Category Archives: Forms

Posts featuring the wide variety of forms that can be created using encaustigraphics or e-graphics.

New indoor displays for e*graphics

Yet another way to bring beautiful color into your home with e*graphics. These metal display stands were custom fabricated by R Atwell and allow a piece of art to be placed where it can glow the best!

Encaustigraphic display stands by R Atwell

Shifting Perspectives

Spirit Released, an encaustigraphic sculpture
“Spirit Released” encaustigraphic sculpture; 63″h x 7″d x 7″w

My sculptural piece  “Spirit Released,” was accepted into the Museum of Encaustic Art’s “Shifting Perspectives” show.

My accompanying artist’s statement read:
We have survived a great deal in the past year— myriad challenges of pandemic fears, environmental chaos, and what seems like daily disorienting revelations and upheavals of the known world that leave us all with feelings of grief, bewilderment and deep uncertainty.
But as only a forest fire can break some seeds open to release new life, my deepest hope is that this is a moment of rebirth for us as stewards and caretakers of the planet and each other. 
May we each release our highest self and then reunite to envision, invent and create an even more beautiful and sustainable world… a world of joy and abundance that is open to and respects all of Life.

To view the entire show, click here.

E*graphics intro class Feb. 2020

Small scale sculpture made from encaustigraphs
Small scale sculpture experiments for the Winter 2020 class

We played with a variety of ways to use encaustigraphics in an introductory class offered at the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center on February 29, 2020.

We began by learning how to make the e*graphics with provided prints, and then branched out into using the material to create “super simple sculptures” with fun and easy techniques. We experimented with the many ways the material can be used— for sculpture, window art, books, jewelry and more— and then we worked with the students’ own images (digital photographs and scans of artwork) to translate those into various creations. I also demoed how to construct large forms like those shown on the home page of this site.

Great group of students and a fun creative time. If social distancing allows, I’ll be offering the class again in November 2020.

Queen in the Garden

 

Creative base options

Bases from found objects
Found objects make great bases for encaustigraphs.

The e*graphics intro class is upcoming on February 29 at Kalamazoo Book Arts and we’ll be exploring both flat and dimensional forms. A great bridge between the two is to display your 2D e*graphic creations with a creative base.

Nearly anything can be repurposed as a  base for displaying your e*graphics. Whether your style is rough or refined, large or small, the light weight of e*graphics allow them to float or be captured by minimalist frames. Below are some examples— the top photo shows a woodtype block with a heavy copper wire bent into a spiral and an oak leaf held by a cast pyramid; the photo below shows frames made from plaster, polymer clay and twisted  roots from the beach.

A variety of base styles for e*grapics
A variety of base options for encaustigraphs, including natural and cast materials.

Colorful complexity

E*graphics can be cut using a Silhouette cutting machine
A 12″ e*graphic flower cut using a Silhouette

While it’s easy to cut e*graphics by hand, another innovative way to shape them is in tandem with one of plot cutting machines available for home use (Silhouette and Cricut are two well known makers). The complexity of design options available when the two are combined is amazing, and very rewarding.

2019 Shows

I’m honored to have had works selected to be in three museum exhibitions running this spring and summer.

My piece “Becoming” (below) was selected to be one of 101 works featured in the West Michigan Area Show at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts. The exhibition runs from May 18 through August 25.

sculptural suspension
“Becoming” — encaustigraphic suspensions with mixed media; 60″ long x 11″ diameter

The Museum of Encaustic Art’s juried show No Creative Boundaries features “Oracle,” shown below. The exhibition runs from May 25 through July 7 in Santa Fe.

Oracle
“Oracle” — encaustigraphic suspension with mixed media. 19″h x 8″w x 8″d

Following “No Creative Boundaries,” the Museum of Encaustic Art will feature “50 States/200 Artists,” and my piece VLA (Very Luminous Array) will be on display. I’m one of two artists representing Michigan.

Article in Encaustic Arts magazine

EA magazine opener

The Winter 2018 issue of Encaustic Arts magazine features an article I wrote about encaustigraphics and the artwork I’ve created with it.

The 18 page article includes a history of the process, many photographs of my work and even some basic instructions on how to  create e*graphics.

Click here to find out how to purchase a digital copy. Single issue price is $2.99, which goes to support the Encaustic Art Institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico. {Please note that there is also an option to order more expensive hard copies, but that money does not go to  EAINM).

I’m very excited to have information on the encaustigraphic process available to an international audience, and I hope you enjoy learning more about e*graphics, how it came to be and where it’s heading!

Spread from Encaustic Arts magazine
This is a second spread from my article on encaustigraphics in Encaustic Arts magazine. Click here find out how to purchase a copy of the issue.