to use modern paints.
the visual effect.”
With endorsements from the scientific and art conserThe use of additives, such as fillers, driers and stabiliz- vation communities, it’s no wonder jars filled with color
ers in modern paint manufacture also has consequences and light are flying off the shelves in Willits and landing
for both color and consistency.
in artists’ studios all over the world.
O’Hanlon explains, “Rublev Colours don’t contain
Visit www.naturalpigments.com for more informaadditives, they’re simply pigment and paint binder. In our tion.
Spring 2012
13
APRIL–JUNE WORKSHOPS
at the MENDOCINO ART CENTER
CERAMICS
FIBER ARTS
STRETCHED FORMS AND
SURFACE EMBELLISHMENT
Rick Mahaffey
April 13–15
TWO-DAY RUG INTENSIVE
Mary Zicafoose
April 20–21
REALIZATIONS: EXPRESSIVE
CLAY SCULPTURE
Susannah Israel
April 21–22
CLAY WORKSHOP: ART
VESSELS FOR RAKU
Christopher Cisper
April 28–29
CLAY WORKSHOP: FIRING IN
THE RAKU TRADITION
Christopher Cisper
May 5–6
LAYERS UPON LAYERS
Erin Furimsky
May 18–20
THE NARRATIVE PORTRAIT
Alicia Reyes McNamara
May 25–27
THE CHARACTER OF A POT
Josh DeWeese
June 4–8
SCULPTURE FROM THE WHEEL
Anne Currier
June 11–15
THE FUNCTIONAL POT: TIPS,
TOOLS & TECHNIQUE*
Bill van Gilder
June 25–29
14Spring 2012
PRINTMAKING WITH LIGHT*
Walt Padgett
June 1–3
SPRING FLOWERS IN
WATERCOLOR
Birgit O’Connor
April 16–20
EXPRESSIVE WATERCOLORS
Karen Bowers
April 21–22
PAPERMAKING FROM LOCAL
FIBERS
Robert Rhoades
April 28–29
EXPERIMENTAL AND
ENERGIZING AQUA MEDIA
Lana Grow
June 4–8
LUMINOUS OILS
Brian Davis
April 23–27
PORTRAIT BASICS AND MORE!
Seamus Berkeley
April 28–29
MASK MAKING FROM
HANDMADE PAPERS
Robert Rhoades
May 5–6
WARP TO WEAVE
Lou Grantham
May 26–28
SURFACE DESIGN ON SILK*
Susan Louise Moyer
June 4–8
TECHNIQUES IN TEXTILE
DESIGN*
Meredith Strauss
June 11–15
FINE ART
MULTILAYERED VISIONS
Jeannie Vodden
April 12–15
JAPANESE WOODBLOCK
PRINTING
Walt Padgett
June 4–8
PHOTOGRAPHIC PRACTICE*
Niku Kashef
June 4–9
SUPERNATURAL SHIBORI
Susan L. Miller
May 18–20
WEDGE WEAVE / ECCENTRIC
WEAVE
Deborah Corsini
June 29–July 1
CELADON, CAPITAL, CARBON
AND CONSCIOUSNESS
Sam Clarkson
June 18–22
FREEHAND PAPERCUT
Robert Ross
April 14–15
FIGURE DRAWING AS A
CREATIVE PROCESS*
Michael Markowitz
June 11–15
BEYOND THE SURFACE: OILS
M Kathryn Massey
May 12–13
MENDOCINO PLEIN AIR
Victoria Brooks
May 19–20
FIGURE DRAWING: THE
CLASSICAL PROCESS*
Robert Ross
June 18–22
PASTE PAPER COLLAGE ON
WOOD
Susan Gross
June 18–21
ALL ABOUT GRAPHITE
Mira M. White
May 19–20
COLLAGE FOR COLOR
Robert Ross
May 21–25
WATERCOLOR WITHOUT
BOUNDARIES – SECRETS AND
TECHNIQUES
Patricia Martin Osborne
June 18–21 (June 22 optional)
REINVENTION AND PLAY
THROUGH COLLAGE
Susan Gross
May 26–27
ANIMALS WITH AWESOME
COLORS
Nancy Collins
June 25–29
ROCKS, SHELLS, SAND, BEACH
GLASS IN WATERCOLOR
Birgit O’Connor
May 28–31
WATERCOLOR JOY EN PLEIN
AIR
Charlotte Severin
June 25–29
Mendocino Arts Magazine 14
JEWELRY
INTRODUCTION TO JEWELRY
MAKING
Tara Turner
April 20–22
TORCH-FIRED ENAMELS
Deborah Lozier
May 26–28
FIGURE MODELING IN PLASTER
Colin Lambert
April 27–29
FACETED STONESETTING
BASICS
Jeff Georgantes
June 16–17
INTRODUCTION TO
SCULPTURAL BLACKSMITHING
Jim Joyce
May 5–6
DRAWING AND PAINTING WITH
ENAMEL
Nikki Couppee
June 23–24
PLASTICITY OF METALS:
INTERMEDIATE & PRACTICAL
LEVELS
Jerry Coe
May 12–13
CHASING AND REPOUSSÉ
Fabrizio Acquafresca
June 25–29
SPLATS PENDANTS FOR FUN
Carina Rossner
April 28–29
RECYCLE, RENEW,
