Encaustic Workshop Adventure in Key West, Florida

How art workshop was found...
While Andy and I were enjoying the Boat Races in Key West, November, 2010, we stopped at the historical local bar The Green Parrot. I spotted a very shiny, pretty, and large catalog printed by The Studios of Key West. Being the pack rat, the catalog made it back to the Cypress House Inn with us and then home. 

One my first encaustic paintings, using the iron, December, 2009

Can you see the thoughts fireworks?
Encaustic workshop!!!! Only 12 students allowed? No flight expense? Over a long holiday weekend? Stay at the Cypress House Inn Key West? No snow? Car parked for the weekend, and within walking distance? What if the class is already full (it is November, and it is impossible but the snow birds)?!!! It is more economical to work with books but I miss people....Ok...but do I like the work this artist makes with encaustics?


Decisions and Goals
After quick research from home (thank God for Google), reviewing Kim Bernard's art, philosophy, video, and everything I could find, within a week the class was booked. 


If you are on the goals for 2011 adventure with me (due by 1-31-11), this meets my goals of learning more about a technique, working with other artists, and travelling. This also meets the budget, because there is no car rental or flight required! 


For more about the workshop, keep scrolling down.

For more about encaustic painting, here are some quick links:
Encaustic Hive Blog
My website, with videos
My YouTube Channel, with all videos

Smiles!
Angeline Marie of 
Angeline Marie Fine Art

2 Workshops: Intro and Next Level Encaustics with Kim Bernard

Intro: January 13-14, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm, Next level: Jan 15-16, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm

For more information click on this sentence for the TSKW webpage.

Sponsored by Wanderlust Boutique and Gallery

www.kbernard.com

Read an interview with Kim and watch a video of her recent exhibition here.

“My only rule in this workshop is that you don’t try to make a masterpiece on my watch. Try every technique I introduce, experiment and play!”
-Kim Bernard

About the artist: Encaustic is a wax based paint that is kept molten on a heated palette.

Level II: Students will learn advanced skills such as building supports and textures, preparing surfaces, fusing with other tools and techniques, mixing ecaustics with pigments, creating transparent layers and glaze effects, creating monotypes, scraping and scribing, assemblage, stenciling and pour techniques.  

Getting in the Mood

I don't wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to earth." --Pearl Buck, American writer

Art is a need for me. At times, I am not in the mood to create, but I make the time. Into the studio I go, rummage and re-organize supplies, play with wax, set up for the next painting session. After a five minutes of that, I grab a pencil and do what I am beginning to call "Speed 30." I have to get down to creating, and the brief ritual gets my mind jump started.

"Speed 30" is something I got out of Dean Nimmer's book, Art from Intuition. You can either create a scene (a still life) by grouping objects together, or you can use a photo or a figure model (a person posing). The idea is to spend only ONE MINUTE per drawing of the object(s). Once the minute is up, move to the next drawing. By the end of 30 minutes, you should have 30 drawings of the same object(s). The results of this exercise are quite interesting. So far, this is my favorite thing to do when I feel "stuck" or uninspired. I am still creating and drawing, therefore I am happily "getting in the mood" and getting "mind down to earth." Some of these drawings have inspired some of my mixed media pieces.

As for exercise, there is always time to work out. If you have a minute, drop and do push ups or crunches the entire minute. I have a no excuse policy: there is work out gear in every geographical place I spend time. That means I have gear at work (in disguise, for when the chair hurts), at the gym, in my studio and home. I have the same no excuse policy for creating art: sketch in my mind, in a book, on a piece of paper, on my gadget.

You want to do something? Create the mood. Get a pencil and paper and just draw lines. Wear work out clothes under your work clothes. Do what you need to get yourself doing what ever it is that makes you dream. Sometimes, like my artist photographer and friend Jason Eldridge, it is a simple as "getting out the door"!

Artist (me) at the easel with "Heart on Sleeve," March, 2010 at the shared studio.

Smiles!

Angeline Marie of

Angeline Marie Fine Art

PS: Remember, you are invited to the Deering Estate the weekend of April 17th and 18th for the "Affair en Plein Aire." For more details, please click on the words Deering Estate. Thanks! 

Monday's studio session

WOW! It has been way too long since drawing figures from real life! Ismael set us up with a model (who is very pretty) who has the patience of a saint. She held her poses for 20 minutes at a time and barely fidgeted.

Working from her poses, we began the session with a 20 minute "draw however you want." The next sessions were using what I call a shape/block/shade technique. Everything was done in pencil.

1. Draw lines where you see the shoulder line, hip line, etc.

2. Block off the torso, hips, etc.

3. Joints are usually circles or ellipses.

4. Fill shading.

It was a LOT of fun. I'm looking forward to having more model time at Ismael's sessions!

If you're wondering if anything is worth showing, of course everything is! Just remember that these are sketches and loose drawings - not completed works of art. =)