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WAX CURRENTS: FUSING TRADITION AND INNOVATION |
Wax Currents: Fusing Tradition and Innovation
October 10, 2026 – December 12, 2026
IEA and the Woodstock School of Art (WSA) introduce Wax Currents: Fusing Tradition and Innovation, an exhibition that reflects on the traditional attributes of working with wax, yet pushes the artistic envelope resulting in new ideas, unbiased techniques and fresh experimentation. Encaustic, derived from the Greek word enkaustikos ("to burn in"), is one of the oldest known painting mediums, originating in ancient Greece and dating back more than two-thousand years. Of course, the oldest surviving encaustic paintings are attributed to Egyptian artists famous for painting approximately 1000 Fayum mummy portraits. Over the centuries the popularity of encaustics has surged, diminished and nearly disappeared at times, but its unique aesthetic ability to emit light through texture and luminous layering has historically reminded painters of its unmatched qualities. The boundaries of encaustic painting have been pushed from the rise and fall of the Roman Empire to its Renaissance revival to new experimentation in the 20th and 21st centuries. Time, modernization and the introduction of electric tools have led artists to add new materials and techniques to their hot and cold wax practices. Artists have flexed and stretched the encaustic medium to create openly, and embrace the possibilities of the future. We hope that you will join us at the Woodstock School of Art for the |
JUROR: Dietlind Vander Schaaf holds an MFA from the University of San Francisco and an MA from the University of Southern Maine. Vander Schaaf has exhibited at the Cape Cod Museum of Art, The Fuller Craft Museum, and On Center Gallery, among others, and been featured in several Eastcoast home design magazines. She is a Core Instructor for R&F Handmade Paints, an Ampersand Ambassador, and the former president of New England Wax. Vander Schaaf has taught workshops nationally and internationally. The recipient of grants from the Maine Arts Commission and IEA, as well as a Tending Space Artist Fellowship from the Hemera Foundation, she is represented by Portland Art Gallery and Artemis Gallery.
ARTISTS: Husa Adams, Nadia Alenov, Julie Avina, Bob Barnett, Laura Bauer, Cecilia Berg, Eileen Bochsler, Christina Brady, Robyn Bragg, Tracy Casagrande Clancy, Heather Caufield, Maureen Church, Kathy Coulson, Dan Dietterich, Heather Douglas, Bettina Egli Sennhauser, Alaina Enslen, Erinn Evans, Tracy Finn, Melissa Freebern, Isabelle Gaborit, Denise Giardullo, Leslie Giuliani, Lorraine Glessner, Dusti Gomery, Angela Hansen, Tracie Heller, Susan Hess, Sally Hootnick, Jenna Jerman, Matthew Jones, JuliAnne Jonker, Ruth Kedar, Jennifer Keresztes, Leah Macdonald, Elle MacLaren, Mary Pat Maracle, Sauna Marie Martin, Laura Martinez-Bianco, Tarie Minchak, Barbara Morse-LuBell, Soli Pierce, Regina B. Quinn, Michele Randall, Jodi Reeb, Mari Renwick, Eva Resch, Phyllis Ruffer, Karen Schoenitz, Natalie Steigmann-Gall, Shannon Weber, Kelly Williams, Jennifer Wilmshurst, Dawn Wilson, Terri Yacovelli, Dalene Yeager-Torre, Leslie Yolen, Lonnie Zarem
Check back soon for the Online Gallery of Art!
WSA Encaustic Instructor Exhibition & Open House
Friday, October 9 | 12:00PM- 5:00PM
Opening Reception, Production & Brown Pink Tours at R&F Paints.
More information will be available on the IEA & WSA websites
What Lies Beneath: Pairing encaustic with traditional and innovative materials.
Talk led by Michele Randall and Tracy Casagrande Clancy
Saturday, October 24th
3:30-4:00PM Meet & Greet, See the Exhibition
4:00-5:30PM Artist Talk
More information will be available on the IEA & WSA websites.
Live and Virtual R&F Painting Demonstration & Art Material Raffle
Saturday, November 7, 2026 | 4:00-6:00PM
With Dietlind Vander Schaaf at Woodstock School of Art, more information will be available on the IEA & WSA websites.
Exhibition Tour & Talk with Exhibiting Artists
November 14, 5:00 – 7:00 PM
Organized by IEA Board Member & WSA Artistic Director Heather Caufield at Woodstock School of Art, funded by a Grant by IEA. More information will be available on the IEA & WSA websites.
Encaustic Panel Discussion
Saturday, December 5, 2026, 4:30PM-6:00PM
Location: Robert H. Angeloch Gallery at Woodstock School of Art. More information will be available on the IEA & WSA websites.
Encaustic Connect: Studio Demos & Artist Meetup
December 12th 5:00-7:00 PM
Organized by IEA Board Member & WSA Artistic Director Heather Caufield at Woodstock School of Art, funded by a Grant by IEA. More information will be available on the IEA & WSA websites.
Encaustic Layers & Translucency
Instructor: Dietlind Vander Schaaf
Wednesday and Thursday, October 7 and 8
Between Dusk and Dawn: Painting Luminous Encaustic Nightscapes
Instructor: Regina B Quinn
Wednesday – Sunday, October 14 – 18
Abstraction with R&F Pigment Sticks and Drawing Oils
Instructor: Melanie Delgado
Saturday & Sunday, October 17 and 18
Color by Color
Instructors: Richard Frumess and Thomas Sarrantonio
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, October 20, 21, and 22
Wax and Blooms: Exploring Botanicals in Encaustic Art
Instructor: Alaina Enslen
Saturday & Sunday, October 24 and 25
Advanced Teaching: Encaustic for Educators
Instructor: Dietlind Vander Schaaf
Sunday – Thursday, November 1 – 5
Photo Encaustic and Mixed Media
Instructor: Wayne Montecalvo
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, November 10, 11, and 12
Fallen Blossoms: Encaustic on Paper
Instructor: Regina B Quinn
Saturday and Sunday, November 14 and 15
Introduction to Encaustic
Instructor: Joan Ffolliott
Saturday & Sunday, November 21 and 22
Conversation in Color
Instructors Lisa Pressman & Richard Frumess
Tuesday – Thursday, December 1, 2, and 3
Intro to Encaustic and Collage
Instructor: Leslie Giuliani
Saturday and Sunday, December 5 and 6
A Sense of Trees
Instructor: Regina B Quinn
Saturday and Sunday, December 12 and 13