Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Sunday Stands for Inspiration

by Jessica Burko of Reclaimed To You

A few days ago I had the pleasure of attending two back-to-back very inspirational artist meet-ups. In the morning I joined a fairly large group of artists, all working in the encaustic medium, for the first ever meeting of MassWax: the new Massachusetts chapter of the International Encaustic Artists.
Gross Misnderstanding, by April Clay

The new chapter has been founded by artists Barbara Cone and Suzanne Desrosiers. There was a wonderful display of encaustic art on view, and Barbara presented a slide show of work by local artists attending the meeting as well as national artist members of IEA. I was struck by the beauty and versatility of encaustic through the live and digital presentations, as there were many examples of techniques I have never seen before. Two local artists whose work really stood out for me were April Clay and Linda C. Widstrand.

MassWax has some wonderful plans for future group shows, workshops, time-trading, "mindful critiques", and benefits for group members such as discounts on encaustic supplies and classes on how to successfully photography encaustic art. For more information about MassWax and to connect with them, check out their Facebook page.
After the morning in Somerville I sped off to a Boston Handmade monthly meet-up at Lynne's house where Sharon of Stray Notions was leading an impromptu afternoon of quilting. She showed us how to hand-stitch embellishments and applique, and how to create a log cabin pattern. We spent a few hours catching up, chatting about our businesses, our art, and our lives, and I left wanting to combine my love for textile art and my work with photography and encaustic! Who knows what effect this day of inspiration will have on my artwork, but I'm sure it will be an exciting journey.

3 comments :

  1. Love this post. it is great that a meeting of creative minds can inspire so much in all of us

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  2. Hey! when did you take those photos?

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  3. All afternoon! The camera phone is stealthy :)

    ReplyDelete

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