Much More Than Learning A Technique

I have been doing a lot of teaching lately; not only encaustic, but also cold wax and oil, drawing and painting portraits.

In all my classes, I not only teach you a technique, but also composition, seeing shapes, color mixing and more.

Se some recent examples of student work:

This is the result of the first two days of the intro to encaustic

Impressive work after the first 2 days. She made about 5 paintings

Lots of encaustic and tools are available

A lovely charcoal drawing from one of my young students

Another young student is learning to paint portraits in oil. This was a challenging one

A wonderful professional artist add the cold wax and oil technique to her list of tools.

Is It Easy Being Green?

Latest in my color series: GREEN

 I remember Kermit the Frog's problems with being green, but green is the color of the heart chakra. You may remember that I mentioned that I had been a student of the power of color for years, taught color seminars for Ethan Allen stores and wrote a book, "The Power Of Color, available on Kindle.

This one is titled, Listen to "The Love Within" 

Notice my bow to Klimt; gold and many patterns

Lots of carving, hot pen build up and gold leaf.

Green is the master healer. It suggests balance, love and  restoration. It is the color absorbed by the heart center and strongly influences the heart and nerves. The green ray brings a feeling of renewal, new life, freshness and brightness, rather like the awakening of spring.

Do You Love Blue?

The last post I shared, was about the color red and the mostly red encaustic painting I had just finished; now sold.

Here is there blue one. "Starry Night" Encaustic on cradled board.

"Blue is a passive and restful color. Blood pressure can lower and the heartbeat and respiration can slow down. Blue indices a feeling of tranquility, contentment and addiction. It is cooling, refuting and is the color of the throat chakra.

Psychologically, the blue ray quiets the mind and helps us to establish the felling of peace. It can be depressing if ones feeling sad. In that case the energy of red of orange is needed. Blue is the color of truth, peace. poise and serenity.

Azure and sapphire blue indicates truth and inspiration, harmony, calmness, courtesy and happiness, both eternal and spiritual. Dark blue indicates refinement. Pale blue equals simplicity, innocence and candor. Electric blue magnetizes the personality. Indigo sdenotes intuition and spiritual perception. This color steadies or slows the energy and is good for meditation and devotional practises. Aqua caries clarity."

From my book, The Power of Color available as a Kindle download.

"Starry Night" 32" x 40" available, $

What is Your Favorite Color?

What is your favorite color?

I am inspired to create a new series about the power of color. So far I have completed the red painting, "Tumbling Joy"" and I'm almost finished with a blue one.

Encaustic 32" x 40" Tumbling Joy

 I have been studying color for many years; I used this information in my color seminars when I worked for 3 Ethan Allen stores. It was the most popular seminar I presented  When I introduced his color presentation, I asked participants to write their name tags in their favorite color, but had to stop that practice, when they realized how much their color choices told others about their personalities.



I wrote a book about the power of color. The book  shows you how your color choices influence your health and emotions; how color touches you even if you don’t notice it or understand its force. The specific vibrations of each color triggers your personal energy field. It affects your moods, health and general well being. 60% of a person’s reaction to any situation is said to be based on color.
 Once you know a person's color preferences, you will be able to understand her better. This is available on Kindle.

Here is the process of the blue painting:

New Year, New Classes, Old Paintings

It's a new year. My bronchitis cleared up and I am ready to work and teach.

There have been several art tours of my studio/home/gallery during the holidays,  plus a House and Garden tour. Several people have enjoyed venturing into my special viewing room to discover older painting that I store there. The visitors are welcome to pull out any paintings that they choose. Some of these paintings bring to light work that I have forgotten about. One or two I realized that I want to paint over and others I am delighted to meet again.

lots of older paintings coming back to light

stacks.

A cold wax and oil painting I started in 2016 and finished in 2018 31' x 40"

 People frequently ask me about the encaustic workshops and when they will be. I try to offer at least one a month, but dates can be changed to fit your schedule if there are at least three people interested in the same dates.

For details and photos: http://www.ezshwan.com/classes-and-workshops.html

Here are the dates and information for the next encaustic workshops. Let me know if you would like to sign up or are interested in other dates. 

 Two day private workshop,; $550 $60 material fee
Some artists want the fast track to learning my techniques.
You will work side by side with me in my 
studio, creating your own work with direct input,
demos and suggestions from me.
The curriculum will be designed exactly to 
fit your needs.
deposit of $100 required.

Jan. 20 & 21, 2020
Feb. 10 & 11
March 9 & 10
April 20 & 21

My Year in Review

It seems to me that the older I get, the faster the years fly by. Here we are in December with the new year of 2020 lurking just around the corner.

Although I seem to be caught up with almost everything but making art, it has been a creative year.

The series, "The Lightness of Being", that may be finished, (I haven't been able to work in the studio for over a month) was a exciting project. I created unique techniques, at least for me. Usually my newest series are slower to sell. I am not sure why, but this series has been received well by viewers and collectors.

In October, I created some works on un-stretched canvas , matted and ready to frame, that I offered as a special sale for the month of November. They are now back to the full price and I will be posting them on my online galleries. Thank you to the collectors that took advantage of the sale.

