“Twisters”
Encaustic and Wood on Panel
12″ x 12″
© 2010 Marilyn Fenn

Creativity is about play and a kind of willingness to go with your intuition. It’s crucial to an artist. If you know where you are going and what you are going to do, why do it? — Frank Gehry

This is a very comforting quote for me.  When I paint, I frequently have only a very vague idea or sometimes — no idea at all — of what I am searching for in the new work.  I start somewhere, and often, the finished piece is so far away from where it started, it’s unrecognizable.  One of my favorite things about working this way is that I discover things — such as shapes and images — that I just couldn’t invent.

I recently watched the excellent movie called “It Might Get Loud” – a documentary on the electric guitar told through interviews and a meeting between three generations of guitar greats: Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), The Edge (U2), and Jack White (White Stripes). I have loved the work I’ve heard by Jack White (such as the completely unabashed and fearless “Ball and a Biscuit”), but wasn’t really all that familiar with him.

He blew me away in this movie. He talked about the need to struggle in the process of creation, and if you’re not struggling, he says, do something to create a struggle. (And there were many more great quotes from him, which I’m sure will inform future posts).

Well, I definitely do struggle in my process; sometimes I’m sure it really shows; other times, you can’t even tell. It’s become far more rare for me to just breeze through a painting. (Dagnabit!)

Continue reading “Transformations: The Struggle to Create” »

See it on the Weather Channel website (I’m after the 30-second commercial): view my Interview on the Weather Channel

And here are two images of the painting you see me creating in this interview; it took about another week to complete this painting:

Tornado with Debris Cloud, version 1 · Encaustic · © 2010 Marilyn Fenn

Tornado with Debris Cloud, version 2· Encaustic · © 2010 Marilyn Fenn

Tornado with Debris Cloud, version 2
Encaustic on Baltic Birch
10″ x 10″ x 2″
© 2010 Marilyn Fenn

I have completed two new tornado paintings; one was the one I started a few weeks ago while being interviewed for a Weather Channel segment about my tornado paintings.  It’s changed a lot since it was filmed in progress (final version above; first version below).

Continue reading “New Tornado Paintings” »

Most of the remodeling that we have been suffering through for the past 4-5 months is nearly over — except for finishing a number of details, and getting my new attic office fully functioning — another month maybe for the latter, and I’m giving myself until the end of 2010 to complete all the detail work.  The contractors are mostly done, though, and we have some new spaces, new lighting, and I have been able to convert my former office/studio into a full-time, full-space studio.  Woo-hoo!

It’s a little Martha Stewart looking, since it was my former office, and I didn’t really change the decor; I’m just working on finishing it the way it started, and making it work as a studio.

I have some previous office furniture to sell, and once that’s done, I will have a empty space in front of the front windows, and I will be able to create my encaustic table — the door table-top you see in the picture above, to which I will add 2×4 legs on casters and a couple of storage shelves underneath — maybe with a cutout for my knees, so I can do some drawing on it.

I’m also thinking of creating a floorcloth out of painter’s canvas, so I can stop getting paint all over the floor.

So, I continue to make adjustments as I work in my semi-new space.  See a small gallery of photos of my studio, with some changes in progress:

“Most storm chasers use a camera.”
(a guest at one of my studio tours)

I have some exciting news! I was interviewed last week by the Weather Channel. They plan to air a little feature on my paintings of tornadoes sometime in April at the start of tornado season. The local cameraman who works for TWC came to my house/studio, set up lights and interviewed me about my paintings and why I paint tornadoes, and also shot footage of me starting a new tornado painting to demonstrate my process.

Continue reading “Interview with the Weather Channel” »

I never send out anything from my name at my name dot com that isn’t about art.  Nothing about that male drug that starts with a V, nothing having to do with Russian girls, nothing having to do with bedroom recreational activities, nothing that isn’t about art, and usually about my art!

