Sean Sullivan 8/15/22 Sean Sullivan 8/15/22

Matt Kleberg: Extended Stay - A Unique Color Collaboration

Matt, a long time and avid user of R&F Pigment Sticks®, explores color and form to create work hovering between realms of pure abstraction and strict representation. The work exists here and there, and in that way is timeless. The finished paintings are often informed by and suggest architectural elements such as doorways and windows. They read as private spaces of contemplation, divine portals of light and form.

Reference photo sent from Matt Kleberg to R&F’s R+D Dept. for our Unique Color collaboration. The second block from the top would become our Limited Edition Quinacridone Magenta Light and the third, green block, would become Limited Edition Verdigris.

The plan went something like this.

Let’s invite an artist to come and spend some time with us here at 84 Ten Broeck, to work alongside our paint making and post production teams. We’ll put them up at Brown Pink, our Artist Residency just down the road. That way we’ll have all the time in the world to look at color, talk about color and hopefully, if all goes according to plan, combine our efforts to create a limited edition color we might then share with the world - a ‘Unique Color’ collaboration if you will.

Insert artist and wonderful human being, Matt Kleberg. Matt, a long time and avid user of R&F Pigment Sticks®, explores color and form to create work hovering between realms of pure abstraction and strict representation. The work exists here and there, and in that way is timeless. The finished paintings are often informed by and suggest architectural elements such as doorways and windows. They read as private spaces of contemplation, divine portals of light and form.

**Matt Kleberg, *Cheek to Jowl*, Pigment Stick**® **on canvas, 66” x 60”, 2021. Image courtesy of Sorry We’re Closed, Brussels and the artist.**

Matt’s process of direct observation, photographic documentation, and a near devotional drawing practice ultimately inform his painting practice. As we learned in our time together, Matt applies Pigment Stick® directly to the canvas surface. There is no brush, no tape, just a steady hand and time.

Reference photo from Matt Kleberg to R&F’s R+D Dept. Matt took this photo while on residency in Puglia, Italy early this year. The deep, emerald green would serve as inspiration for what would become Verdigris.

**Matt Kleberg’s Verdigris Color Study, Pigment Stick**® **on paper, 9” x 12”, 2022. Verdigris is in the center surrounded by Viridian, Veronese Green, Malachite, Chromium Oxide Green, Courbet Green and Green Earth.**

**Matt Kleberg shares his process with the R&F Team.**

Almost everything went according to plan. Matt flew in from San Antonio, TX and settled in nicely at Brown Pink. We got straight to work. We showed him what we do and how we do it. In return, Matt, ever generous and open, shared his process as well. We got our collective hands dirty and had a great time in the process.

**Matt Kleberg with Senior Paint Maker and R&D Specialist, Maddison Ginter.**

Here’s where the plan went slightly awry.

Before Matt tested positive for Covid-19 (oof!) and had to extend his stay at Brown Pink, we managed to make not one limited edition color as we had hoped, but three!

Thankfully, Matt made a full recovery and managed to use his isolation time at Brown Pink productively, making many beautiful drawings. Some of these color studies can be seen in Extended Stay: a Unique Color collaboration up now in R&F’s Gallery: Work in Progress.

**Matt Kleberg’s color studies. Pigment Stick® on paper, 9” x 12”, 2022.**

The three limited edition, 38 ml Pigment Sticks® colors (below) will be released soon as part of a new (6) color Unique Color Set that also includes Olive Yellow, Prussian Blue, and Green Gold Pale.

Verdigris: a deep, emerald green, reminiscent of Viridian’s top tone but significantly more opaque. Contains Titanium-Zinc White (PW6 + PW4), Phthalo Green (PG7) and Mars Yellow Light (PY42).

Quinacridone Magenta Light: a Quinacridone Magenta tint. Cool, bluish, edgy. Contains Titanium-Zinc White (PW6 + PW4) and Quinacridone Magenta (PV19).

Cadmium Coral: a clean and warm Cadmium Red Light tint. Contains Titanium-Zinc White (PW6 + PW4) and Cadmium Red Light (PR108).

R&F’s Unique Color Limited Edition Color Set will be available next month. Check with your local retailer for more information.

Dietlind Vander Schaaf 8/9/22 Dietlind Vander Schaaf 8/9/22

Artist Spotlight: Kate Collyer

Kate Collyer lives and works in the Hudson Valley where she serves as adjunct professor for several universities in the area and teaches an annual workshop at R&F. Kate received her MFA in Printmaking from SUNY New Paltz and is currently a Studio Art PhD candidate at the Burren College of Art in Ireland.

Kate Collyer, *Untitled*, 8” x 11”, Pigment Stick® found material monoprint with linocut and Pigment Stick® drawing, 2019.

Her work has been exhibited extensively, including internationally in Poland, Switzerland, Portugal, Japan, Australia, and Canada. She was the 2014 recipient of the Southern Graphics Council International Graduate Fellowship Award and her work is in the permanent collections of the SMTG Krakow Printmaking Triennial Collection, the SGC International Archives at the Zuckerman Museum of Art, and the Morgan Art of Papermaking Conservatory and Educational Foundation, among others.

Both printmaker and storyteller, Kate notes in her artist statement that “throughout time, oral tradition and myth have been used to connect us to our environment in ways that bypass ‘from-ness’, giving us the literacy of a landscape… [and] resulting in a moral - a better understanding of a truth - that allows one to see where they are more clearly.”

Can you tell us a little about yourself? How did you get your start as an artist?

I have always been creative. There are photographs of me as a toddler making art at my father's drafting desk. It was during my undergraduate studies that I merged my love for making with my desire to educate.

As an adult, I've spent many years in international artists residencies, most recently the Arctic Circle Residency in Svalbard, the Cape Breton Centre for Craft & Design in Nova Scotia, and Edition/Basel in Switzerland.

Kate Collyer, *Desert Scape*, 4” x 12”, paper lithograph with encaustic and watercolor in a handmade bookcloth cylinder box with walnut, 2020.

