EncaustiCamping~

Just six weeks away; we go EncaustiCamping again! I will get Australian info posted here soon, but for now I am thinking ahead to EncaustiCamp as the excitement level increases :)

It's been a year already and oh what a year it has been~

all adding value back to the oncoming EncaustiCamp!

  Now that I am home from Australia, and the only thing left on my agenda are the details and preparation for July 10-15, 2012 I am starting to let myself get excited and expectant at all the potential inherent in 12+hot encaustic palettes warming up to the beauty of central Oregon wine country ;)

If you are joining me, I can't wait to meet you! If you haven't yet decided to join us, you are welcome to jump into the frey and come along; it's going to be that good :)
in love. trish

I like the East Coast after all! :)

And so I begin~

“Our purpose in life is to find our gift, perfect it, and give it back to others.”—Unknown

Exuberant thanks to everyone who came out to spend time getting waxy with me in Saluda, NC then in Asheville, NC through Random Arts and River's Edge Studio. Most amazing time had....I believe, by all :) Gratefully, passionately, holding onto the goodness!!! in love. trish

just one of several amazing gallery/studio spaces in the even more amazing building in the River Art District in Asheville, NC

call me weird, I think these stairs are beautiful :)

delicious green door...

Fleta Monahan :)

one of many gallery spaces exhibiting diverse and delicious art by resident and guest artists to 310 Art Gallery

and the work, no mess, no, fun! begins!...

just stuff :)

and the doing of the stuff...(hi Kim!)

more doing; no wait, more stuff...

more doing!

and more work (in progress ;)

A portion of the building front; what a delicious place to have a studio, workshop room, gallery!!!

Can't let this photo-op pass me by!

Only the start of the glorious mess!

Sandy, Louise and

backsides of Liz and Linda...I'm just a classy photographers that way :)

drying under the coffee and cookie table; of course! :)

Orlando workshop!

Photos don't do it justice; we were painting on a gloriously sunny Florida weekend out doors on the hosts back porch!~overlooking a small lake :) Sometimes the unexpected 'perks' of this job (job?! what job?! I love what I get to do!) astound my feeble mind....go graciously blessed...

 We did some burning, par for the course in my workshops :), and I began to tell them of the more burning I've been doing-which garnered much teasing about being a piro :))) Not ungrounded mind you.....I just sent off an email and reread my new tag line on my signature and had to giggle....it was not intentionally associated in this way :) Off to Mt Dora for a weekend with more wax! in love. trish
'light yourself on fire with passion and the world will come to watch you burn.' John Wesley

BE.convicted. 

Latch on

Latch onto my paintbrush. Come along. It is that good. You are wanted that much.

I was listening to some morning inspiration a few days ago and the speaker told of a story she and her husband had been a party to in their home with two new puppies.
The story goes that one pup, when called to come in from the yard, would bound in responsively, but the second lingered and even seemed to ignore the calls. In frustration the first pup, waiting for the treat or scratch or cuddling it surely anticipated upon answering the beckoning call, returned to the lingering pup with a stick in its mouth. Once reaching the languish-er, him seeing the stick and surely anticipating fun, latched onto it. The first pup used this as a lead to draw the negligent pup into the fold and subsequently into the goodness to come inside. Not just once mind you; this happened over and over and over again to the point where the couple, in bafflement and wonder, realized this very smart, very delightful pup was fully intentional in its leading the second pup in the way.

Latch onto my paintbrush. Come along. It is that good. You are wanted that much. 

