private encaustic classes in San Miguel de Allende

I particularly enjoy having private students in my encaustic workshops. I can focus on each person's individual needs and desires. I work shoulder to shoulder with each one to produce an encaustic painting that is unique to them. I show them as many techniques as possible, depending on how many days we have together.

Here are some demo paintings that I created for the last 3 workshops. If you are interested in taking a class from me click this link:   http://ezshwan.blogspot.mx/

oil glaze over layers of encaustic enhanced with gold encaustic, using the hot pen

Many layers of color with blurred transfer in top

scraped transfer over colored encaustic

incised lines over many layers of colors

Catching Up and Weeding Out

After almost 5 days without an Internet connection at home, I have a lot of online things to catch up with. With the down time I had, I have been going through older paintings in the stacks and photos on the computer. Time to weed out what is not worth keeping and re-visit the paintings that I am pleased with.

Here are some paintings that I pulled out of the stacks:

My first encaustic portrait, done about 10 years ago

The above painting was made over an older abstract one from my color and surface work. I did it quickly and I still like it, Perhaps I should use older abstracts as the under painting of more figurative work. What do you think?

This is from a series I made about 10 years ago also. I collaged photos of San Miguel with ancient Mexican symbols that I carved into the encaustic.

 

I have several paintings left from the above series. All that carving left my fingers hurting.

These 2 are a diptych, "The Magnet" I was surprised that they didn't sell. I can't guess what will appeal to collectors.

"The Mask", encaustic on board, about 2009, 100 x 80 cm

When a collector connects

Twice this week paintings have sold out of my home gallery to collectors who felt what I had felt when I created these works. Four of my paintings have found new homes.

When I am working, I always ask myself "What is the purpose of making this painting? What message and energy will it carry? Does it have a reason for being?"

A reason for being is very important to me. There is always a connecting story in the series that I make. That is probably why there are sometimes months in between series. I have to be excited about the linking essence of each painting in the series.

The first 2 images below are from the series, "The Time of Witness" It took me deep into the lives of many of the strong Mexican women who live in my town. At the time I had a good Mexican friend , Maria Teresa, who had spent 25 years in the States, had been a navy nurse and had returned to Mexico to become more Indigenous every day. She was a practicing shaman and was the first person to tell me that what I thought I saw in the Mexicans' friendly faces was not the truth; they all wear an invisible mask. And they were not "monkeys in zoo" to be photographed, painted and their images made into postcards. Because she knew me and my intentions to portray the strength and wisdom of these incredibly strong women, Maria Teresa personally took me into the homes of several woman that she knew would be of interest to me, introduced me as an artist who was going to make paintings honoring them .

I saw situations I would never have seen without Maria Teresa. Some very poor homes, with dirt floors, no electricity or running water. What I did see was the pride and strength, particularly of the woman in the painting below and she became the star of my solo gallery show. This was the last painting I did of her that sold yesterday.

My soul is nurtured when a viewer reacts to my work with the same connection I felt while painting it and when they want to make that painting a part of their lives, it reassures me that I have spent my life doing the right thing working through the struggle to make my work have a reason for being.



The story of the butterfly painting was posted on this blog in 2012 http://eschwanwinding.blogspot.mx/2012/02/monarch-butterfly-sanctuary.html

Strength of the Years, encaustic on board, 24" x 24"

El Mercado, encaustic on board, 24" x 24"

 

 

 

Monarchs in Mexico, carved encaustic on board. I had just returned from the Monarch sanctuary

I Don't Teach Art Anymore

I don't teach art anymore. Well, that is almost true. I have taught children and adults in years gone by and portrait painting in Southern Oregon University, but I stopped because I found that I was giving directions on how to paint like I paint.

Now, I give encaustic workshops and my 91st class is coming up March 12 & 13th.  I teach the technique. Not how to paint like me. I want each person to express their own artistic voice. I can share almost very technique possible in hot wax painting. I had a show of encaustic artists several years ago in my studio and asked students to bring in a few pieces of art that they created in one of my classes. Viewers were amazed that no 2 artists work was the same, although they all used the same medium and had the same teacher.

I finished a private one day class yesterday in advanced techniques. My student is a graphic designer who has worked with encaustic for years, has taken classes with another teacher here in San Miguel, and she wanted to learn everything that she could that she could use to further her art. By the end of the day, she said she learned more than she could have imagined and was excited to take what she learned into her own studio. We covered, creating glass-like surfaces, embedding, oil glazes, India ink mark marking, using burnt shellac, transfers, incised lines, raised lines using the hot pen. She was tired after our day together, but delighted to have covered so much.

here is the first piece Lori worked on

Here is Lori working on her second piece - a totally different approach 

I also have online classes in advanced encaustic techniques. https://vimeo.com/ondemand/4167 There are 12 classes that can be watched over and over.

The closest thing to teaching art are my online classes , Painting and Drawing Faces in 10 different techniques: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/21068

Oh, I have also written a book on Painting Portraits in Encaustic.http://www.blurb.com/b/4375616-painting-portraits-in-encasutic

But I really don't teach anymore....

Gallery show closing Friday

What a full time this has been. We have been in the gallery everyday but last Monday. That was Cynthia's birthday and we had a dinner party for friends. Cynthia did all the cooking and it was incredible.

And this was just the appetizers

 

 

We are having a closing party Friday. If you are in the vicinity of beautiful San Miguel de Allende, stop in for a glass of champagne and choose any painting for 20% off the retail price.  There will be 5 new pieces of art for the silent Auction.

It has been many years since I worked in a gallery and it has been a wonderful experience. We made many contacts, good sales and I have been asked to teach at the Art Institute. Visual art need to be seen and experienced. Cynthia has been working in the front room. People are fascinated with the encaustic process and love watching her fuse the layers with the torch.

Inernet connection

 I received a special email this morning from someone whom I would have never met without the Internet. This woman found me through some of my YouTube videos. She realized that only did we share a love for encaustic painting, she loved the music on most of my videos. (I used some Kai Winding's recordings - he was my late husband.) She is a singer that has recorded some of the jazz classics that my husband recorded. If that wasn't enough of a connection, she spent 9 winters here in San Miguel de Allende preforming. I checked out her websites and was impressed not only with her recordings, her art is wonderful.

I love the Internet. Below are some of my videos. There are many more.

http://youtu.be/nvUinNihSXs?list=UUCPHC8Fq1OYjUmCumXBEjgw

http://youtu.be/FbtcgM2wNFk

http://youtu.be/EBPzAX_EWmQ 

 http://youtu.be/47EXuxNhHlw