Encaustic Portfolio

K. B. Spencer

Portfolio

Fine Art Practice 1B Interactive Design Institute May 2016

Encaustic Painting

Artist Statement I am a painter inspired by the ever changing beauty of our sky. Clouds, colours, movement, pattern, and emotion are all displayed in a never-ending, never-repeating sequence in the skies above us.

Clouds are a subject I love and have been fascinated with for years. For my first encaustic (hot wax) paintings the sky and clouds and clouds over the sea were my focus. The rich colours and texture that can be achieved through layering the encaustic paints is particularly well suited to these images.

Reading meaning into clouds is a favourite children’s game and is still intriguing to the adult. These explorations pertain to my chosen theme of “the Mind’s Eye” in that they welcome any interpretation the mind of the viewer chooses to make. What you see in them comes directly from your mind’s eye.

The eye serves as the mediator between our vision and thoughts and our thoughts and expressions.

Through the eye one can both look inward and see outward. The theme “the Mind’s Eye” can be worked on literally or metaphorically and in the case of these eye portraits the key is in the combination of seeing the eyes and perceiving the mind behind the eye. An eye sees, reflects, expresses, and obscures.

This portfolio is a distillation of six months of experimentation with encaustic painting and the attempt to capture the beauty of impermanence in the sky and the uniqueness of vision each of us brings in response to nature and art.

Contents Skies & Seas………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 3 Eyes……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 13 Artist Bio……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 20

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Skies & Seas

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GREEN FLASH, 2016 Encaustic on panel 6 x 6 inches

TWILIGHT, 2016 Encaustic on panel 6 x 6 inches

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DRIFT, VARIATION WITH PINK 2016 Encaustic on panel 5 x 7 inches

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DRIFT, VARIATION WITH GOLD Encaustic on panel 5 x 7 inches

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CONVERGENCE

2016 Encaustic over collage on panel with pebble and sea glass.

12 x 12 inches

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DRIFT NO. 1, 2016

INVERSION, 2016

Encaustic on panel

Encaustic on panel

6 x 6 inches

6 x 6 inches

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RED SKY AT NIGHT, 2016 Encaustic on stretched, primed canvas 8 x 8 inches

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DISPERSION, 2016

STORMSURGE, 2016

Encaustic on panel

Encaustic on panel

6 x 6 inches

6 x 6 inches

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BLUE ASCENDANT 2016 Encaustic over collage on panel 12 x 12 inches

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Eyes

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SELF-PORTRAIT NO.1 2015 Encaustic on panel

6 x 6 inches

SELF-PORTRAIT NO. 2 2015 Encaustic on panel

6 x 6 inches

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HOMMAGE TO MAGRITTE 2016 Encaustic on board 12 x 12 inches A logical connection of my cloud and eye series this painting refers to the famous eye with blue sky and clouds by the Surrealist Rene Magritte.

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SELF-PORTRAIT ON COLLAGE NO.4 2015 Encaustic over collage on panel

6 x 6 inches 16

NICK, 2015 Encaustic on panel 6 x 6 inches

JACK, 2015 Encaustic on panel 6 x 6 inches

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TIGERLILY NO. 1 2015 Encaustic on panel 12 x 12 inches

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TIGERLILY NO. 2 2016 Encaustic on un-stretched canvas on panel 24 x 24 inches

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K.B. Spencer Artist Biography I am an American artist living and working in rural England. Primarily a painter, I am currently experimenting with the ancient medium of encaustic (hot wax) painting and working on a long term collage project. I completed a Master’s degree in the History of Art in 1989 and have lived and worked on every continent over the last 20 years.

Key influences in my art include world travel, the big sky landscapes around our home, and the re-purposing of ubiquitous images. Through collage and painting I am searching for contemporary relevance for art in a world saturated with imagery and visual history.

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