REPURPOSE: JEWELRY
REVISITED
Amy Faust
May 5–6
BASIC FOLDFORMING
TECHNIQUES
David Bowman
May 19–20
Spring 2012
STYROFOAM ALUMINUM
SCULPTURE*
Walt Padgett
June 11–15
*Workshop
FINISH/PATINA
Walt Padgett
June 16–17
INTRODUCTION TO WELDING*
Nick Taylor
June 18–22
may be taken for academic credit.
SCULPTURE
PLASTICITY OF METALS: AN
INTRODUCTION
Jerry Coe
April 14–15
PATTERN WELDING
(DAMASCUS)
Gert Rasmussen
April 23–24
Please visit the Mendocino Art Center’s Web site at
www.MendocinoArtCenter.org for complete descriptions of all workshops. 707 937-5818, ext. 10
15
t
e
e
M Lindsay Shields
MAC’ s N ew E xecutive D irector
Larry Wagner photos.
By Debbie L. Holmer
S
he came to Mendocino and fell in love with MAC!
Lindsay Shields arrived in March 2011 as interim
executive director and in January 2012, the Mendocino Art
Center Board of Directors officially announced Lindsay
Shields as their permanent executive director.
One sunny day in December, Lindsay and I walked
down to the Mendocino Hotel’s elegant lobby to sit and
chat over coffee. I had already met Lindsay last summer
during the Mendocino Music Festival when she was volunteering as an usher for one of the concerts.
A northern California girl, born in San Francisco,
raised there and in Palo Alto, Lindsay is returning to her
roots by heading up this way to live and work. When
Lindsay was in eighth grade, her family moved to a summer home in Pescadero, Calif. “It became our family home;
we all loved the country,” said Lindsay.
A graduate of UCLA, Lindsay brings with her an extensive background in event production at all levels, public
relations, profit and nonprofit management and fund
16
development. Trained in the arts, international relations
and business, her experience is vast and includes Public
Corporation for the Arts executive director, California
Institute for the Arts senior executive, and arts education
production specialist at the Los Angeles Music Center. She
has presented papers at the U.S.-China Conference on
Women’s Issues and at the U.S.-China Forum for Women
Entrepreneurs. She directed the Long Beach Arts Council
for five years with a healthy increase in programs and
funding, and also produced the Manhattan Beach Arts
Festival for ten years. For the past few years, Lindsay has
worked with the Third Sector Company/Interim Solutions
program and in 2009 was awarded the “Interim Executive
for the Year.”
Lindsay originally wanted to become an opera singer.
A mezzo soprano, she studied for six years, and had wonderful times, on the stages of the New York City Opera,
the San Francisco Opera and other opera companies.
Lindsay said, “Once I sang the mezzo lead in Aaron
Mendocino Arts Magazine
Copland’s The Tender Land
and at the end of the opera,
when the reviewer gave me
a great review I also found
out that Copland was in the
audience. That was a wonderful experience! It was
all a great thrill. However,
after so many auditions and
not landing the diva roles I
wanted, I decided it was too
difficult.”
That’s about the time
when Lindsay decided
to enter the world of arts
administration. She started
her own PR company, did
event planning and fundraising. “It was great fun
because we worked with
professionals, big companies and community orga- Lindsay was instrumental in helping found the Zacha Legacy Society, a special annual membership
level that honors MAC founders Bill and Jennie Zacha.
nizations as well.”