Allow me to gently, encouragingly, playfully lead the way. I'll throw in a dose of passion and delight, and offer up some amazing inspiration and community as well.
I promise this.
It is that good.
in love. trish.
www.encausticamp.com

45

I'll be 45, 45 days from today. Wow. How did that happen?! The '5's' tend to get me more than the '0' years. I don't quite know why. And, I don't think it's worth contemplating....
but, nonetheless, duly note, I am facing a '5'~
So I decided to do something with it.
Today, and everyday for the next 45 I will post a new image. I am calling it 45/45. Many of them have been created; I worked through them as I contemplated this purposeful posting of 45/45.
Some have yet to come to light.
But, as I embark on my last commitment to travel/teach for 2011, and have fearlessly thrown in a mission trip to boot (more on that later! whew...did I say fearlessly?! I lied :) I am determined to challenge myself with living up to this commitment, come what may! ( I wonder if I'll have WiFi service in the wilds of Mexico....) (did I mention I'll be away from the studio for 29 days straight?! :}
So I jump in (can you picture it?! That bent knee, arms swinging forward, then back, forward then back as I count '1,2,3!' and dive off into this challenge to myself?! Should be a fun free fall! Now, where is that rip cord....
in love. trish.
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deviant

I couldn't resist starting out funky :) This is a 'just for fun' piece I made, one of eight actually, featuring my local beekeepers wax, and, his bees as well :)))

EncaustiCamp 2011....

EncaustiCamp 2011 I bow to you :)

It occured to me, just this morning, why after two weeks I haven't been able to come to this blank white spaced blog window and write about EncaustiCamp.
I've tried! I've opened the 'new post' box no less than a dozen times, stared at it in earnest, then gone to a participants blog or an instructors musings and posted them instead....

ECamp 2011 was so above and beyond all my wildest dreams for it. I can't seem to wrap myself around the whole and put the experience into words that service as a nice bundle of thoughts, tied up with a beautiful ribbon and put away in a tight package.

It's not that I don't want to write about it, or that I am ill equipped to do so; I love to put my thoughts and emotions out here to share unabashedly! But with EncaustiCamp it's been different.
And this morning it dawned on me as to why.
I can't look back.
ECamp 2011 carried a weight and measure like nothing else I've ever done or been a part of. I compare it only to giving birth. The crazy, beyond-pain process of bringing new life into the world; only to get through the process and feel so deeply, so passionately, so emphatically filled by the power of love and connectedness that you will do it again; gladly and without apprehension of the still-lingering pain that is required in the bringing-forth process.
That's what it is like.
That's what the whole of EncaustiCamp was like for me.
That big. That amazing. That miraculous.

And I thought I was done at four children :)))

And I can't look back and summarize or compartmentalize what it was and how it felt in any sensical way. I can only let myself be carried on the tide of all of it and continue on to more creating and growing and building.

I think it's how it's meant to be.

When something this big, this substantial, this miraculous is born the thanksgiving, homage and respects-paying to it are best done in the looking forward.

In my case, in the doing it again; only better.

So that is what I do. What I've been doing since returning; actually since finishing the final moment~Looking forward to the next.

There is something bigger than just encaustic in it. There is something bigger than just sharing art. There is something bigger than just connecting and inspiring.
When I try to grasp it, it feels too big, too grandious for this one small human form
...so I pull back.

But, as long as there is this sense-of something so much bigger than 'just'- I will do it again.
As long as there is this inexplicable joy spent, I will do it again.
And as long as there is room for miraculous, yes even in encaustic, I will do it again.
As long as it's in me~
in love. trish
www.encausticamp.com

Sharing! Thank you C,P,S once again!!!!!

Encaustic Tips from the Pros

Encaustic art by Crystal Neubauer
Encaustic art is hot right now (sorry, couldn't resist the pun), with many people (including me), hopping on the beeswax bandwagon.

I'm captivated by the encaustic collage process and the results it produces, and I've been experimenting at home with fabric, papers, and found objects. I'm a very visual learner; I like to see how-tos and examples of results so I can see what I'm aiming for and try out ideas from there.

So I've been reviewing encaustic technique articles from past issues of Cloth Paper Scissors to get some ideas and pick up some tips.

Here are some of my favorites:

From Patricia Gaignat's “Two Beeswax Books” article in the January/February 2009 issue:
Dedicate some brushes to [the encaustic] process. They won't have to be cleaned, ever; just let the wax harden and the next time they are used, lay them in the skillet and the wax will melt.
Encaustic will not adhere to acrylic paint, gesso, or Plexiglas®.
If a collage element looks wrong, just melt the surface a bit and, using a tweezers, lift off the element and smooth the surface with a tacking iron. Alternatively, scrape off the surface with an old credit card or a palette knife.