What are you currently working on in the studio? How has your work evolved over the years?

The backbone of my current practice is my research for my PhD candidacy. With a focus on landscape, pathways, and wayfaring, I explore the historical bond that we have created with the landscape. My intention is for viewers to empathize with the sites I reveal in my art, spurring stewardship.

A goal is to create prints within a variety of mediums and techniques to expand the definition of what a print can be and to give viewers the opportunity to interpret and reimagine, drawing insight from these recollections of place.

My current body of work involves a merging of materials - paper, ceramic, glass, and wood. These works of art are meant to be immersive; I want the experience you have with my pieces to mimic the feelings and care with which we should be handling our environment.

My work has been continually driven by our environment and the expeditions that I have been lucky to take, both personally and through art residencies. There have been subtle shifts in what landscapes I have highlighted.

Early in my career I had a focus on National Parks. Then my residencies led me to the ice laden areas around the North Pole. With my current research I am diving headlong into the International Appalachian Trail.

You will be teaching A Malleable Process: The Making Of Print with Encaustic November 18 - 19. What does this workshops focus on and what can students expect to leave with?

Much like with my own work, A Malleable Process is about opportunities and what printmaking can bring to new materials. Print is such a versatile medium and is a wonderful companion to encaustic. The goal of this class is to give students experience with several printmaking techniques, including how to use these techniques with encaustic paint and Pigment Sticks®. We will rework prints multiple times during the workshop to create thoughtful and layered finished pieces.

The beauty of both print and encaustic is that if something does not turn out exactly as you have envisioned, it can become the beginning of a completely new work. Students will leave with a large series of prints and several print plates.

None of the techniques taught require the use of a press, so any home studio can absorb what is learned for continued development.

What keeps you motivated in the studio? What is your typical studio day like? What's next on your horizon?

I am never not learning and exploring. There is always a new place to see and new materials to play with. Translating the beauty and phenomena that make up the landscapes around us is always new to me. Exploring new techniques is one of my vices, for sure. Perpetually staying a student and continuing my education keeps me motivated. I have found that I do my best work and am my most prolific when I have research I am responsible for. To also have critical eyes on my process, for me, is invaluable.

Kate Collyer, *Iceland I & II*, 2” x 3”, encaustic monotype on silk tissue with toner transfer, 2018.

The ability to continue my own education and to have a home printmaking, glass, and encaustic studio is an immense privilege. I have a young daughter so my studio days are very disjointed. I spend a large number of small bits of time working each day. I break down my making into smaller tasks so that I move forward, while only getting a half an hour to work at a time (babies are wonderful, but not for studio time...). This gives me inactive time to develop my works and troubleshoot as I go, which has been nice. I do a lot of planning for all of my pieces, so my making is very intentional and methodical.

I am currently making work for two big exhibitions. One, at the end of this year, is a group show with my art collective, Boundary Walkers, at Stand4 Gallery in Brooklyn. For much of next year I will have work in a solo exhibition at Sheridan College in Wyoming.

Anything else you'd like our readers to know?

Both encaustic and printmaking can get frustrating, especially when you are new to the materials and processes. The beauty of both of these and what I will highlight in my workshop are the possibilities. It is a liberating moment when you don't like what you just made, but immediately start thinking about what it CAN be.

To learn more about Kate and see additional images of her work, visit katecollyer.com.

To register for A Malleable Process: The Making Of Print with Encaustic visit rfpaints.com/workshops.

Dietlind Vander Schaaf 8/4/22 Dietlind Vander Schaaf 8/4/22

Ask Richard: Green Earth

Each of our color swatches is a study in and of itself. We check the subtle shifts in color, gradations, and undertone to ensure our paint meets our standards. Since 1988, our primary goal has been the development of an extensive and unique color line. We take pride in creating the highest quality products we can and consistency is an important part of that process.

Color mixing is an art. We take it very seriously at R&F. Tour our paint-making production facility and chances are you will see us testing color to make sure we get it just right.

If you’ve been to R&F recently for a workshop, you might have seen a small framed scrap of paper with different swatches of color on it hanging in one of our offices. We reached out to founder Richard Frumess to see what he could tell us about this color study and got a tiny peek into the history of R&F and the evolution of color.

Enjoy. And keep painting.

“This chart dates to my painting days in Brooklyn before I started R&F. I was comparing, as you can see, different brands of Terre Verte (Green Earth). Some were mixes, some genuine earth. I liked Old Holland's the most and felt I came pretty close to it with my mix.

When I decided to add Green Earth to our color line for R&F several years later, I knew I'd have to mix it since genuine Green Earth is heat sensitive and browns.

I thought it would be no big deal since I already knew the mix. But when I tried it, it didn't work. It looked like mud. So I tried other combinations with the same result. I was very puzzled and tried numerous pigment combinations and proportions. They didn't work either.

I worked on it for months until I realized the problem. I was intent on making heavily pigmented paint, which is fine in single colors and most opaque mixes. But for translucent mixes employing earth pigments, the pigment load needed to be reduced to bring out their undertones.

The minute I did that, all the mixes I tried were close, especially my original mix of Viridian, Raw Sienna, and Ivory Black. I switched out the black for Ultramarine Blue, which made the color sweeter. And later, when we added Stil-de-Grain to the line we used that to replace the Raw Sienna, which gave the color more clarity.

The concept of varying the pigment load to bring out all the tonalities of the color laid the basis for our complex earth mixes and their magical shifts in color as the pigments separate out in manipulating the paint.”

-Richard Frumess

Dietlind Vander Schaaf 8/1/22 Dietlind Vander Schaaf 8/1/22

Meet The Team: Carina Quackenbush

We are proud of all of our employees, from our paint-makers to the folks answering the phone and packing orders, and everyone in between. Our ongoing feature "Meet The Team" is our way of introducing you to the fine folks behind the scenes who make R&F possible.⁠ In this week’s installment, you will meet Carina Quackenbush.

Please tell us your job title and a brief description of what you do day to day at R&F.

