I just completed three dozen 12″ x 12″ encaustic & collage paintings. They are “The Robes”. I am delighted to finally share them with you!
Yes, I am currently working on a new series of thirty-six encaustic & collage paintings that I will share in the coming weeks, and yes, my art exhibition of forty-eight paintings of Encaustic Trees and Encaustic Hearts remains on display at the East Syracuse Free Library until June 30th, 2026. And, yes, I still have plenty of new artwork available for sale that will have their moment later in the year (some will be at the Fayetteville Free Library during July 2026). And, yes, yes, YES, I just returned from the Canastota Public Library where I installed an exhibition of seventy paintings (from three different encaustic & collage series) on the walls and tables in the Lawson community room!!!
Canastota Public Library
102 W. Center St.
Canastota, NY 13032
2. Arcadia 2 (Encaustic Targets 2025): I recently framed these encaustic & collage paintings. I originally planned to sell them along with table easel stands, but I like them better this way. They are 5″ x 7″ hardboard mounted on 8″ x 10″ chalkboard and framed.
3. Arcadia 1 (Encaustic Targets 2024): These encaustic & collage target paintings are 6″ x 8″ mounted on 9 x 12 1/2″ chalkboards and sold with the table easel stands.
This exhibition will be on view during library hours through June 30th, 2026. If you are interested in making a purchase, my contact information is listed in three locations in the room.
The Lawson community room is in the basement of the facility. It contains a full kitchen and I believe it is available for small events, like club meetings. They have regularly scheduled exercise and knitting club events there, for example.
Monday: 9am – 8pm
Tuesday: 9am – 8pm
Wednesday: 9am – 8pm
Thursday: 9am – 8pm
Friday: 9am – 5pm
Saturday: 9am – 12pm
Sunday: Closed
So, this is what’s happening. And P.S. – my painting Mustang Dance is currently on display at Main Street Arts. The art reception is Saturday, June 6th, 2026 from 3:00 to 6:00 PM.
Here are the twenty-four encaustic & collage paintings that I literally just finished.
I am very excited to announce that these paintings, along with the encaustic & collage target paintings, Arcadia 1 and Arcadia 2, will be in an exhibition at the Canastota Public Library (102 Center St., Canastota, New York 13032) during the month of June 2026!!!
Photographs never do my work any sort of justice – they are very colorful and layered with texture. You really need to experience them in person.
They will be for sale during the show.
I framed my encaustic horseshoe paintings. There are two sizes: 9″. 12″ and 11″ x 14″. Pictured here: the remainder of the two series. Many of these were sold when they hung on a wall in the lobby of Syracuse Yoga (in 2017).
Every home needs one of these, IMO. They are lucky!!!
Seven of the twelve encaustic & collage paintings in this series of horses are left. I created them in 2012 and had previously mounted them on 18″ x 18″ chalkboard. Now the 12″ x 12″ masonite boards are mounted onto 12″ x 12″ cradled hardboards.
I also added collage items to some of them.
This collection of cows was part of the ensemble of about one hundred paintings I created during the six-week period in 2012 when I took the best Syracuse University course of my life – Encaustics with Davana Robedee.
They are 12″ x 12″ encaustic & collage paintings on 1/8″ masonite board that are now mounted onto cradled hardboards. Previously I had them mounted onto 18″ x 18″ chalkboards. This made the presentations much larger.
They look so much better now. Fresh and new. I also added collage materials to some of them. I did the same thing to the encaustic horse paintings – I will share those tomorrow.
I had originally created several cow stencils to be used in connection to a farm animal project I presented to first graders many years ago, so I had several stencils. Davana encouraged me to play with the animal shapes to allow for a more dynamic flow and this lead to the upside-down and backwards stuff. I know that some of them are rather unsettling.
Finding an audience for non-traditional constructions can be a challenge if I allow it to be, so I won’t let it be. I really love how weird they are.