Lindsay is delighted to
have joined Mendocino Art Center, saying, “One of the planning, fund development or nonprofit administration,
best things about Mendocino is that everyone realizes how it’s all here.”
What does Lindsay do in her spare time? Her emphatic
good the arts are for our community.”
As interim director, along with the board, she has answer? “Sleep!” Although Lindsay is putting in some long
evaluated the structure of MAC and developed a strong hours these days, once in a while she escapes to Calistoga
business foundation for its future. “As executive director, to visit with a niece. But in order to generate activities and
I’m looking forward to working with MAC’s dedicated income to move forward, “I need to keep at it.”
What does Lindsay like best about living in Mendocino?
board of directors and all of those who are committed to
“The
people. Their appreciation of art and creativity, what
this amazing art center, building additional income for
artists, instructors and local businesses through programs it is and what it brings to life. Art is the core of our human
and grants,” states Lindsay. She has helped form the Zacha experience.”
Lindsay is having the time of her life and I’m sure that
Legacy Society, a new annual membership level of $1,000
everyone
on the Mendocino Coast joins me in welcoming
or more, to prepare the Art Center for the future* and is
proud to announce that the Art Center is currently work- her to the Mendocino Art Center. Yes, she’s a busy lady,
ing toward becoming the Fine Art Satellite of Woodbury but I am sure if you stop off at a Second Saturday at the
University, located in Burbank, Calif. “My challenge is to Art Center you’ll get to meet this dynamic new member
of our community. There is a new energy at MAC these
prepare the Mendocino Art Center for the future.”
Where does art or the artist fit into our changing days and Lindsay is at the helm.
*For more information on how to become a Zacha
world? Lindsay’s quick answer is, “Everywhere!”
Is this a good time in her career? “Yes,” Lindsay Legacy Society member, call Executive Director Lindsay
answered, “because everything just sort of came together. Shields at 707-937-5818 ext. 12.
It was nice to be able to take other parts of my career and
bring them back, whether it was marketing or advance
Spring 2012
17
Big River Realty
Art Center Ukiah
A Community Art Center
Corner Gallery
Window shop at our historic picture
window in the heart of Mendocino.
An Artist Cooperative
Browse our popular web site, which
highlights our listings with a pictorial
walking tour of the village.
Rest assured with our diligent
& personal service.
10483
Lansing St.
Mendocino
www.artcenterukiah.org
201 S. State Street
Ukiah, California
Owner/
Broker
David
Coddington
707- 462-1400
Tuesday–Saturday
11:00am–6:00pm
707 937-5071
www.BigRiverRealEstate.com
EVENTS · EXHIBITS
WORKSHOPS · ART WALK
INTIMATE
APPAREL
BRAS,
PANTIES
AND
OCEANFRONT INN
& COTTAGES
Just steps to the beach and
a stroll to fine restaurants, galleries and
the Mendocino Art Center.
ocean views • decks • fireplaces
An enchanting refuge for
rest and renewal...
On Main Street at Evergreen
Mendocino Village
800 780-7905 • 707 937-5150
www.oceanfrontmagic.com
18
“MORE USED BOOKS, PLEASE”
MAIN ST. BOOKSHOP
SLEEPWEAR
‘TWEENS TO
QUEENS
990 MAIN ST. MENDOCINO
937-1537
OPEN DAILY
“THE ONLY USED BOOKSTORE IN
TOWN”
310 N. FRANKLIN
FORT BRAGG
964-5013
Mendocino Arts Magazine
Let’s Meet Some of MAC’s Instructors
The Mendocino Art Center has been known for decades for offering high
quality, retreat-style art workshops with exceptional instructors. Finding
those instructors is a high priority. MAC staff works from personal contacts,
references from students, other instructors, and community members, and
connections made at discipline-specific conferences to come up with a stellar
line-up of teachers. The goal, always, is to find accomplished artists who not
only excel in their own field, but have the ability to convey their knowledge
to their students (not always easy), while inspiring students to grow creatively.
ALL of the MAC instructors meet these requirements, but following are a few
highlights from the upcoming spring and early summer workshops.
In the Fine Arts Department, Seamus Berkeley offers Portrait Basics and
More, April 28–29, and Seeing People: Painting People in Oil, July 16–20.