I have my email settings at my host set up with the tightest security and spam filters, so I can only conjecture that whoever is using my name at my name dot com is spoofing my email address.

So, please, do not open anything that isn’t about art that seems to be from me.

I am looking into the problems and possible solutions (if there are any).

Sigh!

Jetsons’ Holiday
Encaustic on Baltic Birch
10″ x 10″ x 1.75″ deep
© 2009 Marilyn Fenn

This is the second of my Organics series using encaustic.  I have started several more in this series in oil, and will likely attempt some in acrylic, as well.  And of course, there are all the sketches.

This piece went through quite a few changes during its creation.  That’s one of the challenging things for me about encaustic.  I may think I know where I’m going when I get started on a new piece, but things have a way of getting out of control when fusing each new application of wax to a melted state again (not necessary, but I love the process and especially the glassy smooth outcome) — however, it is fraught with the danger of losing edges and shapes that one already established.

This piece has many layers to it and a very thick coat of gorgeous translucent clear beeswax. Way down almost to the very bottom layer are some lovely shapes cut out of rice paper and coated in a celadon green wax, but you can only see memories of them now. There were also several strands of “beads” of wax paint in lime green that were very carefully applied, one bead at a time, that have now blurred to a few soft, hazy lines.

And, now that I have two solid little paintings and about 8 or 9 of sketches in my new Organics series, I also have a new gallery page on which to gather them all together: Organics.

Happy Together
Encaustic and rice paper on Baltic birch
10″ x 10″ x 1.75″ deep
© 2009 Marilyn Fenn

Painting in Encaustic: Liberation and Challenge

For about the past year-and-a-half, I have been in a bit of despair over how to continue working in encaustic.

I started using encaustic paints in 2006. Encaustic paint is pigment suspended in a mixture of beeswax and damar resin that the artist heats and paints with while in a melted state (the paint, not the artist ) – you can read more about encaustic here.

My first attempts were simply thick coatings of clear wax covering small pastel drawings of tornadoes.  Then I began painting the tornadoes using the hot wax.  As paradoxical as it may sound, I found the demands of the encaustic medium really liberated me from my former work that was too tight or too representational for my own satisfaction.  One cannot be tight when painting in encaustic AND achieve a smooth surface, and I fell in love with the smooth surface and the unpredictability of what happens to colors melted in wax when you blow them around with hot air. For the next year or so, I was thrilled to continue working in hot wax.

Continue reading “Kind of a Surprise: New Encaustic Piece” »

I’m not the least bit comfortable with marketing talk and sales pitches, but I am trying to do what I can to make it easy for my collectors, fans, friends and family members to consider a gift of art for that special someone on your holiday shopping list.  For not much more than the cost of a book and for less than a fancy dinner out, you could give someone the gift of an original and inspired painting — a gift that they can enjoy for a lifetime (how am I doing with that marketing thing? ).

To make it quick and easy for you to buy my small paintings, I started a new simplified blog expressly for selling my small art; no muss, no fuss — just small paintings at small prices, with easy Paypal “add to cart” buttons.  It’s called “Small Wonders” and is located here: Small Wonders.

Of course, anything on this website that has not already sold is also for sale; some are listed in my Etsy shop (and all my available 6″x6″ and 5″x7″ paintings are on the Small Wonders blog), but you can always feel free to contact me via email or phone if you are interested in any of my available paintings (or even a limited edition print of a painting).  But don’t wait too long; I just sold three more paintings today!

Perhaps even better news for my followers, fans, and collectors (or would-be collectors) is that in response to the challenges of this recession, I have significantly reduced the prices on all of my paintings — some as much as 33% – 40% less than before.  These are down-to-the-bone prices for me, and chances are they will never be lower!

The Fine Print:

Pricing:

• All paintings currently listed on the Small Wonders website sell for $50.00 each plus shipping (Texas residents add 8.25% sales tax). *Amendment (8-1-2010): I’ve added more sizes of paintings, plus framed paintings, to the Small Wonders blog; the price range  now ranges from $50 – $300 for all paintings on the blog.
• My larger paintings, listed on this website on Etsy are currently available for between $100.00 – $600.00.  That’s only $600.00 each for beautiful (IMHO; YMMV) 3 foot x 3 foot paintings!!!

