This is the current state of my dining room. Finished paintings and art supplies. Messy but very satisfying. More to come – stay tuned.
Portrait of the Artist
Category Archives: encaustic
Fan-Girl Part 3
Karen Tashkovski, SENSU, 2019, encaustic & collage, 8″ x 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski, YAYOI, 2019, encaustic & collage, 8″ x 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski, MIA, 2019, oil & collage, 8″ x 8″ x 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski, SHIBARI, 2019, encaustic & collage, 8″ x 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski, GEISHA, 2019, encaustic & collage, 8″ x 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski, SUMO, 2019, encaustic & collage, 8″ x 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski, RAMEN, 2019, encaustic & collage, 8″ x 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski, FUJI, 2019, encaustic & collage, 8″ x 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski, ICHI, 2019, encaustic &b collage, 8″ x 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski, SHIBORI, 2019, encaustic & collage, 8″ x 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski, YEN, 2019, encaustic & collage, 8″ x 8″
Fan-Girl Part 2
Karen Tashkovski, POETRY, 2023, encaustic & collage, 8″ x 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski, EASTER, 2023, encaustic & collage, 8″ x 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski, INDIGO, 2023, encaustic & collage, 8″ x 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski, STERLING, 2023, encaustic & collage, 8″ x 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski, BLUSH, 2023, encaustic & collage, 8″ x 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski, STARGATE, 2023, encaustic & collage, 8″ x 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski, BILLIONS, 2023, encaustic & collage, 8″ x 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski, TARTAN, 2023, encaustic & collage, 8″ x 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski, QUEEN, 2023, encaustic & collage, 8″ x 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski, TINKER, 2023, encaustic & collage, 8″ x 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski, KISSED, 2023, encaustic & collage, 8″ x 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski, PARIS, 2023, encaustic & collage, 8″ x 8″
Fan-Girl Part 1
Karen Tashkovski, CHILLED, 2023, encaustic & collage, 8″ X 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski, DENIM, 2023, encaustic, 8″ x 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski, EARTH, 2023, encaustic & collage, 8″ x 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski, SQUID, 2023, encaustic & collage, 8″ x 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski, BLUES, 2023, encaustic & collage, 8″ x 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski, RICE, 2023, encaustic & collage, 8″ x 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski, YARD, 2023, encaustic & collage, 8″ x 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski, ORANGEMEN, 2023, encaustic & collage, 8″ x 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski, NOTED, 2023, encaustic & collage, 8″ x 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski CONNECTION, 2023, encaustic & collage, 8″ x 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski, TASH, 2023, encaustic & collage, 8″ x 8″ 
Karen Tashkovski, DUSK, 2023, encaustic & collage, 8″ x 8″
Fanning
During the summer, I added two dozen paintings to the series called Sensu, fan paintings I’d created in 2019. They are encaustic & collage.
Last week, I bought new frames for the Sensu paintings and re-worked some of them, and I spent the past few days adding collage items to the new pieces and placing them all in frames.
Next up is to give them titles and upload the individual images here. And figure out where I can exhibit them all. There are thirty-six paintings, all 8″ x 8″.
In my head I heard “make sixty of them” – which would require me to buy twenty-four more canvases and twenty-four more frames, pull out the encaustic supplies and find the time to do it (Chrtistmas break?) – postpone exhibiting them until next summer or whenever.
Do I need to make more though? When I feel like I have to do something rather than wanting to do it, it is not fun.
What is fun though – creation. So fun.
Susan Machamer Jewelry
There are a few ways to sell your artwork at Cazenovia Artisans. The information is on their website:
- You can apply to become a member and be juried in. This also requires a monthly fee and you must be available to work as a sales associate in the gallery on occasion.
- You can sell via consignment. Again, the other members must vote you in. The gallery takes a portion of your sales as your fee.
- There is also a visiting artist program where the artist shows during one month and gets a prominent wall in the gallery. Click here to read more about these opportunities.
Every time I shop here, I notice they’ve found new and unique ways to merchandise the shop. Two dimensional and three-dimensional art, clothing, soaps, jewelry and furniture are arranged to offer customers that magical discovery experience.
Jewelry designer Susan Machamer was in charge of the shop on Monday. It was such a pleasure to meet this dynamic artist/jewelry designer/metalsmith/business woman/college professor.
Machamer attended Syracuse University and later became a professor there, teaching metalsmith techniques. She owned Syracuse Jewelry where she worked with customers on bespoke design collaborations, as well as repairing damaged rings, necklaces and the like. At Cazenovia Jewelry she did more of the same (and still does on occasion) before venturing out as a creative free-spirit designing and selling limited editions of original semi-precious pieces of silver, gold and cultured pearls.
In addition to her work here at Cazenovia Artisans, you’ll be able to purchase her pieces at Edgewood Gallery in Syracuse. Machamer is planning an exhibition of jewelry alongside two other artists during November 2023 there.
