IEA Here and Now Exhibit in the Press

IEA's Here and Now: Encaustics and Time exhibit has been written up in an article at absolutearts at http://www.absolutearts.com/artsnews/2007/07/23/34595.html

Here is the article:

"Here and Now - Encaustics and Time"
2007-07-21 until 2007-08-25
MMGalleries
San Francisco, CA, USA United States of America

MMGalleries in collaboration with the International Encaustic Artists presents: Here and Now - Encaustics and Time, July 21 to August 25, 2007, a juried art exhibit hosted by MMGalleries and organized in co-operation with International Encaustic Artists. Here and Now - Encaustics and Time is a group show featuring a breadth of contemporary encaustic works. Twenty artists from all over the United States have been selected for this show by a 3-person panel of judges. Their works range from abstract to figurative, and include some sculptural pieces as well. The show aims at illustrating the infinite versatility and the contemporary appeal of encaustics, an art form continually reinvented as artists explore their visual expression. The sensuous surfaces, richly applied materials, and dynamic colors in these works present updated takes on a millennium-old technique, and in several instances, synthesize the newest in design with a venerated traditional practice.

Textured, thick, shiny, translucent, colorful, subtle, engaging, encaustic is a cutting edge medium, yet millenniums old. Made of beeswax, tree resin, and pigments melted together on a heated palette, it is then applied in layers on a wooden panel. Each layer is then fused to the next. The process is time consuming, but provides infinite possibilities of expression. The earliest known examples of artifacts made of tempered beeswax and pigments, are a series of portraits from 350 BC, excavated from the Egyptian village of Fayum, that were meant to identify the people inside the sarcophagi. The Fayum portraits are now in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, their colors as vivid as if they had been created yesterday, because beeswax is an organic, preservative medium.

Artists included in the exhibition are: Natasia Chan (OR), Eileen Goldenberg (CA), Ruth Gooch (CA), Regina Herod (CA), Howard Hersh (CA), Nikkole Huss (IL), Lauren Lipinski Eisen (CO), Laura Moriarty (NY), Susan Najarian (WA), Carol Paxton Juliano (CA), David Price (WA), Susan Joan Schenk (NE), Patricia Seggebruch (WA), Adele Shaw (CA), Gail Steinberg (CA), Sheary C. Suiter (AK), Rodney Thompson (CA), Tina Vietmeier (CA), Gary Voss (CO), Daniella Woolf (WA).

International Encaustic Artists is a non-profit organization of 100 artists. Their mission includes introducing the myriad varieties of contemporary encaustic work to the public.

MM Galleries: Here and Now - Opening Reception

Here are notes and photos submitted by IEA Board Member, Eileen Goldenberg:

The Opening for the show at MM Galleries, "Here and Now: Encaustics and Time" was great! Lots of interested people showed up as well as many of the artists and members of IEA. There was diversity in technique, everything from figurative work (Regina Herod), to bright color (Eileen P. Goldenberg), to sculptural pieces (Laura Moriarty). The Gallery is a big space, and it looked wonderful. There were a few sales, and we all talked to lots of people.

IEA President Gail Steinberg led a general meeting afterwards and a few people talked about the benefits of membership, and a couple of people wrote checks to renew right there!

Please stop by to see the show and bring friends..MM Galleries, 101 Townsend St. #207, San Francisco, CA. The exhibit runs from July 21, 2007 through August 25, 2007.

Regina Herod



Laura Moriarty



Adele Shaw





Carol Paxton Juliano




Eileen Goldenberg



Gail Steinberg





Gary Voss




Rodney Thompson




Tina Vietmeier




Daniella Woolf

New IEA Regional Chapter! Portland, Oregon

The following news item was submitted by IEA Member Linda Womack:

Last night I invited all of the Portland encaustic artists I could find to meet at my studio to talk about starting a local chapter of the International Encaustic Artists (IEA). Everyone is busy this time of year so I was happy to see that six people attended and several more expressed interest in future meetings.

As I had hoped, it was a very casual event where we shared a couple of bottles of wine and talked about our art. I showed images from the IEA Member’s Retreat in California this spring and the recent National Encaustic Conference in Massachusetts, and eventually we got around to talking about what form a local chapter would take. We decided we would most like to participate in organizing group shows, trading studio visits, and networking with each other. Based on that the Portland Chapter of the IEA was born!

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, September 5 at 6:00 pm.

If you would like more information on how to join the Portland Chapter of the IEA please email me at lw@lindawomack.com or call (503) 348-9139.

- Linda Womack


Our inaugural members are, from left to right: Kimberly Kent, Natasia Chan, Melinda Fellini, Andrea Benson, Amy Stoner, Judy Wise and Linda Womack.