Behind Seamus’ instruction is a mission to teach students that art is all about
seeing. He believes the first step for any artist is becoming aware of what you’re
actually seeing and, as with many things, practice
makes perfect. According to Seamus, the more we
practice seeing, the more we will actually see, and we
will realize how much we have overlooked. He adds,
“In order to paint well, I believe it is necessary to look
intently. By so doing, our preconceived ideas of what
we are seeing are left behind and the mind is quieted…. We discover beauty, and
serenity unfolds. Painting…is the active engagement of placing oneself in a state
of being in order to see things in a beautiful way.” Seamus’ students are encouraged “not to go for the big result. It’s the process that’s more important – learning
to open your eyes, slow down, and allow vision to develop slowly, waiting for that
one interesting detail to emerge that speaks to you.” His students will be working
from the model.
Seamus works primarily in oil and takes a one-on-one approach with his
Portraiture/Painting students. He maintains studios in Berkeley and in Taos, New
Mexico.
The words “celebrity” and “ceramicist” don’t often appear side by side, but Bill van Gilder is truly a national
ceramics media star. He has hosted 31 episodes of “Throwing Clay” for the DIY (Do It Yourself) Network. He
has also written a “Teaching Techniques” column for Clay Times for the past seven years. Bill will be teaching The
Functional Pot: Tips, Tools and Technique in the Ceramics Department from June 25–29.
Bill learned ceramics under the tutelage of Byron Temple, who took him on as a 15-year-old and taught him
to make functional pots. After earning his degree from the Harrow School of Art in London, he was hired by the
World Bank to establish two training facilities in southern Africa, to teach making pots by hand to create an export
Spring 2012
19
Meet Some of MAC’s Instructors
product for native communities. He did that for six years, then returned to
Frederick, Maryland, where he lives and runs van Gilder Pottery, a studio and
gallery. In 1999, he opened his own school, the Frederick Pottery School, which
offers instruction to 60–70 students a week. Bill’s TV program opened the doors
to national and international workshops for him, and he
now teaches all over the world. However, this workshop at
MAC will be the only hands-on formatted workshop Bill
will teach in 2012, as he concentrates on making his own
art during the year.
Bill’s students will be introduced to dozens of different
projects and techniques that build on each other, starting
simple and getting more complicated and challenging, all
leading toward the creation of “altered pots.” Bill wants his
students to concentrate not so much on a finished piece
as on the techniques it takes to get there, and encourages “thinking outside the
box.” This workshop is for early-intermediate to advanced students who can at
least center and throw a two-pound cylinder. Students will create pouring vessels, ovenware, tableware and serving
vessels. This will be an “all making, no firing” workshop, and Bill’s intention is that everyone will have a good time
learning, feeling neither over- nor under-challenged.
For Deborah Lozier, teaching Torch-Fired Enamels in the Jewelry Department, May 26–28, one of the most
important concepts she teaches her students is “never give up too soon.” She concentrates on giving her students
an open and safe place in which to make mistakes, a place of play and experimentation without fear of failure. Deb feels that traditional teaching methods are too
rigid and controlling. She takes a more relaxed approach, encouraging students to
find their own voice through manipulation of tools and materials. Her approach
to teaching comes from her own experiences. Though educated at Arizona State,
she is primarily a self-taught enameler, and began exploring and experimenting with using a torch to fire enamels
(she couldn’t afford a kiln) without benefit of any formal
instruction. She was forced to “find her own way creatively.”
Deb says, “I don’t teach enameling. I teach patience and tenacity. Both positive and negative
results during a process are educational. If you’re open to feeling a little lost, learning will take
place. My teaching philosophy is: ‘try this and see what happens.’”
Deb Lozier is an adjunct jewelry/metal arts professor at California College of the Arts in
Oakland. She creates jewelry and sculpture using vitreous enamel on fabricated copper and
steel. Students in this workshop should already have some basic jewelry fabrication skills.
In the Fiber Arts Department, Bob Rhoades is offering a double-header: Papermaking from Local Fibers,
April 28–29, and Mask Making from Handmade Fibers, May 5–6. Bob has long had a fascination with masks.
He first combined his interests in maskmaking and handmade paper when he was an instructor at a symposium on
handmade paper held at the Mendocino Art Center. He has been combining the two art forms ever since.
