"Clarity and Confusion" encaustic with metal, 24 x 24.

Well it has been a while since my last post but I have been busy.  I will be the Featured Artist at Woolworth Walk the month of July.  

Opening Reception July 6, 5-7pm
Gallery hours: Monday - Thursday  11am - 6pm
Friday                     11am - 7pm
Saturday                 10am - 7pm
Sunday                   11am - 5pm

For the last several years I have taken a sabbatical to begin the process of a new series.  It helps me to clear my mind and ready myself for new work.  This past year I was traveling in Spain and came upon a huge painting that inspired me for this series, Journeys.  

I believe life is a journey, some know just where they are going and find paths that keep them on course for their goals, aspirations, dreams and desires, and there are those that paths find them!
In this series the ladders signify our journey and the climb that may or may not happen. I collaborated with Mark Schieferstein of Skrap Monkey to fabricate my ladders.  I think you will find them beautiful, challenging, scary, and complex as they help to complete the soul of the paintings.

 I found this beautiful writing by Suzy Kassem and sums my feelings about these works so wonderfully:
 
Each day is born with a sunrise
and ends in a sunset, the same way we
open our eyes to see the light, 
and close them to hear the dark.
You have no control over
how your story begins or ends.
But by now, you should know that
all things have an ending.
Every spark returns to darkness.
Every sound returns to silence.
And every flower returns to sleep
with the earth.
The journey of the sun
and moon is predictable.
But yours, 
is your ultimate
ART.” 
― Suzy Kassem

​
SKRAP MONKEY
All pieces are handcrafted in Asheville, NC & created from salvaged materials.
Every item is individually made & truly one-of-a-kind.
Mark Schieferstein was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1973 and studied at the University at Saint Francis. After twenty five years in Indiana, he relocated to Asheville, North Carolina. Since then he has worked as a painter, a picture framer, a canvas builder /stretcher and his passion du jour, a metal sculptor.
Mark is devoted minimalist and his modernist tastes are reflected in everything that he makes, paints and builds. Ineluctably drawn to indestructible steel objects, he combs scrap yards for both inspiration and raw material in piles of industrial cast-offs.
www.skrapmonkey.com

http://woolworthwalk.com
​

Encaustic Arts MagazineEncaustic Arts Magazine, the recipient of the 2016 La Vendéenne Award presented by International Encaustic Artists (IEA) for outstanding contributions to the advancement and practice of encaustic art in the Media category is published semi-annually, on December 1st and June 1st. The first and only international magazine about encaustic, it features the most important news about the medium, with information on techniques, tools, materials and exhibitions.  It is available as a digital/online magazine and is a full-color, full-length magazine. Explore how the wax medium is being used both traditionally and innovatively by artists around the world. View beautiful full-color photos of work by prominent as well as emerging artists.
The Spring 2017 Issue of Encaustic Arts Magazine is available now!
The SPRING 2017 issue features the work of artists:
BECKY BLACK, JULIA FOSSON, BEN HECHT, AHAVANI MULLEN,
JENNIFER PRETZEUS, JAMES EDWARD SCHERBARTH, ALICIA TORMEY
The Technique Article for this issue is by SHARI REPLOGLE.


Cover art: BEN HECHT, Aquas Aliis Vitrius, (detail),
encaustic, on birch panel, 40 x 30 inches, 2016
Click HERE to read preview and subscribe, or to log in to your account.The link above is to a preview of this issue. To subscribe and read the full version, or to log in and read the full version, or to re-read the issue: click the link, then follow the instructions below.
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The price for a single issue is $2.99/issue or $5.99/yearly subscription.  Please note: The yearly subscription cycle begins with the Winter issue and includes the Spring issue for that year. If you are a new subscriber and the current issue is a Spring issue, please choose the single issue purchase option rather than a yearly subscription, as the Spring issue is the last issue of the year so you would only receive the Spring issue in your subscription.
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Cover of the Spring 2017 edition. www.eainm.com

I am very excited that I will be one of the featured artist in the Spring 2017 issue of Encaustic Arts Magazine.  Will post the link once it is ready.  

