Marcie Wolf-Hubbard, Visual Artist, Tells Her Story

I have always loved to draw -- maybe as a connection to the world, my response, or appreciation. This goes for landscapes, nature, up close, and the figure. I think it’s my intimate, quiet observing that separates me from the wild, noisy, sometimes rude, uncaring world, seeking the beauty of nature.

As a student at the University of Maryland and the Maryland Institute, College of Art my focus was improving my skills as an artist. In my teaching, being able to share my love of art will hopefully inspire others and improve their skills. I continually remind students to look, and that is what I continue to do. I think that looking is how I draw.

Girl with Flowers, Charcoal, encaustic, mixed media on panel, 14"H x 11"W x .5"D

When I think about drawing and my materials I’m remembering how satisfied I was when I could work with chalk pastels to develop a landscape. The pastels could be painterly, and I felt I could achieve the feel of the landscape and create atmosphere. Moving the chalk with my fingers, I would blend the colors. The combination of materials and motion of my process seemed to bring about what I saw and felt. When I worked in oils, I loved that with a brush I could move the colors, blend and draw and that seemed to work for me. I experimented with surfaces, and found that I wanted to add more to build texture. A tar paper surface works well for landscape painting. Drawing into the paint, the black textured paper shows through. Revealing the dark background gives my paintings depth.

About ten years ago I learned about weekly life drawing sessions at Montgomery College. I’ve been going there regularly ever since. It had been many years since my life drawing classes in college. Now, if I miss a week of drawing, it feels like a huge sacrifice. That’s how important the weekly sessions are to me. My charcoal of choice is General’s 6B (soft) compressed charcoal sticks. I’m able to draw lines with the charcoal, capturing gesture. I move the charcoal with my fingers to give the drawings a tonal quality, which can define the volume of the figure. Here, I am able to be painterly with charcoal.

Well Traveled, Charcoal, encaustic, mixed media on panel,  12"H x 14"W x .75"D

I don’t know if it was the first time, but I started taking notice of other artists’ work in encaustic in 2009 at The Divas and Iron Chefs of Encaustic Exhibition at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, VA. In 2010, I was included in The University of Maryland University College’s exhibition, “Mind, Body, Spirit, Celebrating Regional Women Artists.” There, I found other artists working in encaustic and I finally thought that I would like to do this.

I think what captivated me about the encaustic paintings I saw was the surface. The painting did seem more like a construction, a play of light, with a surface you wanted to touch.

Yours Truly, Charcoal, encaustic, mixed media on panel, 14"H x 10"W x .5"D

Ellyn Weiss, an artist whom I have admired, instructed me to ‘bring whatever I liked with me for my tutorial with her in encaustic painting. I brought my drawings from the life drawing sessions along with miscellaneous materials and started exploring encaustic painting. I was hooked and that started my love of working in encaustic. I’ve loved seeing Ellyn’s work through the years. I’m especially drawn to her palette and the energy of her paintings and drawings.

Eagle Eyes, Charcoal, encaustic on panel,  13"H x 9.5"W x .5"D

Today, I use the encaustic painting to highlight my drawings. I feel the added texture, luminosity, layers, and dimension all help in my construction or building of my artwork. I add, and take away, sometimes making the painting more of a sculptural form. The carving away is another form of drawing. You have to see it and touch it to understand. It is the back and forth nature of collage that lends itself well to encaustic painting. Collage elements add more texture, dimension and depth to the paintings. I may work with a painting for weeks, or over a month. It is rare to do a painting in one sitting. That is also my approach with mixed media/collage. I need to live with it, get a better look at the parts of it, and think about what may be necessary.

Snowy Trail in Rock Creek Park, Oil on roofing paper, 48"H x 28"W

This past year has been a difficult year for my family. David, my husband, had surgery in July to remove a cancerous tumor from his duodenum (small intestine.) The extensive surgery was a success and he is now managing the results of the surgery and chemotherapy. Our regular walks we take together in beautiful Rock Creek Park continue to inspire me. We’re fortunate to have our younger son Rigel with us now to help at home and offer his positive spirit, but we know we’ll miss him terribly when he leaves for Armenia in March to join the Peace Corps. Our older son Orion has been working for several years in Hubbard’s Fine Art Services, my husband’s art installation and sculpture conservation business. Orion has gained the expertise in working in metal and he thinks like an engineer to manage installing and securing art in all kinds of ways. David and I look forward to visiting Rigel in Armenia and I am also investigating artist residencies in Armenia.

