2025 Featured Workshops with R&F Instructors
Image credit: Julie Snidle
There are so many opportunities to learn in 2025. Below we’ve highlighted a featured workshop from each of our R&F affiliated instructors. You can learn more about these instructors at rfpaints.com. If none of these workshops are close to you, download our Teaching Artist list to find someone in your region.
Unable to attend a workshop? You can access a range of tutorials on R&F’s YouTube channel or visit Articles & Links where you will find blog posts on popular subjects ranging from how to store Pigment Sticks® to encaustic color mixing.
Image credit: Joanna Kidney
January 25: Abstract Encaustic Painting with Denise Richards, Flowing Lake Studios, Snohomish WA
This class is geared to students new to encaustic painting. It will cover how to use transparent and opaque R&F paints in conjunction with encaustic medium to build layers and create depth. Students will explore mark making and use R&F Pigment Sticks® to create a glaze on the surface of their finished paintings.
February 8 - 9: Introduction to Encaustic and Collage with Leslie Giuliani, Woodstock School Art, Woodstock, NY
In this workshop artists will be introduced to encaustic painting and collage. Students will create complexly layered artwork using R&F encaustic medium as your “glue.” We will work with fabric, photos, and our own drawings along with encaustic paint. Demonstrations include image transfer and direct drawing.
Image credit: Kelly Williams
February 1 - 2: Valentine’s Sexy Photo Encaustic Workshop with Kelly Williams, Kelly Williams’ Studio, Portland, OR
An annual tradition of erotic art, champagne, and chocolate. Students can use Kelly’s vintage imagery or a fun image of yourself and embellish it into a unique piece of art or series of erotic Valentine’s Day cards. Kelly will cover photo-encaustic techniques and how to incorporate a variety of mixed media both on wood and paper to create one of a kind pieces with a sexy twist.
February 20 - 22: Oil and Cold Wax Painting with Julie Snidle, Art Center Sarasota, Sarasota, FL
Discover new tools and methods for creating rich and authentic small paintings on paper using oil and cold wax. You'll have several paintings going at once and they can easily be transported back home. This workshop is fun, a bit messy, and will change the way you think about oil painting.
Image credit: Dietlind Vander Schaaf
March 7 - 8: Working Large: Encaustic Printmaking with Kelly Austin Rolo, Englewood Art Studios, Englewood, CO
This workshop is designed for artists eager to elevate their printmaking and explore the exciting possibilities of working on a larger scale. Over two intensive days, we’ll tackle the unique challenges of scaling up, providing in-depth guidance on the complexities of larger-format creations. Participants will gain valuable insights and hands-on techniques that empower them to confidently approach expansive works. Join us for this transformative experience and unlock your potential in the world of large-scale printmaking.
Image credit: Jeff Hirst
March 18 - 21: Exploring Encaustic Painting and the Color of Mexico with Jeff Hirst, Alma del Sol Studio, Guanajuato, Mexico
Artists will work with a cool and warm palette with an emphasis on complex color mixing and relationships. Translucent and opaque color will be covered, as well as how to achieve a smooth surface on a large scale painting, tinting R&F Gesso, and underpainting. This workshop is geared towards artists looking to rediscover or further refine your own personal vision and voice.
Image credit: Lora Murphy
March 21 - 31: Abstracts & Portraits with Oil Pigment Sticks: Painting Down the Nile with Jodi Reeb and Lora Murphy, Egypt
Join Jodi and Lora for an unforgettable journey down the Nile, where students will be introduced to solvent-free portrait painting with oil and cold wax medium. This workshop will cover everything from the basics to advanced techniques, including materials, supports, paints, and unique tools, while exploring expressive mark-making and learning how to build history in their work.