The NEW 
SPRING 2017 ISSUE of
ENCAUSTIC ARTS MAGAZINE
-  available JUNE 1, 2017 -
  
Cover Art: Ben Hecht, Aquas Aliis Vitrius, (detail),  encaustic, 
on birch panel,  40 x 30 x 6 inches, 2016.   Courtesy of the Artist.
We're happy to announce the new Spring 2017 Issue, will be available on June 1, 2017, see details below.


Encaustic Arts Magazine is a full-color, full-length digital magazine published by the Encaustic Art Institute (EAI). Each issue showcases emerging as well as established artists. The mission of the magazine is to highlight artists working in encaustic/wax and to reach out to artists, collectors and those interested in the medium. With a focus on inclusiveness, the magazine's aim is to represent the breadth of approaches possible with encaustic/wax media.

The first and only international magazine about encaustic targets the most important news about the medium, interviews with artists, information on techniques, tools, materials & exhibitions. Encaustic Arts Magazine, was the recipient of the 2016 La Vendéenne Award presented by International Encaustic Artist (IEA), for outstanding contribution to the advancement and practice of encaustic art. 

Artists this issue:  BECKY BLACK, JULIA FOSSON, BEN HECHT, AHAVANI MULLEN, JENNIFER PRETZEUS, JAMES EDWARD SCHERBARTH, ALICIA TORMEY, with SHARI REPLOGLE writing this issue's TECHNIQUE article.


We initiated paid subscriptions with the Winter 2016 issue, if you subscribed with a yearly subscription for the Winter 2016 issue, your subscription will be active for this issue. Just click on the subscribe link that will be posted on the EAI website magazine page on June 1st, and log into your account. For detailed instructions about this, and also how to re-access the magazine, click HERE. If you're a new subscriber, or you'd just like to buy a single issue rather than a yearly subscription, the link to subscribe to the new issue will be posted on the magazine page of the EAI website on June 1st. If you need additional instructions on how to subscribe, click the link above. The single issue price is $2.99. The link to subscribe and read this issue will be available on our website,  www.EAINM.com on June 1, 2017. 

All 11 back issues of the magazine (from the Premier issue to the Spring 2016 Issue) are still free to read. 

A new service we are offering our readers is the option to purchase full color perfect bound hard copies of the Spring 2013-Spring 2016 issues of the magazine. Click herefor pricing and information. The Spring 2017 issue will also be available to purchase as a hard copy once it has been published. Click on the green "Order Print" button on the magazine viewer to order. 

Thanks for your continued readership!

Douglas Mehrens
Founder/CEO Encaustic Art Institute
 
  
The Encaustic Art Institute * MoEA
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505-989-3283
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Well it is a new year, new challenges, and new work. As I sit on a beach and feel the warmth of the sun watching the beautiful blast of orange disappear into the water I smell the salt air and feel refreshed, encouraged and blessed.

I am looking forward to the new year, new challenges, new work and meeting new clients and connecting with previous clients who choose to have my work in their homes.  At present I am on my 3 month painting sabbatical and pressing the refresh button. I will begin a new series on paper in 2017 as well as continue my present work and taking this time to paint mentally and design a hanging system for the new work.

I wish all the best for 2017 and look forward to my creative journey.   When looking into each layer in the close up image of a piece below, I think of all the ways in our world we intersect and relate, I want to look deep not just on the surface see everything.  I don't want to miss anything and I want to learn, enjoy and taken in as much as possible and hope that kindness defines  2017.  

I feel that in every artist's life there is that moment, the moment when you feel you have created pieces that just stand out.  Today after completing these pieces for a show (still to be framed) these stand out.  I dove deep for these, feeling so excited to work on pieces that were not commissioned or florals, these just manifested from my very core.  There is a lot of meaning to these, I am sure I will share some of it but not all, which makes me happy to keep a bit of me inside the wax.

Jeremy Ashburn: Hey guys, I'm Jeremy Ashburn and I've got Julia Fosson here.

Julia Fosson: Hey Jeremy.

Jeremy Ashburn: Today, we're actually just asking her some of the questions that her clients usually ask her. What would you say the main question that people ask about your florals?

