DRYAD

DRYAD, encaustic, mixed media, 2014

This painting is one of the largest encaustics I have ever worked on. It measures 4x5 feet. In 2010 it was a painting of Medusa based on Bernini's sculpture of the subject. (The locks of hair were once green snakes.) After looking at it for a while I decided to paint over the piece and morph it into something else. It never quite came together as a Medusa. What I love about encaustics is that you can  rework an old painting into something new with ease. All the previous layers just give the painting added depth and texture. Many of my paintings have hidden paintings underneath.

It will be displayed at Pech Merle Winery in Geyserville, CA through February, 2015. Drop by!

More Experiments with Abstraction from Big Sur

View from Esalen at Big Sur

It has been a rough semester so I haven't been able to paint since the week in September I spent at Esalen in Big Sur. As I was driving down the coast to do something life affirming, a friend was driving up the coast and off a cliff ending his life. I didn't find out about it until a day later. That week it was painting that kept me together.

Esalen is such a magical place. While I spent most of my hours painting I had many interesting, deep conversations with people from all over the world in the early morning and late at night. Something about Big Sur lends itself to deep reflection.

My goal when I left was to experiment with mark making the way we all do as children. I told myself that I would only make non-representational marks and nothing figurative. I just played without judging and felt free. In the next few weeks I hope to take what I learned from that week and apply it to my encaustic work.

Lost Techniques of the Ancients Textbook is published!

LOST TECHNIQUES OF THE ANCIENTS by HILLARY YOUNGLOVE | Make Your Own Book

Show of Recent Work at the Spinster Sisters-August 4th -October 6th, 2014

Breathe, 2014

The Spinster Sisters restaurant in Santa Rosa will be showing my work from August 4th - October 6th. The paintings span a few years and include my most recent work. The reception will be from 5-7pm on August 14th. All are welcome.

Roots, 2014

First Foray Into Abstract Painting & Homage to Lautrec

 

This is the first time I've ever tried working working abstractly.  Not sure what I think about this but I'll experiment some more.

I have always loved the painting, At the Moulin Rouge, by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. I took a painting I didn't like and reworked it with a face inspired by his work.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's At the Moulin Rouge (1892-93). Photograph: Robert Hashimoto/The Art Institute of Chicago

 I've been reading Proust's "Remembrance of Things Past" and got caught up in that time period this summer.

A New Direction

Passage, encaustic, 2014

  

 Layering, scraping, sanding images from the past. I'm exploring ways of making my encaustic paintings have the look of corrosion.

Summer Workshops in Encaustic and Fresco Painting

Hillary demonstrating fusing.

Lost Techniques of the Ancients- Encaustic Painting

Workshop: June 14th & 15th, 2014

Location: Sonoma Academy

2500 Farmers Lane, Santa Rosa, CA

Cost: $350 I will supply all paints, mediums, waxes, heating equipment, fusing tools and misc. supplies. You bring the surfaces to paint on. Pre-registration is required and the workshop needs a minimum of six students to run.

Skill level: beginning - advanced

The Ancient Encaustic Process

The ancient Greeks first practiced encaustic painting. The oldest examples are mummy portraits found in Ancient Egypt painted during the Roman Empire. Today there are many contemporary artists working with wax. In this workshop you will get to experiment with different processes to create one or more contemporary pieces as well as a portrait in the ancient tradition.

Student working on a fresco.

Lost Techniques of the Ancients- Fresco Painting

Workshop: August 2^nd & 3^rd, 2014

Location: Sonoma Academy, 2500 Farmers Lane, Santa Rosa, CA

Cost: $500. All supplies included. Tools, mortar, boards, paint and brushes will be provided. (It is recommend however to bring your own favorite brushes.) Pre-registration is required and the workshop needs a minimum of five students to run. Skill level: some art experience recommended through advanced.

The Ancient Fresco Process

Fresco painting is the act of taking hand ground pigments and water and applying them to mortar, a wet plaster surface made of a mixture of lime and sand. In this workshop you will be creating one portable fresco based on an ancient work or your own design. You will learn how to grind and prepare your own pigments, and prepare the intonaco (a lime and sand surface on cement board).

Frescoes are one of the most archival of all painting techniques and have lasted thousands of years.

Instructor Bio

In 1995, Hillary Younglove received a grant to paint in Florence, Italy for a year at Studio Art Centers International. During this period she learned the fresco technique and in 1996 started painting with encaustics. In 2010, Hillary received a Fulbright to study the classics at the American Academy in Rome, deepening her knowledge of these ancient techniques, which led to the development of the course, “Lost Techniques of the Ancients” for which she is currently writing a book.

The course that is being offered is an adaptation of the class she currently teaches at Sonoma Academy where she is head of the arts program. In addition to teaching at Sonoma Academy, Hillary has taught for several years at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, Berkeley and UC Santa Barbara extension classes. Her work has been shown both nationally and internationally. Published work includes: the New York Times, Atlantic Records, Essence Magazine, Corriere della Serra, Random House, Barnes & Noble Publishing, Warner Brothers Records and numerous other publications.

Hillary has a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, and an MA from New York University.

Please contact Hillary Younglove at Hillary.younglove@sonomaacademy.org for a full description of the course and registration.  I look forward to seeing you this summer!

Sonoma Academy, 2500 Farmers Lane, Santa Rosa, CA 95404, (707) 545-1770

www.sonomaacademy.org

Student carving the wax.

Student building texture with wax.

Visit to St. Seraphim

It's always a pleasure to drop by St. Seraphim and talk to Father Patrick and Father Moses about the fresco technique. While fresco painting is still practiced widely throughout Europe it is rarely practiced in the US. I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to watch a true fresco in progress so close to home. Every time I visit the church and talk with the monks I learn tips about painting and plastering.

According to Father Moses it is not necessary to have 7-10 layers of thin color. Some colors can be applied with just a few coats. Both he and Father Patrick are constantly learning new things as they paint. For a while mysterious white patchy bits were showing up on the fresco. It turns out that it was due to Father Moses touching the surface while he was painting.

Another thing that I learned was that right before one starts painting, it is good to break up the surface with a trowel. While I have found that I don't necessarily need to do this they prefer to work this way. Their surfaces are perfectly plastered while I prefer to have a somewhat uneven surface with irregularities to give my work an older look. I'm also not a master plasterer!

On the way up to the cupola.

New Experiments

New work in progress. I had a long weekend to paint. Still experimenting with the gaze.

More Experiments

Anu, encaustic, 3x4ft. 2013

More experimenting with sanding, drawing and layering organic material. This is the first stage. I may do more.