Burlesque, Grande, Charcoal, encaustic, mixed media on panel,  15"H x 10"W x .5"D

This is Week 47 of 52 Artists in 52 Weeks. Thank you for reading and sharing Marcie's story today. To connect with her and see more of her work, please visit the following links:

Website

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Francie Hester, Painter, Tells Her Story

After more than three decades of painting, I have come to understand the ebb and flow of creating work in the quiet of a studio.  The challenge to create something out of nothing takes patience, passion, and dedication. A sense of humor helps, too.

1. Unfolding #3 - 60" diptych acrylic and wax on aluminum honeycomb panel

For me, the painting process begins with the poetic voice and the intuitive and cognitive decisions are woven together to form the structure and ultimate support. I think of the painting process not as an artistic journey; it begins and ends not as a venture but to deepen that which is inherently known but not understood.

2. Intertwined #31 - 16' x 16' acrylic and wax on aluminum honeycomb panel

I try not to worry about traveling on a well-worn or fresh path, but to engage the process from one’s own perspective, extending that to its fullest potential.

3. Intertwined #16

I do not have any direct influences, so to speak.  I see, read, and hear, as much as I can, and things seem to surface when I need them. I gather outside influences, but it is more a process of weaving inward rather than extending out to reach a point where I did not begin. Differing perspectives and orientations can stretch the personal dialogue that runs through the work, and strengthen the voice from which the work is created.  But, for me, the voice must ultimately come from within if the work is to be authentic.

4. Vessel #1 30 inch acrylic and wax on steel disc

This is Week 39 of 52 Artists in 52 Weeks. Thank you for reading and sharing Francie’s story today. To connect with Francie and see more of her work, please visit her Website, Instagram and Twitter accounts. Descriptions of Francie's work featured here is detailed below:

5. Relic #4  - 29" acrylic and wax on sculpted aluminum

 

6. Convex #20 - 29" triptych acrylic and wax on aluminum honeycomb panel

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1. The Unfolding series reflects on the fluid nature of memory and on the passage of time. Pivotal moments occur with great clarity and precision, yet they evolve and revolve with distance and time. 

2 & 3. The Intertwined series examines two contrasting principles. Time is marked and measured; and time is unbounded, fluid, infinite. 

4. The gentle arc of Vessels creates a space for reflection, contemplation, healing, remembering. Thought, time and memory come together as a collective.

5. The Relic series takes its shape from the Bi Discs of ancient Chinese burial sites. The series explores the concept of infinity.

6. The Convex series examines pathways and repetition creating patterns and cycles of memories -- ones lost and found.

Eileen P. Goldenberg, Visual Artist, Tells Her Story

When I am painting, I usually have a direction that I am going in. A long series of pieces, up to 350 paintings, can occupy me for a long time. Having long stretches of time to paint every day is what it takes for me to evolve the work.

The pieces that I am happy with stay, and the rest get repainted or changed to continue the process. My work is abstract, using color, form and shapes to communicate. My medium is tempered beeswax (encaustic), and I find that this material is the best one for me to express my emotions.

Encaustic Painting

Here is one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite artists.

“Art is a concrete result of the artist’s subtle feelings” Agnes Martin

In addition to painting, I create a line of functional Porcelain. I have been doing this for over 50 years. I teach ceramics to adults and kids and it is fun to see them get so excited about working with such a responsive material.  

Salt-Fired Bowl

I also draw every day. These drawings are abstract but very different from my paintings, even though they do sometimes inform each other.

Abstract Drawing

My drawings feed me in a different way than my other work, being very complex and exacting with tiny squares defining the shapes. I use ink, watercolor, markers, etc. I have many, many, sketchbooks and boxes filled with drawings.

Porcelain Vessel

This is Week 36 of 52 Artists in 52 Weeks. Thank you for reading and sharing Eileen’s story today. To see more of Eileen's work and connect with her, please visit the following links:

My facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/GoldenbergCeramicDesigns/

Instagram..https://www.instagram.com/eileenpg/

Encaustic work in progress