Bob will devote one weekend to making paper from local materials (including artichokes, nettles, kelp, and
recycled cotton). The second weekend will be devoted to making masks from the paper. Students can elect to make
one or more masks, choosing from any of the three traditional types: 1) fabricated masks, 2) negative mold masks,
20
Mendocino Arts Magazine
Meet Some of MAC’s Instructors
and, 3) positive mold masks.
All levels of students are welcome, and anyone working in any medium will feel at home. Bob says, “If there
was one thing that I want every student to take away from
my classes it’s what I refer to as the 3C’s: Craft represents
the formal considerations such as line, color, space, etc.,
as well as the skills involved in execution. Content entails
the subject matter, meanings, expressive intent and various creative interpretations suggested by a work. Context
is the history of a work of art and its creator in their own
unique place and time.”
Bob’s recent retirement from full-time teaching has
been cause for introspection:
“For the 30 plus years I have been a professor of art it
seemed that everything I did was related to my teaching,
from travel, to museums, to everyday things like splitting wood and noticing the vibrant color of oxidizing alder
logs. Now that I have more time to spend with my own art and garden, the same fascinating connections emerge. I
can hardly pull a weed that I don’t notice a vein pattern which would make a beautiful detail in handmade paper, or
yank out a potbound plant and imagine the twisted roots as a spiraling crown for an exotic mask. Obviously no one
is going to hire me to do gardening work for them! It’s all good – one must only be open to rejoice in it.”
MAC’s Sculpture Department is offering Introduction to Welding with
Nick Taylor from June 18–22. Nick’s work as a metal artist had a prosaic
beginning: as a youngster, his father taught him how to cut cars apart and modify
them. This jumpstarted his own interest in metal as a sculptural medium, and
he studied metal fabrication and welding at the University of Tennessee, earning his BFA degree with an emphasis in Sculpture. He spent a year in Chicago as
project supervisor overseeing the installation of the famous Cloud Gate sculpture
at Millennium Park, and was also involved with the fabrication and installation
of “The Mitt,” the huge baseball glove sculpture in the San Francisco Giants’
stadium.
In addition to metal, Nick also works in wood. Much
of his work is inspired by what he sees in nature, although
his work is expressionistic, not necessarily “anatomically
correct.”
Students in Nick’s class will get that unique brand
of utility and artistry that he himself embodies. He will
address both the artist and the fabricator in his workshop,
focusing on the basics. Students will learn how to properly
use acetylene with lighter metals, so that they can do heating, forming and cutting for artistic as well as functional
projects (or any combination of the two). He will also provide an introduction to MIG welding with lighter materials
up to ¼-inch thick.
Spring 2012
21
22
Mendocino Arts Magazine
Encaustics:
A
Topic
By Peggy Templer
Encaustics is a good example of the the strictly utilitarian process of coating ships with wax and varnish
old saying, “there is nothing new to weatherproof and, later, to decorate them. Some distinguished
under the sun.” It is actually a very Greek artists began their careers as ship “painters,” so that the modancient technique that languished ern encaustic artist is actually channeling ancient naval maintenance
in relative obscurity until the 1990s. men! It was primarily the Greeks who perfected the process of paintAt that time, new technology made ing with wax, burning in colors by the application of heat during
the old process much
the progress of a work, and
less labor intensive and
fusing the colors by a secattracted a new generaond application of heat, foltion of artists and stulowed by a final polishing.
dents. It truly became
During a period of
a “hot topic” at the
economic decline in the
Mendocino Art Center
Roman Empire, encaustics
in that time frame, as
fell into disuse; it became,
more and more students
in effect, a lost art. The prosought instruction in
cess was “cumbersome and
this venerable art form.
painstaking and the cost of
Yet, even now, many
producing it was high. It
people, on first viewing
was replaced by tempera,
an encaustic painting,
which was cheaper, faster,
are very likely to ask,
and easier to work with”
“What is it?”