I'm in post-production. I specifically take care of a lot of the sets (if you've bought a set lately, odds are good that I assembled it!), but I also wrap paint and work on things like our hand-painted color charts.

How many years have you been working for R&F?

I started at R&F in late summer 2021, so I've been here just under a year.

What do you do outside of work? Do you have an art background or related practice?

My formal education is in writing, communications, and marketing, but I studied art informally all through school and still paint, craft, and draw in my free time.

I've loved reconnecting with art while working at R&F, something I had neglected since leaving high school. Kingston has a really vibrant arts community and R&F is a great facet of it.

I am also studying cat behavior and am beginning to work as a behavior consultant to help people with their various house cat issues and questions. My website is catsinterrupted.com.

If someone came to visit Kingston, what's one thing you would recommend they see/ do/ eat/ experience?

One of my favorite places in Kingston is Rough Draft, I always recommend you pop in if you're in Kingston. The building is a perfect example of the old stone architecture you find in the valley. The people are very kind, the drinks are great, and it's really special to have an independent local book store to rely on.

I live in walking distance, which is extra nice (and a little dangerous to my book and coffee budget, haha). Anthony and Amanda are usually open to special ordering a book for you if you don't see it in store. The community-centered events are great. I can't wait for weekly trivia night to start up again.

Favorite color in R&F's paint line?

If I HAD to pick a top favorite color at R&F, I think I'd choose our Indigo Pigment Stick®. Every variation from the top tone to the undertone has something special. It's moody, earthy, and really fun to play with.

Dietlind Vander Schaaf 7/24/22 Dietlind Vander Schaaf 7/24/22

Notes On Color: Blue Ochre, King's Blue & Azure Blue

In our newest feature - Notes On Color - we will share with you a few of our thoughts each week on color. Maybe you'll learn a thing or two. Maybe you'll discover a color you aren't using already and must acquire. At the very least, we hope you find this entertaining. It's full of eye candy for you color aficionados.

Here at R&F we love blue. I mean, we really love blue. Which is why we make so many different versions. Seventeen different blues to be precise.

In our newest feature - Notes On Color - we will share with you a few of our thoughts each week on color. Maybe you'll learn a thing or two. Maybe you'll discover a color you aren't using already and must acquire. At the very least, we hope you find this entertaining. It's full of eye candy for you color aficionados.

You can find all our posts on color - from tips on color mixing to suggestions about how to choose a color - neatly organized for you on our Articles & Links page at rfpaints.com.

Enjoy. Keep painting.

Azure Blue. A bright, slightly greenish light blue, Azure can act like a high-keyed Cerulean. ⁠In the picture above you can see us working on the Phthalo Blue part of the Azure Blue process.

We mill our Phthalos separately from the rest of our mixes because they have a much smaller particle size and therefore require a more thorough (tighter) milling. In the case of Azure, we mill the Phthalo Blue multiple times by itself until we achieve a consistent, evenly dispersed grind (particle size is measured with a Hegman Gauge). We then mill the Titanium-Zinc and Ultramarine Blue parts of the mix, combine all pigments, and mill a final time until the final color is fully developed.

Available in both our encaustic and Pigment Stick® color lines. Opaque with a slow drying rate.⁠ Chemical Composition: phthalo blue, ultramarine blue, zinc-titanium white.⁠

Blue Ochre. The top tone and undertone of Blue Ochre have the same kind of edginess as our Indigo, but that is where the similarity ends. This totally different mix is much greener and still very blue. Rubbing it out reveals a surprising yellowish brown.

Many of our complex mixes are a result of intentional research and development. In other words, we get a color idea and pursue it until we arrive at something close to what we're looking for. This wasn't at all the case with Blue Ochre. Blue Ochre was a serendipitous discovery, born at the mill by paint makers making paint.

As is often the case during the milling process, unmilled pigment and linseed oil collect on the wax paper where our tools rest. One of our paint makers was making Cobalt Blue Pigment Stick® and another, Raw Sienna Pigment Stick®. Out of curiosity, we began hand mixing the milled Cobalt Blue with the unmilled Raw Sienna. The results were captivating.

Pairing the opaque Cobalt Blue with the transparent (very loosely milled) Raw Sienna allowed for a dynamic, dusky blue that will go almost green with just a little bit of pressure.

Available in both our encaustic and Pigment Stick® color lines. Semi-Transparent with a Pigment Stick® drying rate of medium. Chemical composition: cobalt blue and raw sienna.

King's Blue. A very warm, soft light blue. With cool colors, King's Blue can be almost neutral. Alongside warm colors, you'll glimpse hints of lavender, like a blue that's hiding a rose.

Available in both our encaustic and Pigment Stick® color lines. Opaque with a Pigment Stick® drying rate of medium. Chemical composition: cobalt blue and zinc-titanium white.

Dietlind Vander Schaaf 7/18/22 Dietlind Vander Schaaf 7/18/22

Meet The Team: Dietlind Vander Schaaf

Our ongoing feature "Meet The Team" is our way of introducing you to the fine folks behind the scenes who make R&F possible.⁠ In this week’s installment, you will meet Dietlind Vander Schaaf. Dietlind has an MFA from the University of San Francisco and an MA from the University of Southern Maine. She has exhibited widely and her work has been featured in Maine Home + Design, Decor Maine, UPPERCASE, and Downeast magazines.

Dietlind Vander Schaaf has an MFA from the University of San Francisco and an MA from the University of Southern Maine. She has exhibited widely and her work has been featured in Maine Home + Design, Decor Maine, UPPERCASE, and Downeast magazines.

Dietlind is a Core Instructor for R&F Handmade Paints, an Ampersand Ambassador, and the former president of New England Wax. She is an annual presenter at the International Encaustic Conference and has taught workshops throughout the country, including Haystack, Arrowmont, Castle Hill, Snow Farm, Penland, Maine College of Art, R&F, and internationally at Zijdelings in The Netherlands. The recipient of grants from the Maine Arts Commission and International Encaustic Artists, as well as a Tending Space Artist Fellowship from the Hemera Foundation, she is also a certified Kripalu yoga instructor with speciality training in meditation, advanced asana, Ayurveda, and pranayama.