Julia Fosson: Well, this is a different technique, so when you come in to my studio, you'll see lots of different styles that I do. I work with beeswax and demar and pigment. What I use for this, is I start with ten layers of wax and then I paint with ink. Then, I burn some of the ink off and I paint more ink on, then I burn some off. Then, I finish it with the last coat of beeswax with demar to protect it. This is a technique that I started doing because I had a large commission to do. I had a four foot by three foot commission that somebody had asked me to do and I wanted to tighten up my florals. I wanted to make sure I had something a little more wispy. I wanted stemware. I didn't want them to be in vases and they were always in vases. I thought, "That's kind of weird." I didn't like it because it was like a blob of vase.

I wanted to have some kind of stemware to it. Then, I started just experimenting with all different types of inks and paints and I ended up with this style. Since then, it's been very popular. This particular one is the one that didn't make it. My commission process is that I do two. If you want one, I do two because as much as you don't think you know what you want, you know you don't want it when you see it. I always do two. If you're spending that much money on something, you should have a choice. I feel like it's important that you have a choice because it's going to be yours and hanging on your wall, so I want you to be really happy with it. I'll do two very similar ones and then you can have the choice. This is the one that didn't go with the family.

The beautiful thing about this is that the ink is reactive. I can put different colors in different places and it'll react. It'll create a different look. The buds are just so delicious because they're so tiny, but they've got a lot to them. This inside interior area where you can create little teeny new blossoms or new buds, are kind of hidden. Someone referred to this as 'Bill the Cat' from the cartoon, is that Gary Trudeau? It's one of the Trudeaus, anyway. 'Bill the Cat' is like, aah because it's all wispy and crazy. These have been extremely popular and now that I pretty much just do them by commission. I have prints available for most of them.

Jeremy Ashburn: It kind of looks like a cross between watercolor and pen and ink.

Julia Fosson: Yes. A lot of people actually think they are watercolor, especially the printed ones. They look like watercolor because they're done on watercolor paper. I think it's because it's so liquid looking that it does look like a watercolor because the color is so vibrant. Then, it's protected by that last coat of wax, which is really nice.

Jeremy Ashburn: Does the last coat of wax make it pop a little bit? Obviously in video, you can't tell the same way when you're in person, but it really just pops right off the canvas.

Julia Fosson: I think it creates a little subtlety to it, but it also creates more of a three dimensional component to it.

Jeremy Ashburn: Definitely. They're fabulous.

Julia Fosson: Thank you.

Jeremy Ashburn: Thanks a lot. Now, if you want to see more, just go to JuliaFosson.com. You can reach her through social media or call her, email her. Just don't wake her up in the middle of the night.

Julia Fosson: No. Thank you Jeremy.

Jeremy Ashburn: Thanks a lot.

Hi, I'm Julia Fosson from Julia Fosson Encaustic Art in the River Arts District in the Hatchery Studios in Asheville, North Carolina. I'm going to talk to you today about this particular painting, it's called: Creating a Story That Will Never End. I think in our lives we're always creating stories, and we hope that some of them never end because it could be good for us. This particular piece is interesting because of this particular technique at the top. It was a mistake, which is great because I love happy mistakes. I just ran with it, and since then I've done quite a few paintings with this particular style at the top. It all has to do with this particular purple I use, and this purple pushes all the colors away. I can over it, and over it, and over it, but the purple will always come back. It creates these little, tiny explosions within the painting which is really, for me, very beautiful.

In this little piece down here: I do chairs, chairs are very important to me, they're like people. This particular chair is transferred with graphite and charcoal, and then I've taken the newspaper and I've rubbed it into the wax so it creates a transfer. In here you'll see all types of words within the chair, it's almost like a reading chair. Then I have a little dog from a cartoon that was rubbed into that. Little side bar story: I had a painting over on the and I had a gentleman come up to me and he said, "I want to buy the one that has the little cat in the window." I'm like, "I don't have a cat in the painting," he's like, "Oh yeah, you do." I'm like, "Um, no, I really don't," and he's like "Yeah, you do." I go over there and sure enough I had done a comic and I didn't realize the little kitten was in that painting, and he's like, "Yeah, you do." He bought the painting, which was very nice.

This particular piece has very similar to a lot of my chair paintings, because I like white space. I like you to fill what white space is, I don't want to fill a whole piece often with a color because sometimes we need that quiet. I think for this particular one, because you're trying to create that story that will never end, you want that solid, quiet, contemplative kind of feeling. If you want to see more, please go to my website: juliafosson.com. I'm also on social media. Take a look and call me.