New Work
Art Access Gallery, Bexley, Ohio

Artist: Karen Rumora

“….But listen now to what happened
to the actual trees;
toward the end of that summer they
pushed new leaves from their stubbed limbs.
It was the wrong season, yes,
but they couldn’t stop. They
looked like telephone poles and didn’t
care. And after the leaves came
blossoms. For some things
there are no wrong seasons.
which is what I dream of for me.”

~ The Hurricane, Mary Oliver

This New Work series of paintings nudged me from all sides, teaching me about myself and my encaustic process. With the beginning and end of each painting came a new thought; whether its source was the pull and influence of a season, the weather, or time of day. The application of colors, shapes, and textures changed with each perspective. I tried not to let my conscious mind interfere with my actions as I laid down my marks.
I was being teased by the internal hands of mood.

At the start, silent and pensive attitudes yielded rounded, cylindrical strokes, as in “Silence” and “Spring Love“.  They were slower meditations on days trapped inside my own thoughts. Sentiments that were not ready to leave that warm space.
Other days anxiously awaited a transition and anticipation of seasonal changes and celebrations. The marks were more insistent and were guided by an intentional framework and loud purpose. The colors were more storied and were being layered in creative excitement and linear whimsy.

Finally I turned another corner and found a spot pondering the images of forest spaces, those familiar spots; negative and positive spaces of the actual imagery. Visiting, again, a recognizable environment that grounds me.

Creating these abstract paintings became a journey from a dream to a waking state. I was not only a part of the art, but a player in the alternate reality of producing the images. The universe ushered me to the chosen technique and practice. And I’ll happily do this dance again and again.

“Silence”
Encaustic Diptych, 40 x 20 (x2)

“Spring Love”
Encaustic Diptych, 36 x 24 (x2)

“Untitled 15-18”
Encaustics, 36 x 24 (x4)

“Woven Forest”
Encaustic, 40 x 20

“Winter Trees”
Encaustic, 24 x 12

“XXOO Aqua”
Encaustic Diptych, 24 x 36 (x2)

“Young Blossoms”
Encaustics, 12 x 12

Encaustic is a Greek word meaning “to heat or burn in” (enkaustikos).

Heat is used throughout the encaustic process, from melting the beeswax and varnish to fusing the layers of wax. Encaustic consists of natural bees wax and damar resin (crystallized tree sap). The medium can be used alone for its transparency or adhesive qualities or used pigmented. Pigments may be added to the medium, or purchased colored with traditional artist pigments. The medium is melted and applied with a brush or any tool the artist wishes to create from. Finally, each layer is then reheated to fuse it to the previous layer.