Dietlind Vander Schaaf, *Sueño,* 24” x 48”, encaustic, oil, and 23 karat gold leaf on panel, 2022.

Please tell us your job title and a brief description of what you do day to day at R&F.

I wear a bunch of different hats. I direct our Core and Tier Artist programs, oversee store demos, coordinate our paint donations, and work on special projects such as social media, email marketing, and writing for our blog. I update our various websites too. Last year I worked with artist Bettina Egli Sennhauser to build a German version of our website and this year I built one for our new rental and residency at Brown Pink. Oh, and I make our YouTube videos as well. :)

What I do day to day depends on what is most pressing, but it generally involves a lot of email and spreadsheets and problem solving. Sometimes filming in my studio or doing live virtual demos. I love my job. It allows me a ton of creative freedom and really suits me.

Dietlind in her studio in Westbrook, Maine where she films many of R&F’s YouTube videos.

How many years have you been working for R&F?

I began working for R&F in August 2018. I work remotely from my home in Maine. A few times a year I visit my colleagues in Kingston.

Dietlind Vander Schaaf, *Pond II,* 36” x 36”, encaustic, oil, and 23 karat gold leaf on panel, 2022.

What do you do outside of work? Do you have an art background or related practice?

When I am not working, I can either be found in my studio painting or - this time of year - in my yard gardening. I also enjoy cross country skiing, reading, cooking, hiking, and practicing yoga. I teach encaustic painting, which often involves travel - another thing I love. And in September each year I offer a week-long encaustic retreat in Maine.

If someone came to visit Kingston, what's one thing you would recommend they see/ do/ eat/ experience?

I would definitely recommend the tacos at Diegos. They are very, very good. I’d also recommend a trip to Dia Beacon. It’s about 40 minutes from Kingston. Dia Beacon has an incredible collection of work from the 1960s to present. I had the opportunity to go with a bunch of folks from R&F in 2019 and I’d return in a heartbeat.

Dietlind Vander Schaaf, *Dusk,* 24” x 24”, encaustic, oil, ink, graphite, and 23 karat gold leaf on panel, 2022.

Favorite color in R&F's paint line?

This is a seriously hard question. I use a lot of blue in my work - Ultramarine Blue Pale and King’s Blue are go to colors for me. I think they are in nearly everything I paint. I am also partial to shades of gray, so Cerulean Grey and Turkey Umber Pale are top contenders too. And I am madly in love with our Ancient Gold. I’ve begun using it in my paintings in addition to 23 karat gold leaf.

But if I had to pick just one color, it would probably be Courbet Green. It’s so dark - we describe it as a green version of Indigo. Super earthy and a bit somber. I mix it with a small amount of Intense Carbon Black to create many of my underpaintings.

You can see more of Dietlind’s work on her website dietlindvanderschaaf.com or follow her on Instagram @dietlindvanderschaaf.

Dietlind Vander Schaaf 7/8/22 Dietlind Vander Schaaf 7/8/22

Meet The Team: Sean Noonan

In this “Meet The Team” post you will meet Sean Noonan. Sean was born in Brooklyn, New York and earned his BFA at Pratt Institute. His work has been shown in South Korea, Copenhagen, and London. Sean is R&F’s Education and Studio Coordinator.

Please give us a brief description of what you do day to day at R&F.

Every day brings something new with the position, and that’s what I enjoy most. During our busy workshop season, I administrate and help host our workshops. I make sure students have the information they need to feel prepared prior to classes, during the workshop, and throughout their stay in Kingston.

When classes slow down, I develop the program for the following year, reaching out to artists and teachers with the intention of creating a well-rounded program. I try to spotlight new techniques and processes I hear about from teachers and peers, while expanding knowledge of our paint lines.

As a painter myself, I really enjoy being part of the conversation of art making, jumping in to answer tech questions, talking about art with my coworkers, and interacting with students about their work.

How many years have you been working for R&F?

It will be five years in August, time flies when you are having fun :)

What do you do outside of work? Do you have an art background or related practice?

I like to work on my house. It turned 100 this year so there is always something to do. I paint, garden, hang out with my wife, friends, and the dog. I have an education in painting and have taken regular art classes for most of my life. I try to paint a few times a week if possible.

If someone came to visit Kingston, what's one thing you would recommend they see/ do/ eat/ experience?

I would recommend they walk around the Rondout neighbohood. Plenty to see, eat, and take in all while getting a feel for Kingston’s lively past.

Favorite color in R&F's paint line?

This is always a hard question to answer. I think it may be easiest to give you my favorite color of the moment. I like to work over a colored ground, on found wood, and the wood often has existing layers of color from a previous life. Working with transparent colors and semi-transparent colors allows me to take advantage of the existing color underneath, while adding complexity.

So, at the moment, semi-transparent Green Earth is my go-to.

To see more of Sean’s work, visit his website pastthesun.com.

Dietlind Vander Schaaf 6/30/22 Dietlind Vander Schaaf 6/30/22

Meet The Team: Alyssa Gougoutris

n 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.

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.

Dietlind Vander Schaaf 6/26/22 Dietlind Vander Schaaf 6/26/22

Artist Spotlight: Lisa Pressman

Lisa Pressman works and teaches in a variety of mediums, among them oil, encaustic, cold wax, and mixed-media collage. Her work is abstract, conceptually based, and process-driven. It features marks, forms, colors, and patterns that are evocative rather than descriptive. A New Jersey native, Lisa received her Bachelor of Arts degree in fine art from Douglass College at Rutgers University in 1979 and her Master of Fine Arts degree in Painting from Bard College in 1981. Her work is represented by Susan Eley Fine Arts in New York, Addington Gallery in Chicago, and Slate in Telluride, Colorado.

