Edge of Day

Edge of Day Encaustic, oil, watercolor on Encausticbord 10 x 10 x 1 in

Edge of Day is also featured on the back cover.

Regina B Quinn

The radiant edges of day, veiled in mystery, quiet like a held breath yet energized by the tensions between shifting darkness and light these are the inspirations for my work.

Rooted in my sense of awe and deep connection to the natural world, my paintings are an expression of my love and sense of stewardship for the fragile balance that allows life to exist and thrive on this planet.

Frequently featuring the northern landscape at the edges of day and rarely based on any specific location, my paintings are syntheses of my experiences, observations, and imperfectly recalled memories.

While abstracted landscapes are, on one level, the theme of my paintings, I think of my work more as an invitation to viewers to stay closely connected to the natural world and thus, to all living things and to one another.

Each day as I paint, I challenge myself to try new things, to experiment, to continue to explore, and to grow. This entails practice combined with the willingness to abandon the direction I set out on with a painting.

It also means being willing to destroy a piece that may seem “good” or “done”—one with which I have a certain level of contentment, but that somehow doesn’t kindle within me a desire to try to penetrate it to comprehend something unknown or that doesn’t fully resonate with the intensity of my experiences in the natural world.

It is almost as if a painting is not resolved until it leaves something quite unresolved.

While encaustics are naturally luminous, I’ve been on a quest to create work that feels imbued with light, almost as if the paintings are lit from within.

October Morning Encaustic, oil, watercolor on Encausticbord 11 x 14 x 1.75 in

That journey of experimentation and discovery in search of luminosity has led me to work almost exclusively with encaustics and oils with beeswax over watercolor.

Beginning with watercolors on a gessoed panel, I build transparent and opaque encaustic layers, carving and scratching into them with blades and knives creating depth and texture.

Next, I apply oils mixed with beeswax, typically R&F Paints Pigment Sticks, enhancing texture and luminosity.

Layering, carving, scraping, and incising allow earlier layers to emerge, much the way geological and weathering processes obscure and expose, and as visual memories come into focus even as they fade away.

Winter Morning Encaustic, oil, watercolor on Encausticbord 6.5 x 7.75 x 1.5 in

The Faber Birren 2020 National Color Award Juror, Sean O'Hanlan, Research Associate in the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, wrote:

“The Faber Birren Color Award goes to Regina Quinn for the quiet vibrance of her Wetland at Dusk. In a present moment in which so much of our consumption of images — in various forms of isolation — is defined by the mediated sheen of digital screens, her masterful use of encaustic with oils and beeswax imbues her panel painting with an ambient life. The evening’s final hints of light seem to shift before the viewer’s eye; quite literally layered, periwinkle, umber and marigold break through with striking efect to illuminate what appears at first glance to be a subdued palette, dominated by deep greens of the darkening coastline.”

Wetland at Dusk Encaustic, oil, watercolor on Encausticbord 11 x 14 x 1.75 in

Winter Dusk Encaustic, oil, watercolor, gesso on wood panel 8 x 8 x 1.5 in

About the Author After nearly 3 decades in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, Regina now lives in New York’s Northern Catskills. Although she is a New York City native, she has spent most of her adult life in the northern mountains which are a continuous source of inspiration for her work.

Regina’s art career encompasses painting, photography, ceramics, printmaking, and theatrical painting. About 8 years ago, she was drawn to encaustics by their luminosity and subtlety, and once she started working in wax, she knew that encaustic was her medium—one that could give voice to her aesthetic, sensibility, and quiet personality.

Regina holds a Special Studies in Fine Arts degree from Trinity College where she received the Peyser Art Award, first prize, and a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from the University of Vermont. Her work has been displayed in galleries, art centers, and museums across the country. She has received several awards for her work, including the 2020 Faber Birren National Color Award.

Gallery representation is by Gagne Contemporary www.1stdibs.com/search/art/?q=regina%20quinn

You can view Regina’s work at www.ReginaBQuinn.net www.facebook.com/reginabernadette.quinn.5 www.instagram.com/ginabq