I am delighted to reintroduce The Bungalows! Created last year, these paintings went through a series of transformations. At first, I had mounted them on collaged chalkboards. They felt too busy. I decided to switch out the chalkboards in favor of these 8″ x 10″ hardboards then framed them in the same frames I used for the Fan-Girl series of paintings.
But that still didn’t feel right. Yesterday I reframed them and I am now very satisfied with this version. I love them!
Many of the collage materials attached to these paintings were items I found while metal detecting the yard of my one-hundred-twenty-six-year-old home. So, this series is very personal to me because it is about me and all the other people who have lived in and loved my home. The paintings represent the little houses that sort of encompass my neighborhood even though they are all technically mine. My corner of the world. I know there are people out there who love the Arts & Crafts movement, who find joy in the craftsman style and can relate to this cherished history.
I recently acquired another venue for a future art exhibition and will inform you of the details as soon as tomorrow. There is a possibility that these paintings will get another show soon, but I am still pondering what to do, as I will be having multiple shows happening at once, which is crazy. So much is happening!
Welcome to the new and improved versions of these paintings. I created them last year with the intention that they would be sold with a mission style table easel. I’m going to keep the easels to assist with future library art shows and/or to display my work if I ever have another opportunity for an indoor art sale like the one I participated in at that Jamesville, New York whiskey bar.
They look so much better in these fabulous frames. I am in love with them! They are encaustic & collage targets, 5″ x 7″ hardboard mounted on 8″ x 10″ chalkboard.
I reworked some of them. I added gold enamel. I changed out collage materials. I used my fingers to smudge in metallic cold waxes.
I thought they were done before, but once they were in the frames, I felt like they could be elevated via these tweaks.
The dream is to sell them as a group. Someone could install them on a wall as one giant piece or maybe they could place them on a long hallway wall in a business office.
I think this is the vision I have for all of my artwork. I create series of paintings with the intention that they be introduced to the world together as a unit, as a presentation much like a fashion show reveals a seasonal collection of clothing. I love this idea, that an idea expands to however many paintings brings it to fruition.
It’s always at least a dozen paintings of the same dimensions. In this case, there are two dozen.
I just completed this collection of twenty-four paintings. I am fascinated by the handbags depicted in ancient civilization bas-reliefs and sculptures across continents.
I created twenty-four different stencils to carve into ,my 6″ x 6″ hardboards. Then I used encaustics (and paper collage) to add color and texture.
I painted the backing board with both chalkboard paint and magnetic paint, as the mysterious handbags of old were perhaps electromagnetic in nature.
Then I added collage items that reflect my own history, as well as my signature arsenal of devices: game pieces, keys, ribbon, jewelry, wood chips and bobbins.
The fleur-de-lis dominoes have a beautiful patina, as they are new ones mixed with vintage pieces, which I love.
All are framed and ready for their conquest of the world.
There is such a rewarding feeling of validation and joy to the completion of a new series. I will bask in that after-glow while contemplating what to do next – possibly a second set of these or incorporating the handbags into a larger work, or, or, or?
Yesterday was a day of art immersion – two art shows and a fabulous day spent with my friend and fellow artist, Penny Santy. In conversation, I kept going back to this series, thinking about what I wanted its journey to be and truthfully, it would be amazing if someone wanted to buy them all and keep them together, because I feel like they are meant to be together.
But then, I think about how the ancient handbags are found in South America, Egypt, Turkey and Iraq. They stump archeologists as to their function. Maybe my handbags will be separated and valued individually, and treated with questionable mystery by the viewers who encounter them.
It’s exciting to dream about a future for my little paintings. They are infused with love, so whatever the outcome, they, and I, will be okay.
I just completed photographing the new collection of heart paintings. They are encaustic and collage, 5″ x 7″ on hardboard mounted on 9″ x 12″ chalkboard and framed.
Photographs do not do them justice. They are really vibrant in person and so full of texture.
