Provincetown At Last

After a year of looking forward to arriving at the site of the annual encaustic conference (since last year's conference), I am here in Provincetown and welcoming friends as they arrive. Old Home Week was never so sweet, and this year I'm so glad that I arrived several days before the actual start of the conference this Friday, June 1st. I have had a little time to walk around and immerse myself in Provincetown's unique atmosphere before putting my mind to all things encaustic.

Sky with parking lot at the Provincetown Inn

This morning is much clearer than yesterday when it was foggy and so dewy or misty that my glasses kept getting obscured. Yesterday morning when I woke up very early, I took a long walk all the way to Herring Cove Beach a mile or so away.

Long view across the moors and dunes to the sea

The foggy morning, the damp and salty sea air reminded me of my original home in Boston, so different from where I live now in the western, landlocked side of Massachusetts.

Land sculpted by tides

But Boston never looked like this -- or at least not for hundreds of years.

The history of water's movement across the land was fascinating to me as I walked along. Beach grass, sand, growing vegetation and wood dragged and dropped by tides all formed a textured landscape and a record of movement.

Texture - what texture!

I guess my mind was on bricolage and patterns - as usual.

View of the breakwater side of the inn. The breakwater is the long line
at the top of the photo

Well, I had better get moving because today I'm teaching my first workshop on Wax and Bricolage. Everything is ready to roll but I have to fire up the griddles and get that wax a-meltin'.

More latah!

Countdown to The Conference

Postcards have arrived and labels have been printed and attached. (Surprising even me - and I did it.) Somehow I managed to fit all those shows on the back and still keep within the mailing guidelines mandated by the Post Office. Yes, it does make the back of the card look strange if it doesn't have a label on it, but it leaves room for notes such as, "Make sure to buy that big red one!" and stuff like that.

So here's the front. This image is of a new piece called Postmortem made just from packaging, tacks and encaustic on a panel. I am showing it at The Schoolhouse Gallery in Provincetown in the Conference Presenters' Show. You'll see all the show details on the back of the card below. (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

Here is the card back listing the five shows in which my work will be shown during the conference (and after).  These five are just part of the incredible lineup of shows that Joanne Mattera and Cherie Mittenthal have put together to make a giant encaustic extravanganza in Provincetown from end May and into June.

Here's a better view of Postmortem (click to enlarge)

You can see the whole lineup of shows here. The purple dots on the map below and on the conference blog are the galleries that will be showing work in encaustic. All the openings are on Friday night, June 1st, except the two shows at Castle Hill Center for the Arts in Truro which open on Thursday night, May 31st.

I'm showing the map here, but if you go to the Encaustic Conference blog using the link above or here, you can enlarge it and actually see the street names where the galleries are located. There are two shows at the Provincetown Inn, two shows at Castle Hill and 12 shows in commercial galleries throughout Provincetown. Wow!

Excitement is mounting as we all complete our preparations. I am going to Provincetown early to teach a workshop before the conference begins, to deliver work to various shows and to hang a show. I'll be posting more details and pictures as the countdown proceeds. Once my trip begins, I'll be live blogging on the way and then covering all the fun day by day. (Unless I'm having too much fun - which has been known to happen.)

Oh, the thrills and chills ahead!