Encaustic Collagraph with Monotype, Print Making and Fish



encaustic collagraph

I spent my morning in the print studio inking and printing the encaustic collagraph plates that I had prepared in my home studio.  I had my first "yay" moment with encaustic collagraph, today. I've been trying to figure out what works and what doesn't work.  Frankly, I've had a lot of disappointments in the print shop.  I was feeling like the school girl crush had run its course and I was moving on to the next star struck love of my life.  And, then today came together and now I'm back in love with printing making again.    



encaustic collagraph monotype
10x10

There were 5 plates involved in these two prints.  One with the lines that are scratched into the plexi glass, two collagraph plates made with wax and two monotype plates that were the background fish.  I tend to be a bit of an eager artist, so print making is a challenge for me.  Slowing down, precision and attention to detail take a lot of concentration for this mere mortal.    



encaustic collagraph with monotype
10x10



I had some rooky mistakes and honestly my knowledge of printmaking is so very shallow that I only know enough to be dangerous.  But, I am looking forward to taking the waxed plates back to the print studio and trying another pass at all this with what I learned today.  The good news or the bad news is that I won't be able to make them the same - maybe kind of, but not the same.  That's the joy and adventure of monotype - only one.   Happy Friday everyone!

encaustic collagraph plates ready for ink
and the monotype plates ready to go

Alchemy of Process, Workshop with Elise Wagner and Lisa Pressman, and the New World of Cold Wax



Workshop studies
cold wax, oil on paper

Just last week, I spent three game changing days in the Portland, OR studio of Elise Wagner.  Elise teamed up with Lisa Pressman for "The Alchemy of Process" workshop.  Two amazing artists sharing their processes and how they intertwine between their two styles to create something really magical.  Elise Wagner finds her roots in printmaking and Lisa Pressman is fluent in cold wax medium, together they share a love and common ground of working in encaustic painting.  While their artwork and methods are different, there are wonderful similarities that make this teaching duo a perfect pair.  Over the course of four days, a new door into the world of art was opened for me and I walked away with the keys. 

Elise Wagner and Lisa Pressman
Wagner is the winner of Pollock-Krasner Foundation Award for 2015
Pressman is featured in the Huffington Post article "Ten Memorable Paintings from 2014"

This is a four day workshop with our first day kicking off in the beautiful Butters Gallery where the works of both Elise and Lisa hung in the show "The Spaces Between".  The workshop is so popular that a second session was added this year.  The sessions ran back to back with an overlapping day ending the first and kicking off the second.  For day one, we talked - inspirations, shared artwork, and lots of questions around websites, artist statements, approaching galleries and any and all art profession questions we could dream up.  Elise and Lisa were genuine, helpful, and direct with their answers making us all feel at home in a nurturing and educational environment.  The next three days we rolled up our sleeves, parked all expectations at the curb and dove in to the alchemy of process. 

Colaberation
Lisa Pressman and Elise Wagner working together in encaustic

We worked with Elise making encaustic collograph prints on the first day.  The anticipation of seeing the first print after rolling it through the press has the same level of excitement as opening the envelope of 4x6 prints from a roll of film that has just been processed.  There was a lot of thought that went into the preparation and then the crowning moment of the reveal and seeing how you did.  Its pretty uplifting. 

 

Day two was about learning to use cold wax medium with Lisa.  She warmed us up with some drawing and mark making exercises that got us loosened up and then introduced us the world of working in cold wax.   I'm overboard in love with this stuff and the world of abstract painting.  Totally different than where I dwell in my little corner of the encaustic world.  Thought provoking, playful but not without a new set of frustrations that come with learning any new medium - like mud. 

 

Day three - encaustic and then whatever we wanted to work more on.  On this day, Elise and Lisa worked side by side at the hot wax palettes.  So interesting to see the differences in how they work the same medium so proficiently.  Different styles, different approaches, same language. 

 

Each day we learned to see more, to edit, to add and subtract.  We learned new mediums, new ways and magical insights.  Great meaningful discussions, questions answered, sharing and all of this in a comfortable and nurturing way.  Great teachers, great workshop.  I told them both that when I came on the first day I felt like for quite a while I had been searching for something in my art that I could not define, but felt like whatever it was I couldn't find it.  When I left, I felt like I could rest my search and stay in this spot for a while with all of the information that came in - there are answers for me.  But, I have to work it and experiment and play a lot for it to take shape in a tangible way.   Got a lot of discovery ahead of me which sounds like fun.  Many thanks to Elise and Lisa for an enlightening four days and giving me new tools of inspiration.

  

Happy Students
Melissa Lackman and Mary Lee and a whole lotta art created in 3 days

Encaustic Collograph with Elise Wagner

 

Akua Intaglio Inks
nontoxic soy and honey based inks

Encaustic collograph printing...  can't seem to get enough of it.  I joined Elise Wagner in her Portland studio for her encaustic collograph printing class.  Elise is the mastermind behind using encaustic wax for collograph printing.  She's been experimenting with it for over 7 years, bringing it from an idea in her mind to where it is now - an emerging art form.

Prints Drying

A couple of times, a year she opens her studio for a workshop in combining wax and printing.  The rest of the year, she offers the classes around the country and in 2015 there will be a big event at R&F Paints in New York in August.

Inking Plates for the press

I took my first class in encaustic collograph at Atelier Meridian in November.  I was totally hooked and now even more so.  Learning from the printmaker's side to begin with and now more information from the encaustic painter's side providing me with a combination of perspectives. 

 

Encaustic collograph print

I'm very anxious to try and try again at this new endeavor, which means lots of trial and error as I make my way along the learning curve.  However, the holidays are bringing a rest from the studio and all the excitement and information rolling around in my brain.  It will all simmer away in the back of my mind, slowly cooking up some thing that will surprise me in the new year.