Meet The Team: Alyssa Gougoutris
We are proud of all of our employees, from our paintmakers to the folks answering the phone and packing orders, and everyone in between. Our "Meet The Team" feature is our way of introducing you to the fine folks behind the scenes who make R&F possible.
In this “Meet The Team” post you will meet Alyssa Gougoutris. Alyssa is one of R&F’s paint-makers - that indispensable group of people behind the scenes trained to create each of the 103 different colors in our encaustic and Pigment Stick® lines.
She has also taken quite a few of our Instagram photos. You might remember her gorgeous pink nails that perfectly matched Dianthus Pink a few weeks back? That’s Alyssa.
Please give us a brief description of what you do day to day at R&F.
My job title is paint-maker. I have different tasks depending on the day. About half of the week I am milling and the other half I am correcting and pouring into the molds.
I also have my assigned day for the pigment room, where I get suited up in my hazmat and combine pigment with either oil or wax. Usually, when I am done with my tasks in production, I'll head over to post-production to wrap and label paint.
How many years have you been working for R&F?
In December, it will be my 5 year anniversary with R&F! :)
What do you do outside of work?
Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with my family and my partner. Baking is one of my passions and I have my own small business (Tito's Treats). I love to teach art, and I am currently a teaching artist at The DRAW of Kingston. In my spare time, I like to draw, collage and experiment with new mediums (encaustic is my favorite by far).
Do you have an art background or related practice?
I earned my Associate of Science with a focus in Fine Arts at SUNY Ulster in 2015 and my BFA in printmaking in 2017 from SUNY New Paltz.
I was also a studio tech at the time, which was a great learning experience.
If someone came to visit Kingston, what's one thing you would recommend they see/ do/ eat/ experience?
If you come to Kingston, I recommend starting your day off with a bagel from Sunrise Bagels and Deli or a hot breakfast from Dietz stadium diner. After that I'd go for a walk at the Hutton brickyards and enjoy the scenery along the Hudson. For lunch, I recommend Urban Fork or Bun's Burgers, and then a walk through uptown to visit the record stores and boutiques.
If you want to stay uptown for dinner there's Vincenzo's Pizzeria, but if you'd like to enjoy the nightlife of downtown, Armadillo would be another great choice. If there's room after dinner, Ice cream from Mickey's Igloo hits the spot, or travel to Catskill or Hyde Park for a drive-in movie and some popcorn.
Favorite color in R&F's paint line?
Hard to pick just one! So maybe I can give my top three... Cerulean Grey, Jaune Brilliant, and Courbet Green.