Payment:

• Paypal: Payment for any item can be made via Paypal, which does not require you to have a Paypal account, is free for the buyer to use, allows you to use your Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express card, or even a bank account if you do have a Paypal account.
• Other: You may also pay by cash or money order, or if I know you, by personal check.
• Layaway: You may ask me to hold something for you in Lay-away, and make payments in installments, for no extra charge.  I will ship you the artwork after the final payment.

Shipping:

• Shipping is via USPS Priority Mail, which takes about 1 work day for handling and 2-3 days for shipping.
• Priority Mailing in time for Christmas needs to happen within about the next two weeks.
• All shipped artwork is insured, includes Delivery Confirmation™ and may allow for online tracking.
• Multiple purchases to the same address will be packaged together, if possible, to reduce overall shipping costs.
• You can request Express shipping at a higher cost, of course.

Colors:

• Most, if not all, of my paintings look far better in person than online.  The texture of the works does not translate well on screen, nor does the gorgeous surface of encaustic paintings.
• I strive to accurately reflect each painting’s true colors online, but some discrepencies may exist due to variances in monitor settings and monitor quality, and inherent difficulties that arise from translating pigment colors into the RGB colors of light.

I attended E.A.S.T. in 2004 and 2005, and really enjoyed meeting the artists and seeing their artwork and studio spaces.

Then from 2006-2008, I opened my east Austin home and studio (such as it is) to the touring public. It was great to have folks come to my space and talk about my art, to make some friends and sell a few paintings.   But it is a lot of work to prepare for such an event, and having just had my first solo show (which was also a huge amount of work), I decided not to open my studio this year.

I have been thrilled to attend E.A.S.T. as a visitor again. For the past three years, I have really missed visiting other artist’s spaces, seeing their work, talking about their art, and of course, meeting the artists!

This year E.A.S.T. has been expanded to two full weekends, with additional events nightly throughout the week between.  My hubby and I tried to visit as many painter’s spaces as possible on both weekends, though we weren’t able to make it to the weeknight events.  By the end of the first weekend, we had only made it through about 1/3 of the sections listed in this year’s tour book. We started at the Pump Project Art Complex, which houses about 20 artists.

We began with Leanne’s Venier‘s great studio, and enjoyed seeing her lovely colorful abstractions and chatting with her for a bit.   We moved on to Josh Dihle‘s space —  Josh is currently working on a comic book. He has mad illustration skills, and I love his paintings as well.  Plus, he’s a really nice guy.

Josh Dihle, talented young painter and illustrator with some of his drawings and comic book pages

We also stepped into Debra Broz‘s studio for a bit; besides drawing, painting and collage, Debra is also a professional ceramics restorer, and is (or is it was?) a writer and co-editor for local contemporary art magazine, Cantanker, AND manager of the Pump Project Art Complex.  Plus she was selected as one of the artists in this year’s (Twenty-fourth) New American Talent exhibition at the Arthouse.

We checked out the whimsical work of illustrator Audrey Lopata — great stuff!  You can read an interview with her on the Austinist.

We looked at Erika Jaeggli‘s rockin’ representational paintings.  Love her reflections!

We then visited with Jan Roset for a bit, and I really enjoyed looking at her gorgeous bodies of work — she and I are are both really into color — lots of it and high intensity, too.  I love her new “monkey brains” series, but then I love all of her series — lots of energy in her work!

Jan Roset, painter extraordinaire, at Pump Project Art Complex (sorry, this is not a good picture of Jan!)