She shared how she takes stones and transforms them into wearable pieces by first drawing out the ideas in a sketchbook. This new series will have a floral vibe. I loved how excited she was about this new work. It is such a delight to see that sparkle of creativity electrifying someone.
Cazenovia Artisans
39 Albany Street, Cazenovia, New York 13035
Hours-
| Mon | 10:00 am – 06:00 pm | |
| Tue | 10:00 am – 06:00 pm | |
| Wed | 10:00 am – 06:00 pm | |
| Thu | 10:00 am – 06:00 pm | |
| Fri | 10:00 am – 06:00 pm | |
| Sat | 10:00 am – 05:00 pm | |
| Sun | 10:00 am – 04:00 pm |
Daphne Verley is the featured artist this month. at Cazenovia Artisans.
There is also new work by Linda Bigness and Mary Padgett, Karen Burns, Dee Ann Von Hunke, Ede Walker and more.
You can also shop online!
Bungalow
I just completed twenty-four new paintings. Encaustic and mixed media. 6″ x 6″ clayboard on 9″ x 12″ chalkboard/chipboard incorporating items I recovered last year metal detecting my yard.
I still need to title them, add the framing hangers, decide on prices, etc. My house is a mess as I process this monumental achievement (plus I have twenty-four other in-progress paintings to finish).
OMG, I love them!
Encaustic!
My art studio is a mess right now.
I’m creating two different series of encaustic and collage paintings. I am so excited about these new ideas. Encaustic is a combination of beeswax and oil paint. The action required is deliberate and fast-paced. As soon as you remove the brush from the paint tin (which is resting on a heated pancake griddle), you must plunk it down quickly or it will solidify. It requires incredible focus coupled with an intuitive spark.
So grateful for the rainy day today. I worked in the studio from 9:00 am until about 5:30 pm.
The next step is adding the collage materials. That part is a bit like when a stylist accessorizes a fashion show. I have an idea of what devices I will use, materials that will make sense with the story I am telling visually. Each painting is unique but they must also be cohesive as a group.
I’m in the process of setting up a Patreon page for my social media with the idea that I can have exclusive articles and videos to share with the patrons. And information regarding art exhibitions. Right now it’s a bit overwhelming because my focus is currently on the execution of the artwork. Once that is all settled, I can share the link and reveal what I’ve been doing. Stay tuned.
It’s never a good idea to reveal in progress work unless you really want a critique. My thought is I want to cherish it, keep it to myself and enjoy the process. For now.
Today I said to myself – This is the best day of my life! Creating art is such a gift. Thank you, universe! <3
Artsy In New York
Every year the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center does a Made in New York (MINY) juried exhibition. This year’s show – what can I say? A lot of eggs and phallic symbols, am I right? OMG – round circular objects with the center piece sculpture filled with actual eggs. And every other sculpture is sporting the dildo-esqueness of a you-know-what.
LOL, so great! I wonder if this was the intent, or am I being fresh?
Sixty-nine artists were selected….
Actually, the great thing about this exhibition is that artists must produce new work for it and everything looks very fresh in that sense of the word. It is all so colorful and curvy, clean, linear, firm and innocently provocative.
It’s a great show!
MINY will be on display through August 7, 2021. Check out videos of the artists sharing their respective visions here.
Jurors for this year’s exhibition:
(from the Schweinfurth website)
Sharon Louden is an artist, educator, advocate for artists, editor of the Living and Sustaining a Creative Life series of books, and the Artistic Director of the Chautauqua Visual Arts at Chautauqua Institution. Louden’s work has been exhibited in numerous venues including the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, the Drawing Center, Carnegie Mellon University, Weisman Art Museum, National Gallery of Art and held in major public and private collections including the Whitney Museum of American Art, National Gallery of Art, Neuberger Museum of Art, Arkansas Arts Center, Yale University Art Gallery, Weatherspoon Art Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, among others.
George Afedzi Hughes is originally from Ghana and studied painting at The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, College of Art, Kumasi, Ghana, where he earned a BA in Art: Painting and Drawing (1989) and an MA in Art Education (1991). He later received an MFA in Painting and Drawing (2001) from Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, U.S.A. His paintings, performances, and installations have been featured in several museum exhibitions: Perez Museum, Royal Ontario Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, National Football Museum, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag and Museum voor Zuid-en Noord-Beveland. The following museums have collections of his work: Royal Museum of Ontario, Harn Museum of Art, Iwalewahaus and the Ghana National Museum.
Hannah Frieser is the Executive Director for the Center for Photography at Woodstock, an arts organization that features exhibitions, residencies and other artist-oriented programming. With over twenty years of leadership experience in the visual arts, she has curated countless solo and group exhibitions with contemporary photographers, including Suzanne Opton, Adam Magyar and Barry Anderson. Her essays have been featured in monographs and publications, such as Contact Sheet, Exposure, and Nueva Luz. Prior to joining CPW, she was Director of Light Work in Syracuse, NY.