Lisa Pressman, *Stacks,* 15” x 12”, Pigment Stick® on paper, 2019

A New Jersey native, Lisa received her Bachelor of Arts degree in fine art from Douglass College at Rutgers University in 1979 and her Master of Fine Arts degree in Painting from Bard College in 1981. Her work is represented by Susan Eley Fine Arts in New York, Addington Gallery in Chicago, and Slate in Telluride, Colorado.

In addition to teaching at R&F, Lisa has served as faculty at the former Art Institute of NY, as well as a visiting professor at Pratt Institute and taught workshops in France, Mexico, and Italy.

Lisa Pressman, *Thinking Patterns*, 60” x 50”, clay, 1978

Can you tell us a little about yourself? How did you get your start as an artist?

I began thinking as an artist (though I didn’t realize it until later) when I went on a trip to Israel with my mother at the age of 12. The stark dualities of old and new, cultural and religious differences, the contrast in landscape and the relics, museums and religious sites stuck in my brain for a long time. The realization of the bigger world beyond my life in New Jersey was life changing.

At that time, I was writing in journals, experimenting with poetry, and I began doing ceramics. Working with clay was the game changer, much to the chagrin of my father who took me out to dinner before I started college and asked: “You sure you don’t want to be a doctor or a lawyer?”

I was quite sure. On the other hand, my mother was my greatest supporter, as she herself had a creative side acting, painting, and selling antiques.

Lisa Pressman, *Outside In* (side view), 48” x 12” wood and unfired clay, 1979

When I went to college my identity as an artist began to take shape. The first thing that happened was my ceramics professor told me to make sculpture: apparently my pots were very wonky. The second influence was the Women’s Artists Series started by Joan Snyder at Douglass College, which was the women’s school at Rutgers University.

Untitled installation, unfired clay and wood, 1979

In 1975 there were no women professors and this program brought in all the feminist artists of the day to lecture for us. It made it seem possible to actually pursue a career as a female artist. When the department brought in the painter Joan Semmel as a female professor, I began painting in her class.

It really was the positive feedback of all those teachers that had a huge impact on my identity as an artist. Later in graduate school for sculpture I became enamored with paint and color and haven’t look back… until recently.

Lisa Pressman, *Messages 22*, 12” x 12”, smoke, thread, Letraset, and ink, 2021

What are you currently working on in the studio? How has your work evolved over the years?

My work develops in a spiral with constant themes that get revisited in different ways and materials. Dualities of inside and outside, imagined internal spaces and rooms, mark-making as time-keeping, color explorations and materiality. From clay to oil paint, encaustic, cold wax, and now other materials, the work is always shifting, yet maintaining those underlying concepts.

Right now in the studio I have been working on paper and board with mixed media such as ink, smoke, fire, Letraset, RF Pigment Sticks, stitching and more. These works are called Messages and refer to rituals, portals, deconstruction, language and grief. I just finished an art book using those materials.

Collection of work from an installation in 2016 featuring cold wax, pastel, and oil on insulation.

What types of media do you like to work with? Do you go in search of your subjects or do they find you?

I really love experimenting with lots of media. I find that materials open up avenues and paths that bring new ideas and approaches to the work.

Although I do have common themes, playing with materials and not thinking is always positive for my work.

You will be teaching Focusing Your Visual Voice With Encaustic and Exploring Visual Language with R&F Pigment Sticks® this year. What do these workshops focus on and what can students expect to leave with? I'm particularly interested in how you help students explore, focus, and develop their visual language.

These workshops are focused on the materials and the myriad ways that artists can use them to play and experiment. In that mode of making, I find that the participant’s own point of view or interests reveal themselves. I use many prompts, both visual and written. Visual prompts get you out of your head and allow the essence of a visual language to unfold. Writing and words give a structure to each individual’s thinking/feeling about what they are doing. I find that list making, metaphors and talking about inspirations helps to focus a personal language. Also I have an intuitive and perceptive eye when I am teaching that facilitates these kinds of realizations.

(Please note: “Focusing Your Visual Voice with Encaustic” is sold out, but there is still space in “Exploring Visual Language with R&F Pigment Sticks®.” To learn more, visit rfpaints.com/workshops/exploring-visual-language.)

Lisa Pressman, *Burning Ashes 2*, 7” x 5”, mixed media, 2021

What keeps you motivated in the studio? What is your typical studio day like? What's next for you?

I always leave something to do in the studio. There are stations with materials and works in progress, so I can just walk in and decide what to do that day. Occasionally cleaning up or reorganizing can be a great a motivator. Lately I don’t have a typical day in the studio. Between teaching, my business with artist Sue Stover and life, my studio practice happens in starts and stops. If I get a few hours in the studio I can get a lot done. I never was a full-day studio artist anyway. I have figured out how to accept my practice as is and work within my own timing.

A show is planned in February at The Painting Center focused on the message pieces. I also have a big project in mind that will involve my work, my late son’s work, as well as the idea of what remains and sending messages to love ones lost. This has been brewing for a year or two. I see it as an installation, which is something I haven’t done in years, so prep work is on the table.

Lisa Pressman, *New York State of Mind,* 24” x 24”, encaustic on panel, 2018

Sue Stover and I started a teaching platform called C2C Art Projects, featuring our joint and individual classes, along with a C2C Art Collective last year. The Collective is an online, member-focused community center, which is an exciting new opportunity for artists, teachers, and anyone with a serious interest in art. We provide access to hundreds of resources, active and engaging conversations with fellow artist professionals, and connections to wider networks of creatives. In addition to teaching at R&F this year, I will also be teaching at Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, as well as in San Miguel, Mexico.

To learn more, visit lisapressman.net. You can follow her on Instagram @lisapressmanart.

Dietlind Vander Schaaf 6/20/22 Dietlind Vander Schaaf 6/20/22

From The Collection: Wayne Montecalvo

Wayne Montecalvo works with image and materials in order to push the confines of art making to reinvent, rather than reproduce an image. His process involves “allowing an idea to emerge organically through curiosity.” Through a manipulation of materials, he distorts and redefines an image, starting with the expected and ending with something mysterious. His approach is painterly; an effort to find a new way to encounter the familiar. R&F is proud to have a piece of Wayne’s work in our permanent collection.