Encaustic art by Patricia Seggebruch
From Patricia Baldwin Seggebruch's “Encaustic Collage” article in the January/February 2010 issue:

Put large amounts of wax in printmaker's tins and place them on the palette (griddle) to melt the wax. This way, you will have plenty of melted wax at the ready.

To add color to incised lines, rub pigment stick over them liberally, then rub off the excess on the surface with a paper towel.


From Crystal Neubauer in “Artist to Artist” in the January/February 2010 issue:

Experiment with vintage papers. Brilliant colors can become dull or lose their color under the wax and text can be lost; other times, they can be nicely preserved.

Don't overheat the wax or the canvas. Overheating can darken the paper and turn the wax yellow.
When I first read these articles, I enjoyed them objectively, as an editor, and aesthetically, as a viewer of art. But I thought encaustic was too complicated to try myself.

Funny how things can change. Now these articles are my constant studio companions. That's why I love to keep back issues of my favorite inspirational magazines. You never know what might interest you the second time around.

If you're missing these back issues, you can get them and many others right now for a great price during our back issue sale. The table of contents is listed for each one, so you can review it and see what you might have overlooked the first time.

What are your best encaustic tips? Do you have questions for more experienced wax artists? Leave a comment or ask a question on the Cloth Paper Scissors Today blog.

where we travel

Life takes us through so many unexpected twists and turns. I sometimes feel so engaged, so present, so 'in control' and other times, completely lost- as if skittering across the surface of an icy lake in ballet slippers....

I am deep in skittering right now. I think I’ve been deep in skittering more than deep in arabesques as of late. Just as I think I've got the path figured out, or the next step taken, clarity dissapears into a foggy unknown....
Small spots of controlled choreography have dotted the landscape; finding my foundation in Christ, then discovering it was there all along, just waiting for me to open my eyes to the presence. Reconnecting with John and getting married. Securing my second book production. Recognizing the value of being an ‘at a distance’ mom. The vision and manifestation of EncaustiKits and EncaustiCamp. These have all come as perfect pirouettes on the stage of my last few years.

But right now, I am skittering along in the unknown mire of melting ice-the accompaniment a bit off and the dance troupe moving to a different cadence. That same choreography that came together so well in the above moments is also revealing melted spots where the composition of the dance makes little or no sense whatsoever. The execution seems to be skewed at best. The steps don’t land where they ought and no part is working cohesively. Yet….

I’ve read; they say; word on the street is, that this is okay. I’m advised to continue through it-as if not faltering in the script but rather executing a perfect performance. That to fake it in this way will in the end, bring about the vision as it’s to be manifest and the entire composition will become clear and reveal a truly beautiful execution.
Not fake it in a false way mind you, but rather in the way that is to push through the fear, work through the doubt, stay focused despite any anxieties or naysayers and be true to the vision. And stay determined to stay determined even when up against your biggest adversary; self.

I’d love to tell you I have been steadfast; not a day of doubt, nary a moment of near tail-turning-to-run. But that would be a lie, and I won’t do that.
But I’ve persevered; thanks to a lot of help. Help I have been reluctant to embrace in the past and am now coming to realize is nothing like what such assistance used to be: A point of payback, a give with strings attached, a take it, but know there’s a cost to be extracted.
This new kind of help, from the right sources and situations, comes with blessings that not only have me leaping forward into the next graceful move, but wanting to payback for the sheer delight in the thanksgiving of it.

But I digress. I’m still in the melting ice.