Click the link below to see the full series of "The Lightness of Being"

http://www.ezshwan.com/the-lightness-of-being.html

I have been teaching both group and private encaustic classes and teaching drawing to one young man and portrait painting in oils to a young woman.  Neither of these students had drawn or painted before. I am pleased to be able to share really seeing to them.

I have the dates and information for the next encaustic workshops. Let me know if you would like to sign up or are interested in other dates.
Jan. 20 & 21, 2020
Feb. 10 & 11
Private workshop:6 hours of individual attention: These are tailored to your needs; anything you want to learn and focus on. I am specializing in private classes, because so much can be accomplished.  You can take a cab ( taxis are inexpensive in San Miguel) or drive. Directions on my website; http://www.ezshwan.com/directions-to-studio.html

One day private workshop; $275 plus $40 materials fee 10 am to 4pm
Two day private workshop,; $550 $60 material fee
Some artists want the fast track to learning my techniques.
You will work side by side with me in my 
studio, creating your own work with direct input,
demos and suggestions from me.
The curriculum will be designed exactly to 
fit your needs.
deposit of $100 required.
​
​Two person One day workshop, $160 plus $25 materials fee​ 10 am to 4pm

THESE GROUP CLASSES ARE INTENDED FOR AT LEAST 3 PEOPLE. If you have 3 or more people interested, I will plan around your schedule.

THESE ENCAUSTIC GROUP CLASSES ARE INTENDED FOR AT LEAST 3 PEOPLE.

One Day Workshops: $125 USD plus $25 materials fee 10 am to 4pm

Two Day Workshops: $250 USD plus $40 materials fee 10am to 4 pm

Three Day Intensive: $350 USD plus $60 materials fee. 10 am to 4 pm

A deposit of $100 required at registration. Click PayPal button. The remainder of the fee can be paid the first day of class, in pesos at the exchange rate of the day, or a U.S. check

Day 1 & 2 of the encaustic workshop will cover all the basics, including information about how to make paint, about the commercial paints and their applications, about supports, grounds and techniques: paint application, fusing, glazing, inscribing and mixed media approaches, safety, materials, demos of applying paint, glazing, fusing, How to get that smooth surface! Introducing mixed media, creating lines and texture.. I will emphasize how these techniques can be developed to create a unique encaustic language for each student. I will talk (and demo) how to create glaze layers, as well as some special techniques like inscribing. You will leave with a printout containing all the information you need as well as a list of suppliers.

I give participants a thorough introduction to the encaustic medium method. Artists with backgrounds in almost any medium will find these workshops are an exciting opportunity to expand their visual vocabulary with wax. Some who attend have some familiarity with encaustic, others don't, but want to expand their artistic experience. This mix of artists adds to the learning experience and often inspires all to try new techniques.

In the advanced classes, we focus on surfacing, embedding, transparencies, glazing and hot pen, image transfers, India ink mark making and more. We will explore combining oil and encaustic and dipping. You should have several finished paintings after the workshops.

I will supply all the materials, encaustic paint. brushes, support panels, electric tools, scrapers and propane torches, as well as showing how you can make your own paints and set up your own encaustic studio.

If you want to bring some things to collage you can. Old drawings or prints or photographs can combine with encaustic, but the paper must be porous and not glossy or coated. Encaustic works with almost anything but acrylic or plastics.

Experiment with all the materials and create your own finished encaustic paintings in class.

The workshops are held in my home studio from 10 a.m. to  4p.m. each day. This allows the participants hundreds of examples of my encaustic painting over the last 14 years, including "what not to do!"

Cancellations 2 weeks before workshop will receive a full refund. 1 week before, 30% will be refunded. No deposit refunds after that.

Sell Art Online?

The other day a neighbor stopped in and saw some of my new sale paintings. She said,"These are beautiful. People have to see them." Why don't you take them to the park on Sundays?

I don't remember saying anything to her, but I am sure my expression was of incredibility. I stopped dragging my paintings to open air, un-juried art venues about 50 years ago.

 I sell from my personal home gallery and brick and mortar galleries.and online galleries. I can't remember how many solo and group shows that I participated in, and I will continue to do that, but times are different now. Millions of paintings are sold online. A report from 2017 said that an estimated $5.4 billion in art and antiques were sold online.

I also sell from FaceBook and Instagram, Saatchi Art https://www.saatchiart.com/account/artworks/312358 and Turning Art. Two other online galleries have asked me to join them and I will be working on adding images for them soon

This take time and effort but I am a professional artist and selling is my business. I owned a large art gallery in Scottsdale AZ where we represented many artists. This was years ago before internet selling was important. I found that most of our artists didn't;t want to bother with all the details of The Business of Art. They seemed to think that being an artist was enough. I reminded them that no-one was going to slip a check under their studio door, without a lot of effort .

I created a non-profit business to teach them art marketing, but very few of the artists showed up for the meetings. I taught the same thing at the University of Southern Oregon, and the few artists who listened and acted, prospered.
 
I believe it is easier now that so much can be done sitting at our computer. Yes, it takes time, but doesn't anything worthwhile take time?  I have been asked to teach art marketing again. I hesitate because there is much available information online covering this and anyone truly interested will take advantage of this kind of selling.

Below are some of the recently sold paintings,