Hot Wax Treatment

Reflections 21, encaustic painting, Leslie Neumann

Encaustic (n.)

1. A paint consisting of pigment mixed with beeswax and fixed with heat after its application.
2. The art of painting with this substance.
3. A painting produced with the use of this substance.
[Latin encausticus, from Greek enkaustikos, from enkaiein, enkau-, to paint in encaustic : en-, in; see en-² + kaiein, to burn.]

I first became acquainted with Leslie Neumann’s encaustic paintings in 2004, when we exhibited in adjoining galleries at the Morean Arts Center in St. Petersburg. While not a stranger to the hot wax process, I quickly realized what deep beauty can be achieved by the hand of a master.

Leslie’s landscapes have a softness of form with layers of subtle transparency which give her compositions depth and perspective. This is painting as a window, drawing the viewer into a rich and luminous other world.

On a subsequent visit to her Aripeka home and studio, I learned more about Leslie’s exacting technique, as well as her commitment to preserving Florida’s unique wild habitats. From her third floor studio balcony, we looked out over an almost pristine coastal estuary turned golden by the setting sun. One could not ask for a more inspiring setting in which to make art.

Leslie and eight other artists using the encaustic method will be featured in “Wax: Medium Meets Message,” an exhibition at the Morean which opens this Friday, 5-7 pm with an artist’s talk at 5 pm.
www.moreanartscenter.org 

Image courtesy of the artist

Art Goes For A Ride

With the opening of St. Petersburg’s Warehouse Arts District, that city’s lively art scene has suddenly expanded westward a couple of miles. Located in a former industrial area just off 5^th Ave. S. and 24^th St. S., the area is home to a growing list of pioneering artists.

Like most new venues, Warehouse artists wondered, if they opened, would people come. Judging by Saturday night’s Gallery Walk turnout, the answer is a resounding yes.

It’s been a while since I’ve been to an art opening that featured rent-a-cops, roaming photographers and a live band. But the scene at Duncan McClellan’s grand glass atelier had something I’ve never seen - an Airstream trailer.

Parked across from Duncan’s, sat a vintage 24 foot tricked-out road worthy Airstream. This nostalgic beauty belongs to artists Matt and Becky Larson and is home to their newest venture, Boxfotos.

Team Larson transformed the Airstream into a cozy gallery and has quite literally taken its show on the road. Boxfotos will travel to different locations for photography exhibitions and workshops. Look for them next at the Museum of Fine Arts on Beach Drive in St. Petersburg.

photo courtesy Boxfotos

Draw, Partner

The most difficult part of the creative process has always been getting started. In what has become standard operating procedure, I plan, I prepare, I procrastinate. I move things around the studio. Then, thankfully, it’s time for lunch.

The nay-sayers in my head must also be dealt with. They continually question my methods. “Who will buy that?” they chide. When all else fails, they wonder if I even have what it takes to make art. The eventual creation of anything becomes a blessed relief.

Now a new mental obstacle has taken up residence. Having finally begun a painting, I find myself easily distracted and unable to focus for long. I begin and immediately want to end. It is a curious and unsettling state, as if my thought process has condensed like a Twitter tweet.

As a way of coping with this condition, I have fallen back on an old friend – gesture drawing. This brush-drawing method challenges me to say the most with the least. It is art-making pared down to its essential structure. What is begun is quickly finished. My concern is no longer “What do I say?” but “Have I said too much?”

A Short History of Artist Jean Dubuffet

David Hockney At The Royal Academy

Rules Are More Than Lines On Paper



The Fountain,
Marcel Duchamp

Mat Gleason, art critic at Coagula Art Journal, recently wrote an excellent essay titled, “12 Art World Habits to Ditch in 2012.” It is great reading with liberal sprinkles of humorous wisdom. My art boy hackles were raised by two of his habits and I felt compelled to respond.

Mr. Gleason writes:

Rules. There are too many of them. You do whatever you want. You can even be so great that you actually achieve a complete and total failure. Then you can make art. But you never have to follow any of the rules and anyone who says you do... well he or she just hasn't failed enough to realize this.

Experts. Art is subjective. There inherently cannot be experts.

Marcel Duchamp, hero of many post-modernists, and famous for the statement, “Art is whatever the artist says is art, not what critics say art is.” It was, in Duchamp’s case, a true statement, since no one denied he was already a bona-fide artist.

His words have since been turned upside down and taken by would-be artists to mean, “If I say it is art, then I am an artist.” There is a huge difference in the two statements, which is the years and years of labor it takes until one has the training and confidence to call themselves an artist.

People today seek to and are even encouraged to bypass education and experience as unnecessary. Just jump right in and express yourself. Your art is just as valid as any other artist’s work. This is magical thinking of the naïve and also a disturbing trend of those who deride art as being intellectual elitism. As Mr. Gleason correctly points out, art is sensual and visual, not intellectual.

This is where experts and rules come together. From the viewpoint of the artist, creative rules are like riding a bicycle. You ride that bike and then crash. You ride and crash again. Pretty soon, one learns what to do and what not to do and masters riding a bicycle. After that, bike riders internalize the rules and can ‘forget’ them and enjoy the ride.

Making art is the same thing. You go to school or learn on your own. You try something and inevitably make mistakes. Along the way, after much trial and error, you realize there are rules. There are rules of color, line, composition, and technique. The art student internalizes those rules until they too can ‘forget’. The challenge then becomes how to break the rules and stay true to one’s vision.

Considering artists, learning art is first an objective experience. Making art, however, is subjective. If artists stick to it and are lucky, they will become experts of their own personal vision.

When looking at art, viewers tend to fall back on their own personal likes and dislikes. They may not be aware of technique or artistic intention, but if they look long enough, they become experts of their own feelings.

People who spend their lives around art may become expert at art’s objective nature. They recognize color, composition, technique and know if it works or not. When viewing content and speaking of an artist’s intention, their expertise is almost always colored by subjective preference.

It could be said that the artist, the viewer and the art critic are all, in their own way, experts. As it is in life, trouble comes when any one of them try to impose their rules and expertise on the others.

Two Of My Favorite Artists At MoMA

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