April 28 - May 6: Encaustic and Abstraction with Joanna Kidney, Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Co. Mayo, Ireland
Experimental exercises, drawing, reflection, writing, and field trips will be combined with an emphasis on layering, translucency, opacity and subtraction in this class. Exercises and prompts will lead to a more experimental, playful and intuitive use of techniques and tools for adding/subtracting/manipulating layers. Color exploration, composition, and resolving a painting will be emphasized. We will also cover the elements and principles of art; working with precision, control and smooth surfaces and compatible media.
May 4 - 9: What If Retreat with Lisa Pressman, Artist Rising Creativity Retreats, Glastonbury, CT
This workshop is focused on exploration, intuition, and pushing out of your comfort zone. Directives include formal elements such as line, shape, space, color, and composition with fast-paced timing based on discovery rather than finished products. Participants will create many small works to let go of the "precious" mentality. Participants will not only develop their technical skills but also gain a deeper understanding of their artistic style and voice. By immersing themselves in the making process and consistently producing pieces, artists will have the opportunity to reflect on their work, identify patterns, and uncover recurring themes. This self-exploration and reflection are invaluable in helping artists to refine their artistic vision, and ultimately, find their unique visual language that sets them apart as creators.
June 22 - 27: Sacred Art: Shrines and Totems with Dietlind Vander Schaaf and Kelly Milukas, Tiverton, RI
Deepen your practice of art making and design thinking during a six day encaustic retreat. Students will focus on surface treatments such as collage; casting and embedding objects in wax; image transfer; creating texture; mark making; and working with compatible mediums. We will explore the way art can honor loss, mark change/transition, ignite transformation, and serve as an extension of mindfulness practice. Yoga will be offered each day.
Image credit: Jodi Reeb
August 4 - 8: The Moody Blues: Encaustic, Indigo & Cyanotype with Lorraine Glessner, Lareau Farm Inn, Waitsfield, Vermont
This workshop explores all of the exciting ways in which the unmistakeable blue/green hues of Indigo and the rich cobalt blue of cyanotype can be combined with encaustic. The process of cyanotype is enhanced by the strong Vermont summer sun, botanicals from the garden and meadow, and experimental natural materials such as salt, tea, coffee, and turmeric. Collage, mark-making, and rust printing on paper and fabric are also explored.
Image credit: Dietlind Vander Schaaf
August 22 - 24: Layers: Next Level with Bettina Egli Sennhauser and Dietlind Vander Schaaf, Studio Kunstfreiraum, Basel, Switzerland
Students will learn how to skillfully incorporate collage elements, such as encaustic monoprints, as well as create their own unique prints using dye and wax as a resist. This workshop will emphasize what can be done between layers of encaustic with a focus on mark making and working with paper. You will also incorporate ink and asemic writing, as well as learn techniques that allow you to transfer drawings and marks.
Image credit: Shelley Jean
September 8 - 9: Making your Mark in Encaustic with Megan MacDonald, Canadian Encaustic Conference, Owen Sound, ON, Canada
This technique-based workshop explores the importance of the drawn line and ways that one can utilize it to give new depth and focus to their work. We will experiment with various methods of drawing in, under, and on the wax surface. Students will develop ways to continuously pull lines up through the surface of their encaustic painting, while exploring a variety of arts media to make marks and draw.
October 12 - 18: Italian Encaustic Journey with Shelley Jean, Buonconvento, Tuscany, Italy
Students will practice imagery development through journaling and sketching, learning to create a series of works while finding their voice and being inspired by Tuscany. Techniques covered include working with photography, printmaking, incising, mixed media, image transfers, collage, and mark-making. Ideal for beginners and seasoned artists.
November 7 - 14: EXPLORE: Zen, Wax, Color with Kelly Milukas and Gabriela Sanchez, San Miguel De Allende, Mexico
Immerse yourself in an exploration of color, values, and light, combining Zen painting and encaustic painting. We will blend modern encaustic techniques with the hues, values, inks, and inspiration drawn from the nature, architecture, vibrant culture, and picturesque landscape of San Miguel de Allende.
Image credit: Kelly Milukas