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Greetings! So, you know all the encaustic paintings I created during Lisa Pressman's summer class? (You should, if you've been following my blog!) I'm putting together a little exhibit that will be at Signature Brew Coffee Company in September. See the announcement....  Yep, the title of the show is Hot Wax & OctoLove. I decided to call it that because most of the work is encaustic, which is made with hot wax, and most of the work has an octopus theme. I love the swirly shape of the octopus and most of these paintings have some kind of octopus-flowing-underwater imagery incorporated into them. My work will be up September 14 - October 11, 2012. There is a free opening reception on Friday, September 14 from 6 - 9pm. Signature Brew Coffee Company 633 W Main St Sylva, NC There will be refreshments (and of course, great coffee) at the reception, as well as a fun surprise from me! So, come on out and bring friends! Click on the Facebook Event invitation here: Hot Wax & Octo Love Facebook  Also, while you're on Facebook, hop on over to my new artist page here: Artwork by Dawn Behling ...and click "Like"! 
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So, at the end of the workshop, I was delighted to discover that I had eleven finished pieces. Whew! Eleven pieces in four days is something! It felt so great to be absorbed in the studio again and focus on art making for a week. I noticed I worked a lot in greens and blues, and of course my beloved Octopus showed up more than once....  I've posted a gallery of my work here: New Work: Encaustic Workshop.
Enjoy! So the workshop week has come to a close. It was fabulous. There were three simultaneous workshops: Book arts with Karen Hanmer, Hot Wax with Lisa Pressman, and Cold Wax with Rebecca Crowell. I loved meeting these wonderful instructors and mingling with all the students involved. Seeds for wonderful friendships and artistic collaborations were planted! Here are some studio shots in the various classrooms.... 
By the way, the book, Free Play, by Stephen Nachmanovitch, is a must-read, not only for artists, but for anyone wanting to be more creative and intuitive in life, in general. I read it for the first time about 10 years ago and was thrilled to see Rebecca reference it in her class! 
Book arts with Karen
Rebecca's class
Here are a few pieces in progress. I hope I can finish them all before the class is over! 
This is how this piece started.....
....and this is what it's transformed into. We'll see how it ends up....
Lisa had us do a really interesting warm-up exercise where we created 30 drawings in 30 minutes. It gets the creative mojo going and allows the creative process to flow without thinking. Here are some of mine..... 
I usually use very sinuous, rounded shapes in my work, so I was surprised to see how geometric and "square" these drawings were. Here's some of Lisa's.... 
One of the drawing prompts was to draw a certain word or feeling. Of course, Lisa and I psycho-analyzed them.....
Remember, she could have been a therapist, right? So much fun. Lisa Pressman's Encaustic & Embellishment workshop is amazing! Lisa is a rock star. Not only is she a master artist and knows her stuff, she has a wonderful sense of humor, and really wants to connect with her students. She is very intuitive about her student's artistic style and personality. She said she could have been a therapist, and I believe her! 
Lisa's work in class
Generally speaking, encaustic is a method of building up layers of wax/resin medium. Within these layers, the possibiilities are endless. Pieces of paper collage, ink, thread, fabric, paint, etc., can be embedded in the encaustic layers, creating a rich, dimensional surface. Can you see why I love this? 
Lisa demonstrates collage technique
My workspace
This is a fabulous, intense, and exhausting workshop! I barely had time to post this! Tonight is our last of the studio time and tomorrow is clean up. One week is just not enough for all there is to explore....
More pics to come.... Next week, I get to paint with hot wax for the first time! I'm really excited, as I have the privilege of being the class assistant for a Cullowhee Mountain Arts workshop. The class is Encaustic and Embellishment with Lisa Pressman. 
This is one of Lisa's paintings. I love the texture and color and I can't wait to get my octoprints into some wax!
Learn about Cullowhee Mountain Arts here: https://www.facebook.com/#!/CullowheeMountainArts  I just created an artist portfolio on wncarts.com. There's no such thing as too much exposure, right? Check it out here: Dawn Behling Portfolio Thanks for the art love! 
My work is in the Light Space & Time Online Gallery this month! It is included in this month's exhibit, Nature. Over 800 works were submitted to this exhibition, and only 135 works in the painting category were accepted, and mine was one of them! My painting, Octoprint II: Algae will be on exhibit for the month of May. 
Sun Beetle, 2012, mixed-media, 12"x12"
Its been a while since I've posted something new, but now here it is!
I've been working on a few new pieces. I had several marbled fabric pieces that I made at a class at Penland a few years back, and they were just hanging out in my studio, waiting to transform into something special. You can see them here: New Work Also, during the month of April, I will be exhibiting my work at City Lights Cafe in Sylva, NC. There will be a reception with appetizers and lots of fun on April 6 from 6-9pm. Happy new year! My artwork will be included in a group show at the Southern Appalachian Brewery in Hendersonville, NC. The brewery's premier art exhibit will feature three local artists, live music, and great food and drink! Come out to the opening on Sunday January 8th 2012 4:00pm - 11:00pm Click for Facebook Event Southern Appalachian Brewery 
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