Wayne Montecalvo, *Karen Ballas*, 24” x 15”, encaustic on panel, 2000. Permanent collection of R&F Handmade Paints.

Wayne’s awards are many. He was an Awagami Artist-in-Residence at the Awagami Paper Factory in Tokushima, Japan and the recipient of two fellowship awards for residencies at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Vermont. He was selected for two residencies at the Frans Masereel Zentrum voor Grafiek in Kasterlee, Belgium and served as a John Michael Kohler Foundation Arts/Industry Artist-in-Residence in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. In addition, Wayne was awarded a Women’s Studio Workshop Artists’ Fellowship. And that’s just to name a few.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? How did you get your start as an artist?

Calling oneself an artist sometimes seems a peculiar thing to me. I never had a moment when I decided to be an artist. I feel, as perhaps a lot of artists might, that it was a gradual development of something that might have already been in place.

As long as I can remember, even when I was young, I liked to make things up, invent things out of my head and draw them on paper. The desire to create something is always there. I’ve always been attracted to drawing, painting, and object making. And later as an adult, I developed a curious interest with musical instruments which I have integrated over the years here and there as part of my art making, especially in regard to video projects or sometimes performance events.

There were times when I thought I would stop “being an artist,” but sooner or later I found there was always something I needed to bring to fruition and would end up making an art piece of some type.

Wayne Montecalvo, *First House,* 24”x 33”, encaustic, digital images, and Japanese papers on panel, 2021.

What types of media do you like to work in?

I try to incorporate any media that will stretch my approach to art making. In addition to encaustic medium, I often include paint, India ink, dye, powdered graphite, stained surfaces, silkscreen prints, charcoal, as well as other mark making media such as wax crayons, colored pencils and various brands of drawing tools that sometimes contain other types of materials that might (but not always) work with wax.

I also use a lot of thin paper with most of my pieces. All of my digitally produced imagery is printed on very thin Japanese paper.

What are you currently working on in the studio and how has it evolved over the years?

I have been working with portraits for a while. Lately they have gotten much smaller and for the most part they are black and white. I am trying to make the subject unidentifiable using heavy splatter and powered graphite embedded in wax. The interest in using people as a subject matter came out of earlier artworks, short video pieces that involved volunteers willing to become characters and perform in various staged events with cheaply built backdrops and environments.

This led to using still images from those videos to make silkscreen prints, which later branched out into painting in a somewhat traditional approach. I started using encaustic paint along the way for some of these paintings that later spilled over into incorporating digital images with my art making.

Wayne Montecalvo, *A Perfect Pear,* 19”x 33”, encaustic, digital images, acrylic paint, and Japanese papers on panel, 2021

Do you go in search of your subjects or do they find you?

As far as choosing my subjects, I like to have some familiarity with the people I work with, and I usually ask people I already know. I like for there to be some history with a person, rather than someone I don’t know. Sometimes people like the idea, sometimes not. I think this has developed from previous efforts at making artwork by asking people to become a persona, or to become a character, often pushing the comfort zone and inviting people to temporarily become someone else.

I still question what I am doing, and I like to ponder the idea of using a real person’s identity and changing it somehow, especially in this age of immediate social network interaction. Is there a commitment to someone’s face or persona? Is there a responsibility on my part as an artist, or on their part as a model? Especially when considering that I am going to redefine, distort, or augment an image. But in the end, I like to think of it as a collaboration and that is a good thing.

Wayne Montecalvo, *Do The Doo*, 5.5”x 6.5”, encaustic, digital images, India ink, powdered graphite on board, 2022

You will be teaching "Layering Photo Based Imagery with Encaustic and Pigment Sticks" twice this year. What does this workshops focus on and what can students expect to leave with?

All of my workshops focus on modifying the subject of a photographic image into something new or unexpected. In my own work, I am constantly augmenting the composition using a host of techniques. I use physical manipulation to reshape digital images into something that is no longer a digital reproduction.

The workshops encourage students to deconstruct and then reconstruct into a new piece using things like tearing, re-arranging, disassembling, distressing, reversing, concealing and any number of additional methods that might include Ink, paint, powdered graphite, and layering images, to name a few.

Please share a bit about your piece in R&F's Permanent Collection.

The piece in the R&F collection is an older piece, which I am grateful to have in their collection. It was made during my early years of experimenting with R&F paints. And as most artists develop and learn what a material might allow, it is quite removed from what I am doing now.

I was focused on yearbook images at the time, random faces, random people, typical settings. I was obsessed with the yearbook photographic style of capturing something seen as significant in the moment, and it seemed a logical source for subject matter.

But I also thought it was a funny picture and that it would be a good subject to place in a new setting. That idea has always stuck in my head and is still something I include in my work through distorting, overlapping, and altering the meaning of something (usually the theme is people).

What keeps you motivated in the studio? What is your typical studio day like? What's next for you?

Motivation for me is more of an urge that comes and goes, rather than a precise approach to making artwork. But it can also come from anywhere. I don’t like to force creativity, or feel compelled to produce something in the studio, but when I do make artwork it, is usually from a need to see an idea materialize.

A typical studio day might be stretching and exposing a silk screen, printing digital files for myself (and other artists), creating room in the studio to make more work, testing materials to use with encaustic, building a few panels, photographing artwork, that sort of thing.

In addition to teaching at R&F, what’s next for you?

I’ll be in Ireland at Essence of Mulranny from October 12 - 23 (as part of a two class workshop with Laura Moriarty) and in San Miguel, Mexico November 17 - 22.

To see more of Wayne’s work or learn about his international workshops, visit waynemontecalvo.com. To register for workshops at R&F, visit rfpaints.com/workshops.

