Today I attended a monotype workshop taught by Kathryn Bevier at The Japanese Paper Place in Toronto – “Encaustic on Washi: using a light touch with Kathryn Bevier”.
Kathryn Bevier is a Rochester-based artist who has worked for seven years helping to develop a line of encaustic paints known as Enkaustikos. Kathryn now spends much of her time teaching the use of these encaustics in painting and monoprinting and marketing Enkaustikos products throughout North America.
The Japanese Paper Place (JPP) has a bright, large and well-equipped upstairs studio space that is ideal for art workshops. The JPP warehouse supplies several thousand different kinds of Japanese paper to retailers, manufacturers and artists around the world.
Sigrid Blohm, Washi Consultant & Workshop Organizer for the JPP, welcomed us to the workshop and introduced us to the variety of washi paper we would be working with over the course of the day. The papers were so beautiful, I found myself silently apologizing to each page as I selected it for experimentation.
I was first introduced to the Monotype method at the Monotype Marathon during the 5th International Encaustic Conference this past June. I was glad of this opportunity to try it myself. At the conference the demonstrations were done on hotboxes. Kathryn showed us how to use an anodized aluminum plate on the surface of a pancake griddle. We used part of the griddle to heat up the Enkaustikos Hot Cakes [pigmented encaustic medium in tins] and we used part of the griddle as a mixing pallete.
I found that I wanted to ensure that I didn’t cover the entire surface of the paper with paint to allow the beauty of the paper itself to show through. The monotype process on washi is very different from my other encaustic work on wood panels. I love the translucent quality of this work. The way the painting changes when you hold it up to a light or place a white sheet of paper behind the thinner Japanese papers.
It was also fun to pull medium directly from the mixing pallete that beaded up in interesting ways on the teflon coated griddle. Here are some of my experiments wrapped around my dining room light fixture.
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Cool, Kathryn…………..love the monotypes.
I am always so amazed at the results people get in such a short amount of time and am grateful that everyone came with an open and creative mindset. Working on such beautiful papers can be intimidating, and trying to limit the amount of paint can be challenging, but the learning curve was swift and I am truly the one who benefited from this group of 8 individuals. Ruth, it was so nice to meet you in person.
Lucky you! The papers are beautiful, Ruth. I did buy some of those plates at the Retreat in Portland and have original washi paper, which I brought from Japan many years ago. Will give it a try!