Kid-altered ocelet drawing by Katherine Sheehan

Then we stopped in the studio of Katherine Sheehan, who does some wonderful prints, mixed media and collage works, and very large pastel drawings.  As we were peering at some of her works, she walked in to discover that someone had run their fingers through the fur pattern on a large pastel drawing of an ocelot, kind of ruining the drawing!  She was pretty copecetic about having to fix it, though — much more than I think I would have been.

A few minutes later as we were about to head upstairs, there — next to his mom — stood a small child, hands all covered in brown and black pastel!  Culprit found.

We then checked out most of the studios upstairs, finishing our tour of Pump Project with Mark Johnson.  As we walked in to his small but very cool space, Mark was typing his business cards on an actual typewriter.  He looks like he ought to be wearing a pork-pie hat, and working under one of those old-fashioned green glass lamps.  

Mark incorporates text and wires into his already compelling paintings and drawings.  Normally, I’m not a big fan of text in a painting, but what Mark does with text takes it to a whole other level, and makes his work even more visually interesting.  I almost stumbled into a piece that had wires sticking straight out about 2 feet into the space, and on the ends of the wires were letters which read “Where is the ”  Anyway, Mark is a very cool guy, great fun to talk to, and creates wonderful work.

Just as we were leaving Mark’s studio, in walks the kid with dirty hands, his hands now clean.  As he starts trying to pull the letters off Mark’s piece mentioned above, his mother at least tells him not to touch the art (though she didn’t stop him from touching it).  Sigh!

Mark Johnson "printing" business cards on his typewriter.

On the path to the Ginko Studios complex

After Pump Project, we headed over to the Ginko Studios complex — a place that feels like it’s in the country, but is actually right in the middle of east Austin.  If I have my story straight, after graduating from UT grad school about 20 years ago, Sunyong Chung made a wise investment in the house and land that is now Ginko Studios on the banks of Boggy Creek; she and her husband, sculptor Philippe Klinefelter, have their residence and studios here.

Sunyong is a potter who will be having a solo sculpture exhibition in the Spring of 2010 at the Austin Museum of Art.  Philippe creates large scale public sculptural installations and works in granite, wood and metal.  Her studio and showroom reflect the delicacy of her work; while Philippe’s studio is jammed with all kinds of industrial looking equipment, tools and projects.  Outside on the grounds are huge chunks of granite and 12-foot mounds of leftover granite chips.

Philippe Klinefelter's studio at the Ginko studio compound.

The work of Sunyong Chung and guest artist Melanie Shopper at Ginko Studios.

From thoroughly enjoying wandering around on the grounds and studios at Ginko Studios, we headed over to Ian Shults‘ home studio. I love what he’s doing in his paintings — how they seem to start out as representational works, but become somewhat abstracted in the breaking up and merging of the image and the “background.” Michael Schliefke is also showing at Ian’s space; Michael is a super-nice guy with some fabulous comic books, “Tales of the Really White Vigilante” (East Austin’s Superhero – which I’m looking forward to reading) — and he’s also an accomplished painter.

For our last stop of the day, we headed over to the Bolm Road complex of studios; Big Medium (where it all began), Bay6 Gallery and Studios, where I have spent many wonderful hours in the past couple of years, and Cari Washburn’s new space, Clay Under Fire Studio | Pigoata Studios.

Ian Shults in his studio with one of his lucious paintings.

Chun Hui Pak with one of her origami inspired paintings in her studio at Big Medium.

I think I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story; click on the tiny thumbnails at the bottom of this post to see all the pictures from this day in random order, OR view them in order here: Day One.

I’ll be writing more (or less!) about days two and three of our tour as soon as I can…If you don’t care to read about them, but prefer to just view the pics, they are here: Day Two (Sunday, Nov. 15th); Day Three (for us – Sat., Nov. 21st).

Names/links to other artists/studios visited:

Bay6 Gallery and Studios:

Sharon Kyle-Kuhn
Chris White
Susannah Blanton

Clay Under Fire Studio / Pigoata Studios:

Cari Washburn
Daphne Holland
Juan Moreno
Alec Drummond