artscope magazine: May/June 2009 Welcome Statement: Brian Goslow, managing editor Letters to the Editor ARTSWorcester's BIENNIAL 2009 GRIDWORK: Further explorations into the urban landscape featuring new work by Robert Maloney and Sean Thomas BEN ARONSON - LIGHT AND GEOMETRY: The Urban Signature RADKA DONNELL: THE WORK OF TOUCH DOROTHY SIMPSON KRAUSE: LOSING GROUND NATURAL WORLD: A BRICKBOTTOM ARTISTS' ASSOCIATION MEMBERS' EXHIBITION JOE FIG: IN THE PAINTER'S STUDIO POINT OF VIEW: OUTDOOR SCULPTURE GALLERY-BY-THE-FALLS THE SIXTH SENSE: CONTEMPORARY JEWELRY FROM KOREA Featured Artist: Dominique Boutaud FéLIX DE LA CONCHA: PRIVATE PORTRAITS/PUBLIC CONVERSATIONS 2009 PORTLAND MUSEUM OF ART BIENNIAL SCULPTURES IN LOVE WITH ARCHITECTURE JESSICA GONACHA at YES Gallery and Studio THE BRIGHT & SHINING LIGHT OF IRREVERENCE: RICHARD SAJA AND THE HISTORICALLY INACCURATE SCHOOL WHERE HISTORY AND CONTEMPORARY MEET BRATTLEBORO-WEST ARTS PREMIER GROUP EXHIBITION SCOTT PRIOR (ongoing) and LARRY PRESTON / GREG GILLESPIE and LEONEL GóNGORA ANDIAMO! Art on the Hill Destination: Federal Hill, Providence’s Little Italy THIRD ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF ENCAUSTIC PAINTING AXIOM CENTER FOR NEW AND EXPERIMENTAL MEDIA CAPSULE PREVIEWS

THIRD ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF ENCAUSTIC PAINTING Brian Goslow Montserrat College of Art 23 Essex Street Beverly, Massachusetts June 5,6, and 7 When Joanne Mattera compiled The Art of Encaustic Painting: Contemporary Expression in the Ancient Medium of Pigmented Wax, published in 2001 by Watson-Guptil, it was the first go-to book on contemporary encaustics — and only the second book on encaustics ever, the first having come out in 1948. Encaustic paints can be used for traditional still-lifes and landscapes, but can have lots of drippings and objects embedded in the wax. “Once people are aware of what it is, they can exploit the medium for all sorts of creative expression,” Mattera said. The Art of Encaustic Painting’s release coincided with the Internet becoming a worldwide outlet for art supply distributors to market their catalogs directly to artists, who helped spread word on the book’s availability globally. “I would get hundreds of emails with questions asking, ‘How do I do this?’ and about paint proportions,” Mattera said. Those messages convinced her of the viability of a conference where encaustic painters could come together to discuss their work and methods. A few years later, Mattera found herself teaching at the Montserrat College of Art. Dean of Faculty Laura Tonelli championed the idea of an encaustics conference to the rest of the college, which became its host. A few years later, Mattera found herself teaching at the Montserrat College of Art. Dean of Faculty Laura Tonelli championed the idea of an encaustics conference to the rest of the college, which became its host. “In 2007, we had 104 attendees, basically from my mailing list,” Mattera said. “In 2008, we had 205 from my mailing list, word of mouth and Montserrat advertising it (the conference).” She was initially concerned that the global economic downturn would affect the turnout for 2009. “But with six weeks till the conference, we have 207 people attending from as far away as Iceland, New Zealand, France, Ireland, Mexico and a whole Read the entire article in our magazine pages...