MINY Artists
Carolyn Abrams
Liz Alderman
Robin Arnold
Patricia Bacon
Christina Bang
Howard Bartle
Madeline Bartley
Mary Begley
Marna Bell
Tammy Renée Brackett
Paul Brandwein
Lauren Bristol
Andrea Buckvold
Susan Byrnes
Carlos Caballero-Perez
Nancy Callahan
Eva Capobianco
Stephen Carlson
Kevin Carr
Tara Charles
Sage Churchill-Foster
Fernando Colón-González
Charles Compo
Cynthia Cratsley
Carole D’Inverno
Lisa DeLoria Weinblatt
KP Devlin
Lisa Donneson
Audrey Dowling
Robert Doyle
Sharon Draghi
Leonard Eichler
John Fitzsimmons
Faithanne Flesher
John Galt
Jacq Germanow
Cora Jane Glasser
Julia Graziano
Raechelle Hajduk
Barbara Hart
Laural Hartman
David Higgins
Lee Hoag
George Hrycun
Bob Ievers
Emily Kenas
Dale Klein
Tom Kredo
Timothy Massey
Becky McNeill
Valerie Patterson
Beth Pedersen
Judith Plotner
Rose Popper
Jim Quinn
Steve Rossi
Amy Schnitzer
Catherine Shuman Miller
James Skvarch
Jason Smith
Jean K. Stephens
Susan Stuart
Jane Verostek
Kim Waale
Mary Pat Wager
Shari Werner
Katharine Wood
Hope Zaccagni
Leah Zinder
The Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center is located at 205 Genesee Street, Auburn, New York 13021. For more information, including hours of operation, call (315) 255-1553 or visit their website here.
Colorburst
#kesnyc #tashkovski #allsaints #joesjeans #ragandbone 
#kesnyc #tashkovski #saksfifthavenue #rebeccataylor #frame #rebeccaminkoff 
#kesnyc #blackbrown1826 #vince #tashkovski #ragandbone 
#amicale #kesnyc #theory #coach #ragandbone 
#kesnyc #theory #tashkovski #360cashmere #bcbgmaxazria #marcjacobs 
#amicale #kesnyc #warnerbros #anntaylor #coach #ragandbone 
#kesnyc #rebeccataylor #karllagerfeldparis 
#kesnyc #bcbgmaxazria #sorel 
#kesnyc #joie #bcbgmaxazria #joesjeans #rebeccaminkoff
Although I was in all black yesterday (above), I’m making a conscious decision to add color to my wardrobe. Color looks better in #ootd pictures. Color is just fun. I color coordinate my walk-in closet – this makes it easier to notice items bought separately and even years apart that end up looking amazing together.
This Black Brown 1826 cashmere sweater (above) is something I often wear around the house over my pajamas. It is a thick 4-ply cashmere – very cozy and soft. The sleeves had frayed but I loved it so much, I didn’t want to get rid of it. I brought it to DeWitt Cleaners, recently, because I spilled yogurt on it and when I picked it up, it was not only pristine, but someone had magically mended it as well! The yarns of the sleeves were somehow stitched together (crochet hook?) and now it looks great with the most expensive skirt in my wardrobe!
This outfit (above) was inspired by one of my encaustic angel paintings, currently located on my bedroom dresser. I have had these silk velvet pants for a while. Paired with Marc Jacobs combat-style boots and the double sweater look, it felt super comfy on that cold day. We are in school on Wednesdays while the students are at home. #officehours
I rarely wear red – then this Coach leather skirt came along and now I’m singing red’s praises! Absolutely in love with the length. I paired it with an old Ann Taylor cashmere sweater from when the Ann Taylor store was on the second floor of the mall. (Does that store still exist? – IDK)
The monochromatic look was the rage at the 2021 Inauguration. It looked a bit like a circa 1980s rainbow wedding to me but fashion instagrammers didn’t agree. They loved that parade. I am not a purple head-to-toe fan either, lol. But blue? Yes!
One color works best when it is a blend of textures while allowing the hues to vary. Here (above) a new cashmere sweater with my tissue thin Rebecca Taylor summer denim dress, a navy silk mask and Frame cropped jeans. Boots, kind of, match my hair.
Sometimes I throw on my hat or earmuffs for the #ootd picture and sometimes I wear them most of the day when I am not in the classrooms. There is a lot less moving around these days due to all the Covid restrictions and such, and it just feels a lot colder at work. Hence the double sweater business too.
The fist time I wore this silk Talitha Collection top (above), I was at the Doobie Brothers/Steely Dan concert at the Ampitheater. It was something like ninety degrees in the shade that July day! For a January school day, I threw it on over a thick cashmere turtleneck.
And, P.S., every color in the rainbow looks great paired with these lambskin leather jeans (Joe’s Jeans!)
Finally and full circle, dresses over pants is a fun look – the dresses become tunics/jackets and I get to wear them through the winter and still manage to stay warm. Thank you, Joie and AllSaints, for the leathaaaaaaaa! <3