Welcome to Issue 17 of ProWax Journal

It's not easy being a quarterly publication especially when all of us are working artists with full schedules. We no sooner post one issue than work begins on the next one. What keeps us going? Your positive response to ProWax Journal and our determination to keep raising the bar in encaustic. 

In our Special Section: The Exhibitions of Conference 11
Here, a peek into Between Shadow and Light, curated by Debra Claffey, as part of the Conference Curatorial Program. Foreground: Paula Roland, left; Pat Spainhour, right. In the distance, Spainhour in front of window, with Christine Shannon Aaron on either side
Photo: Debra Claffey

As always we have a full issue. A look at the Table of Contents will show you just how much we've shoehorned into Issue 17. For instance in Essential Questions, Jane Guthridge gets Amy Ellingson to open up about how she prepares for a solo show, while in Art/Community/Education, Milisa Galazzi talks with ProWax members about The Teaching of Art. In Q&A Nancy Natale finishes up the conversation she started last issue with Patricia Miranda. And Deborah Claffey gets Sue Katz and Charyl Weissbach to describe their work succinctly in In Five Words. There's more, which you can discover on your own, including my conversation with artists and paint manufacturers who are working with cold wax.

So here let me tell you about our Special Section, a first for PWJ. Deborah Winiarski, who usually produces a curated feature, presents a visual report on the exhibitions that took place during the 11th International Encaustic Conference, June 2-4, in Provincetown. This is a big job because we had seven exhibitions: Sense of Place, the Conference’s juried show at Castle Hill, selected by Patricia Miranda; two Conference Curatorial projects: Between Shadow and Light, curated by Debra Claffey, and Photosynthesis, curated by Sherrie Posternak and Lia Rothstein; Black Tie (optional), an invitational organized by Marian and Adam Peck for the Adam Peck Gallery; Alternative Wax: Layers of Facts, the Conference’s first political show, juried by Francine D’Olimpio for her gallery, Kobalt; and Cherie Mittenthal’s solo, also at Kobalt, where she is a gallery artist. Cherie and I co-curated Depth Perception for the Cape Cod Museum of Art, and I’ll take you on a curator’s walk-through that. In all at least 150 artists were listed as participating in the various exhibitions. While some artists participated in more than one show, we still had well over 100 individual conferees taking part in the visual feast that accompanied the Conference talks, demos and panels.

As many of you know, I founded the Conference in 2007 and directed it for ten years. This year Truro Center for the Arts assumed ownership with Cherie Mittenthal at the helm. Conferees saw a smooth transition as Cherie putting her imprint on the event. You can get a sense of the excitement and range of activities in the Encaustic Conference Facebook group. If you're not a member, now might be a good time to join. 

We hope you like this issue. As always, we are happy to hear from you via your comments to the articles. We also welcome your financial support. Not only does it take a village to produce a free publication like this it takes money, primarily to support the archive and promote the current site. The Donate button is on the sidebar of this publication. When you click on it, you’ll arrive at my own Pay Pal site (for the Joanne Mattera Art Blog). Just indicate that your donation is for PWJ. I’m no mathematician, but I know enough about numbers to keep the two streams separate.

Did you pick up one of our postcards at the Conference?

Feel free to share ProWax Journal. Tell your friends, colleagues, and students about it. Encaustic belongs in the contemporary art mainstream with practitioners who look beyond the confines of “encaustic art.” ProWax Journal will help it get there.   --Joanne Mattera