(Ralph Mayer, The Artist’s
Patricia
Baldwin
Seggebruch,
Gold
Dust,
8”x8”,
The term “encausHandbook). In 1888, the
encaustic on encausticbord.
tic” comes from the
best known of all ancient
Greek word enkaien, which means encaustic works were discovered. These were the Fayum funeral
“to burn in.” It is a process of paint- or mummy portraits done in the second century A.D. by Greek
ing with hot, molten, pigmented painters in Egypt. Their fresh, vivid colors and excellent state of
beeswax. The process of using heat preservation were a testimony to the qualities of encaustic, and this
as a solvent for beeswax-based discovery led to a brief renewal of interest, but the still-cumbersome
pigmented paints actually began process again fell into disuse until relatively recently. New tools
more than 3,000 years ago, with available in the late 20th century (heat guns, heated stylus, heating
the Egyptians, then the Romans irons, electric heating irons, hot plates, etc.) have made encaustics
and Greeks. Among the first uses more accessible and less complicated, and encaustic is once again
of wax-painting by the Greeks was considered a major artistic medium. According to Mayer, “Its
23
effects, its visual and physical properties, and its range of textural
and color possibilities make it eminently suitable for use in several
contemporary styles of painting that are not adequately answered
by our traditional oil-painting process.”
The modern encaustic artist still employs tools for melting wax
and for applying and manipulating the wax, and pigments to color
the wax. Beeswax is the usual wax ingredient used, though carnauba
vegetable wax is also used. Damar resin is often added to raise the
melting temperature and add a slight sheen. The beeswax-based
paint is kept molten on a heated palette and then reheated to fuse
the paint into an enamel like finish. Encaustic is incredibly versatile
and can be molded, sculpted, and
combined with other media, and is
also very durable, highly impervious, and does not deteriorate, yellow or darken. It can be applied to
many different surfaces, including
wood, paper, and ceramics.
The Mendocino Art Center has
attracted several important instructors in Encaustics in recent years,
including:
SANDI MIOT (sandimiot.com)
Sandi Miot, In Search of Hera, 10" x 10", encaustic,
graphite, gold leaf, and book pieces
After exploring most of the other mediums used
by artists today, I have been working primarily in
encaustics for the past twelve years. The sheer joy of
working in this versatile, flexible medium compels
me. Anything I can dream of can be accomplished
easily and quickly with it. I enjoy pushing encaustics to the limits of its properties while still building
archival, sound artwork… Encaustic has many characteristics useful for the artist: translucency, depth,
vibrant color, adhesive capabilities, and great textural
abilities. I have explored each of these characteristics
in my past work, and continue in my present work
to further explore its sculptural abilities in ways not
duplicated in any other medium.
MIRA M WHITE (miraMwhite.com)
I am a painter who, in my journey towards clarity
and breadth of expression, has gathered a great variety of mediums into my family of materials. Melted
beeswax is the newest baby in my family. I love its
translucency and ability to be worked in a great
number of ways. It means a lot to me that this material comes from a living form – bees! I have begun
to make my own paint from pigment and medium
and its naturalness is a big draw for me. Most of my
encaustic pieces incorporate multiple media, and I
continue to work in watercolor, acrylic, oil, pastels
and graphite.
Mira M. White, My Story, 8"x8", encaustic with mixed
media on panel
24
Mendocino Arts Magazine
PATRICIA BALDWIN
SEGGEBRUCH
(pbsartist.com)
My work has come to employ things beyond the
traditional encaustic discipline. I’d like to think
students and clients have come to expect from me
something different; something ‘out of the box’
each time they come anew to my work. I believe in
embracing all the possibilities, trying something
new, and always seeing where the next intriguing
idea will take me.
LISA THORPE (lisathorpe.com)
I am a mixed medium artist; I have always enjoyed Patricia Baldwin Seggebruch, Out Loud, 8"x8", encaustic
combining collage, painting and print techniques on encausticbord.
to create my art. Five years ago I was introduced to
encaustic (through a Mendocino Art Center class).
I took what I learned and dove deeper into the
medium, experimenting and playing, letting it work
its magic on my collage work. What I love about
using encaustic medium with collage and print
work is that the wax/resin mixture melts and fuses
with the papers to create surprising effects. There is
a wonderful sense of letting go to the medium to see
what will happen. Encaustic also gives a wonderful
fleshy, living layer to art that is warm and inviting,
unlike placing something under glass, which puts
the viewer back a pace and creates a barrier glare. If
you haven’t had the chance to play with encaustic I
highly recommend you take a journey with it.
(See related article on local encaustics artist Lisa Orselli
on pages 8–9.)
Mira M. White, Mardi Gras Moon, 8"x10",
encaustic on panel
Spring 2012
Lisa Thorpe, Hard Life, 8"x5", art paper, photos,
brass wings, nails, stamps, oil stick on wood,
encaustic medium, toner transfer of Kay Ryan’s
poem, “Things Shouldn’t Be So Hard.”
25