This past weekend offered another glimpse into how the routine looks as its perfectly executed. I got a fleeting glance through the crack in the door at where this trip is taking me. And I can hardly contain myself for the anticipation; and find it hard to turn away from the glance for fear of having to move on it as well.
It’s that perfect moment snapshot that you want to savor, even though you know flipping to the next will continue to bring delight. That photo of a grinning face alongside the raised, flopping king salmon-the joy of the catch caught on film with the anxiety, strain and waiting forgotten behind the flash.
Sometimes it’s hard to keep on dancing: knowing from experience that the amount of delight is made measurable by the degree of sweat equity invested.

I’ve traveled a lot the last two years. I haven’t kept track of the locations and stops beyond scheduling and executing them; it’s just not my way to track things and log a record for posterity. I tend to live in the planning and execution rather than the revisiting of life~
Yet, some shine in my memory more brightly than others. I’ve just had one of those this past weekend.
I received an extra special addition with a last minute invitation to take part in an intimate encaustic retreat just two hours away at the Grunewald Guild.
Nestled in the mountains about two hours from Seattle, the Grunewald Guild could be the highlight of Plain, Washington. Plain is a spit of a town, easily missed as you visit Stevens Pass ski resort or travel on to Leavenworth-Washington state’s Bavarian Village (doesn’t every state have one?!)

Home to two popular recreational lakes, Lake Wenatchee and Fish Lake, Plain also sports a delicious espresso bar that shares real estate with the hardware store (sic gift shop, home décor, collectibles destination). A must stop, I imagine, on cold mountain-snowy drives.
But I stopped at none of these destination delights. I went straight for my retreat; Wax & Wane at Grunewald Guild.

Created and facilitated by Shannon Newby, a proficient group of encaustic artists and beeswaxy buffs came together for three days of sharing and connecting with registrants. And oh what a blessed connecting we had!
As the 11th hour addition, I had the joy of teaching, sharing and connecting without the angst of planning and weeks of preparation  A bit of a guilty indulgence on my part I admit; I went in just hoping I could give back what I knew I would be blessed to take away. That can only be judged by the attendees: As for my take away?-received in spades!

In addition to several sessions of demonstration and work time in the wax, the weekend included presentations on bees, review of contemporary encaustic artists work, a screening of Sister Bee and a favorite for me and my take-away reason I was supposed to be there; a working model of my vision for my own retreat designs for 2012-a truly providential addition and a definitive sign of God’s guiding hand~

The entire retreat was onsite; registrants staying in the Guild accommodations, meals served by the staff chef and prayer and matins offered by the Guild director. A total package indulgence that inspired and spurned me on to staying the course I have been dreaming to follow.

And yet, as I continue into my scheduled ‘next’; traveling to Michigan, quickly followed by four days at ArtFest with immediate turn around flight to Phoenix for NAMTA, I slip and slide in my slippers over the melting ice; looking for a foothold in which to support my next arabesque and yet lingering on the near perfect execution of this weekends’ pirouette.
It is good.
I do not have to work from a clear and concisely written score; God does not work this way. I have to trust and faithfully plant my foot for the next move and leave the perfect execution up to his graceful attendance.

Wax & Wane: An Encaustic Conference from Grunewald Guild on Vimeo.

This first time test can be counted by Shannon as a successful foray into her goals and objectives for art and her faith. I was blessed to be graciously invited to be included in the weekend and couldn’t have come away with more affirmation of my goals in return.
And I will trust in the design as revealed thus far and look forward to the next opportunity to plant my foot, lift my toe high and dance into the next unknown. Propelled in faith; dancing through fear. It is His way. In love. Trish
And in that, I announce here, I will be hosting another encaustic retreat through Grunewald Guild in partnership with Becky Stromberg (a Wax&Wane instructor) November 6-11. Email for details! pbsartist@aol.com

come, get CREATE-ive with me!