Dietlind Vander Schaaf 6/7/22 Dietlind Vander Schaaf 6/7/22

Meet The Team: Luke Benicase

We are proud of all of our employees, from our paintmakers to the folks answering the phone and packing orders, and everyone in between. Over the next few months we will be sharing a feature called "Meet The Team" to introduce you to the fine folks behind the scenes who make R&F possible.⁠

We kick off our inaugural “Meet The Team” post with one of our newest employees - Luke Benicase. Luke grew up and attended school through the 12th grade in Kingston, before going on to SUNY Ulster and SUNY New Paltz.

Luke Benicase at work in post-production at R&F.

Please tell us your job title and a brief description of what you do day to day at R&F.

I am a part of post production. I wrap Pigment Sticks® and encaustic paint, occasionally assist with shrink wrap, and I also help with boxing and shipping orders.

How many years have you been working for R&F?

I just started this year, and I’m looking forward to being here a long time. R&F is very easily the best job I've ever had.

What do you do outside of work? Do you have an art background or related practice?

Outside of work If I'm not working on any drawings or paintings, I like watching movies or going for a hike and getting together with friends.

If someone came to visit Kingston, what's one thing you would recommend they see/ do/ eat/ experience?

For anyone visiting Kingston I'd recommend that they take a walk through all the streets uptown to see all the artwork on the buildings.

Favorite color in R&F's paint line?

My favorite color at R&F is Cerulean Grey. Every time I pick it for an order I always want to use it for a background for a painting!

You can follow Luke on Instagram at @lben_art.

Dietlind Vander Schaaf 4/29/22 Dietlind Vander Schaaf 4/29/22

The Diptych Project: Transatlantic Fusion at The International Encaustic Conference

New England Wax is a professional organization that connects artists in New England who work in encaustic, providing opportunities to exhibit, to share technical information and aesthetic ideas, and to build friendships with other artists. European Encaustic Artists is a group designed to raise awareness and share resources about encaustic painting in countries throughout Europe.

The idea for this project grew out of a desire to expand international creative collaboration between artists, due to the social isolation imposed by the pandemic. Building on two previous diptych projects by members of New England Wax, artists from six different countries got together to participate in this project, meeting virtually. Fifty-six artists were randomly paired between the groups.

Image credit: Deborah Peeples, *Capriccio,* encaustic on panel and Joanna Kidney, *Jostle,* encaustic on panel.

As part of the 15th International Encaustic Conference this year, members from New England Wax (N.E.W.) and European Encaustic Artists (E.E.A.) have put together exhibition titled The Diptych Project: Transatlantic Fusion.

Anne Curran, *We are All in the One Map*, rice paper and mixed media collage and encaustic and Charyl Weissbach, *Connectedness*, encaustic on paper on panel.

Each artist initiated a diptych by painting a panel and then sending a high-resolution image and a statement about that work to their partner. Diptych partners responded by creating a second panel in any manner they chose. Partners agreed between themselves as to edge treatment and orientation of the finished pairs. The resulting works show a wide range of styles, techniques, and cross-cultural interpretations

As Bettina Egli Sennhauser, founder of E.E.A., put it, “I hope that the wide variety of works in our project and exhibition will inspire viewers; help overcome language barriers; encourage the dialog between artists on both continents; and build new, sustainable friendships.”

The exhibition will take place at The Commons in Provincetown, Massachusetts from June 1 -11, 2022 with an opening reception on Friday, June 3 from 5 - 8 pm. A printed catalog will be available and a future exhibition in Basel, Switzerland is planned.

It’s not too late to register for the 15th International Encaustic Conference. The conference takes place June 3 - 5th in Provincetown, Massachusetts. It features a keynote speaker, demos and talks on all sorts of topics related to encaustic, a vendor room, a postcard show, a hotel fair, and more. To sign up, visit castlehill.org.

There is also room in a few pre and post conference workshops, including:

5/31 - 6/2: Adapting Processes: The Fusion of Encaustic & Fabric with Susan Stover

Explore the possibilities of adapting tools and processes to use them in a contemporary way. The workshop will start by making some of our own tools based on traditional ones used in the production of textiles. Participants will use these tools to create lines, shapes, motifs, and repetitive mark-making on silk to produce unique fabrics that will be embedded into encaustic. We will also use these tools directly with the encaustic process. Learn more here.

6/8 - 9: Value Does the Work, Color Has the Party with Kelly Milukas

This color primer workshop is designed to take you from gray scale value mapping to luminous color clarity. Create an abstract composition or distill a scene into large masses, group similar values together for strong designs. See past surface details to a simplified pattern of lights and darks, and value shapes. Working with handmade value scale tools, Kelly will demonstrate the concepts, students will gain a greater under-standing of values translated into colors that can then be applied to any medium. Learn more here.

6/8 - 9: The Light Touch (online) with Joanna Kidney

Would you like to develop a more intuitive, experimental approach with your work? Accessing intuitive modes of working brings about a fine tuning of the visual voice. This workshop will be hands on, using prompts, exercises and practices to nurture experimentation and intuitiveness in the studio. We will draw, paint, write and look at other artists work to support the explored ideas. Learn more here.

6/8 - 9: Material World: Wool & Wax with Susan Lasch Krevitt

Open to all skill levels, this workshop will introduce techniques for creating 2-D and 3-D artwork using wool and encaustic. We will cut, fold, wrinkle, pierce and weave with wool. Both new and repurposed woven, knitted and unspun wool will be available for use. Alternative hanging solutions for sculptural wall hung work will be provided. Learn more here.

6/8 - 9: Where Wax Meets Print with Elise Wagner

Encaustic collagraph printmaking uses wax in place of collage materials on the printing plate. Elise will demonstrate how she marries the tools and techniques of these two age old mediums — encaustic painting and intaglio printmaking, to create prints on paper. These prints are full of depth and achieved by exploiting the embossed, incised and textural marks common to encaustic that we all so adore about the medium. Learn more here.

Dietlind Vander Schaaf 4/11/22 Dietlind Vander Schaaf 4/11/22

Color Mixing with Jeff Hirst, Jodi Reeb, & Lorraine Glessner

We continue our series on color mixing with recommendations from instructors Jeff Hirst, Jodi Reeb, and Lorraine Glessner. (If you missed our previous color mixing posts, go back and check out Color Mixing with Debra Claffey and Susan Stover or Color Mixing with Julie Snidle and Dietlind Vander Schaaf.)

This week Jeff illustrates how he creates cool and warm chromatic grays. Jodi shares how she makes a variation on orange for her circle paintings. And Lorraine explains the way she creates the range of whites that can be found in her monoprints.

Enjoy. Feel free to tag us with photos of your color mixes on Instagram using the hashtag #rfpaints. We’ll share as many as we can in stories.

Jeff Hirst

“I often use chromatic grays in my work to play against more vibrant muted and prismatic color. For me, there’s a fine line between a muted tone and chromatic grays. I mix my grays using three primaries because I respond to the rich tonal qualities that I can get without using black.

To make the grays I use R&F Cadmium Yellow Medium, Cadmium Red Medium, and Ultramarine mixed with Titanium White. It’s a basic color mix but covers a wide tonal range that includes warm and cool grays.

I also use large amounts of encaustic medium with my grays (and other colors) to accentuate the luminosity of the encaustic. Often, I use vibrant underpainting to counter chromatic grays and muted tones with many layers of paint.”

Jeff Hirst’s color notes for mixing warm opaque and transparent chromatic grays.

Jeff Hirst’s color notes for mixing cool opaque and transparent chromatic grays.

Jeff Hirst, *Subliminal Archetype*, 27” x 26”, encaustic on shaped panel.

Jeff will be teaching Exploring Color with Encaustic August 8 - 10 at Grand Marais Art Colony in Grand Marais, Minnesota. This three-day workshop covers complex color relationships including chromatic grays, muted tones, and prismatic color; opaque and transparent surface; alternative fusing techniques; using complementary color surface manipulations and more.

To learn more, visit grandmaraisartcolony.org.

Jodi Reeb

“My favorite color-mix is what I call "pumpkin" and consists of four colors: Cadmium Orange, Mars Yellow Light, Brilliant Yellow Extra Pale, and Burnt Umber. This mix creates a subdued orange hue to give my circular paintings a pop of color when Cadmium Orange is too bright. I love the range of blues and greens that R&F Handmade Paint offers and adding a warm color to the series provides a nice accent.

My color mixing proportions are 65% Cadmium Orange, 20% Mars Yellow Light, 10% Brilliant Yellow Extra Pale and 5% (a smidge) Burnt Umber. You can see the resulting color in the collection above. The ‘pumpkin’ painting is on the right, top-layered under the emerald green disk.”

June 24 - 26, Jodi will be teaching Encaustic with Photo Collage at Wild Rice Retreat Center in Bayfield, Wisconsin. This workshop covers creating translucent, layered paintings using photographs printed on light-weight tissue paper and embedded in encaustic medium and paint.

An overview of a variety of techniques will be demonstrated such as image transfers, mixing your own paint, creating texture and working with masks and stencils. To learn more, visit wildriceretreat.com.

Lorraine Glessner

Over the past year, I found myself turning away from the brighter colors I had been using and reaching for the whites, grays and earth tones. I rarely, if ever, use color ‘straight out of the tube.’ My colors are always made up of 2 - 5 colors and I encourage my students to do the same. Mixing your own colors allows for a more personalized palette and ultimately, a more personalized body of work.

One color mix that I have used since I started painting in encaustic twenty years ago is Titanium White and Neutral White. For me, Titanium can cast blue in certain lights and appear too harsh. I soften Titanium with about 20% - 35% Neutral White for a bright white that almost reads like a Zinc White. If I want to go for an even more neutral/grayer white, add just a touch (about 5 - 10%) of Unbleached Titanium. If this is too gray for you and you prefer a softer, brighter white with a little flair, add about 5 - 10% of Brilliant Yellow Extra Pale to your original Titanium/Neutral White mix.

Lorraine will co-teach Exploring Landscape Through Photography, The Figure, & Encaustic: An Artist’s Retreat with Leah MacDonald July 11 - 15 at Lareau Farm and Inn in Waitsfield, Vermont. Utilizing the natural luminosity, textural and layering possibilities of encaustic, participants will experiment with photographic imagery, collage and marks to depict the spirit and essence of the land.

To learn more visit lorraineglessner.wordpress.com.

Color Lines, Resources, etc.

Remember you can view both our full Pigment Stick color line and encaustic color line on our website. You can also download a color chart or our Teaching Artist list from our Resources page or locate a retailer who carries our products near you on our Store Finder. Be sure to subscribe to our channel on YouTube so you never miss a new video. (And thanks for all those likes and nice comments. We sure appreciate them.)

Enjoy. And keep painting.

Dietlind Vander Schaaf 4/5/22 Dietlind Vander Schaaf 4/5/22

R&F's Iridescent Color Line

R&F Handmade Paints makes eight iridescent paints, all of which are available in both our encaustic and Pigment Stick color lines®. If you haven’t begun exploring these yet, you are missing out.

When working with our iridescent color line, we recommend not extending them with much medium as that will tamp down the iridescence slightly. Designed to be standalone favorites, each of our metallic colors can be added to our transparent paints to create unique richly luminous colors.

R&F Handmade Paints makes eight iridescent paints, all of which are available in both our encaustic and Pigment Stick color lines®. If you haven’t begun exploring these yet, you are missing out.

Our metallic paints can also be added to opaque colors to add sheen and push color in cooler directions (with either Iridescent Silver, Iridescent German Silver, or Iridescent Pewter) or to provide a warm glow (with Ancient Gold, Iridescent Gold, and Iridescent brass). Iridescent Copper will change color more significantly, while Iridescent Pearl gives you a lovely metallic effect without impacting color.

Check out our newest video on YouTube (link below) to get a feel for how each of our metallic encaustic colors stack up against one another. While you’re there, don’t forget to like and comment on our demo videos, and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don’t miss any of our future videos.