Create mixed media retreat is coming not only to the Chicago area in late August, but also to Costa Mesa, California in May! Just a month away! I can hardly wait to get down there and not only teach two workshops, but vend EncaustiKits as well! More opportunity to geek people on encaustic!? Can't pass that up! Join me; there's an amazing line up of instructors and events planned. It's a 'don't miss it' indulgence in all things mixed media~
http://www.cvent.com/events/create-with-cloth-paper-scissors-mixed-media-retreat/event-summary-8df45474292a464b9544df5919cbc630.aspx

EncaustiCamp preview! Michelle Belto

All Roads Lead to Forever18”X18”
Encaustic, Tar, Torch on Handmade Paper

When I got married, I didn’t know the first thing about cooking. Unfortunately, my new husband liked to eat…and eat often! Thinking that it would be something easy, he informed me that his favorite side dish was mashed potatoes and that “it would go with everything.” What he didn’t realize was that even the lowly mashed potato was beyond the level of my expertise. I remember calling up my mom with a raw potato in my hand and asking the question: How do you get from here to there?

I often get asked that question about my work. How did you get there? For those who will be attending the first ever Encausticamp just outside of Salem, Oregon this summer, you will get there yourself! Beating cotton and rag into a giant slushy pulp and then reforming it into something wonderful is addicting. What’s more making your own supports will open the door to endless new ways to explore mixed media work, sculpture, and, of course, encaustic painting.

Here is a visual overview of the process that you will learn when you come to camp:

1 2 3

Participants will first learn how to make pulp from ordinary recycled materials. We will use the pulp in a pour-mold (1) which will allow us to add cool things like glitter and cut up newspaper or embed threads or botanicals. Our form, created from foam core and other materials, will be embedded in the pulp. This will make the support stable enough to take the wax. (2)The next step is to remove the water by pressing. One of my students is hand-pressing the pulp. See she is smiling! It is fun! (3) The final step is to allow the form to dry…and voila! You have just created your one-of-a-kind support.
Join Michelle and five other instructors and six passionate assistants this summer at EncaustiCamp 2011. Three days and four nights of all things beeswaxy and beautiful~July 13-July 17. www.encausticamp.com

EncaustiCamp 2011

'Sixty four percent of Americans want to make more things themselves. There's a huge opportunity in providing the tools and materials to do just that.'
This quote, serendipitously clipped and tacked to the board above my desk several months ago, speaks to all that I believe, and have believed, for myself for as long as I can remember: To create what I 'want' myself.
My first big sewing project was my eighth grade dance dress. In high school a friend and I saw a great twig reindeer at a craft show and went home to make several ourselves. In college, needing Christmas gifts but having no means to buy things for my family, I collected pine cones from the local park, glued them to a cardboard frame, sprayed them with glitter and offered up holiday wreathes.
As a new mom I saw some adorable kids clothing, way out of my price range, as I began my journey as a stay-at-home mom so many years ago, and found my way around recreating a version of my own. Even as money became less of an obstacle, I made the boys' teachers holiday gifts of polymer ornaments and shrink plastic icicles (sigh).
So it comes as no surprise to find myself not only wanting that same ability to befall everyone else, but to come boldly forward in my course through creativity to offer up an avenue for them to find just that! First through EncaustiKits,
the line of inclusive craft kits bringing all things encaustic and mixed media to the craft world and now through Encausticamp-the place to come for immersion in all things encaustic! This retreat opportunity, being offered to experienced as well as novice encaustic aficionados, is being held July 13-17, 2011 on the outskirts of Salem, Oregon on a serene boarding school campus.
Just one hour from the Oregon coast, and the same distance to Portland, EncaustiCamp will run from Wednesday evening with check-in and an all-group demonstration and welcome gathering, through three days of workshops and three more evenings of encaustic indulgence with a vending night full of encaustic supplies, a break out pajama-talk in which instructors will open up about their encaustic art experiences and welcome questions and answers, and a final show and tell all-camp closing party.
Mixed media and experimentation have always been my passion and bringing this together with encaustic is a 'dream I didn't fully realize I had' come true :)
This post makes official the launch of the site and opening of registration to all~come take a peek; email questions, call with comments, but above all, jump in with both feet, come boldly to your own creativity and indulge in this opportunity to embrace creating all that makes your heart sing, yourself. It's that good :)
in love. trish