Paula Roland

Paula Roland is a painter, alternative printmaker, and installation artist known for her innovations, particularly in the development and teaching of encaustic printmaking. Her work is an abstract aesthetic which overlays her concerns for the natural world.

Roland has had 25 solo exhibitions and over 80 group exhibits throughout her career. Her works have been featured in books and other publications including Installations and Experimental Printmaking, by Alexia Tala and The Art of Encaustic Painting, by Joanne Mattera. Articles about her works have appeared in the Surface Design Journal’s Art and Fiber Issue; Authentic Visual Voices: Contemporary Paper and Encaustic (media), and others.

Paula has received awards, grants, or fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts; the Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans (2); the US Department of State for permanent placement in American Embassies in Johannesburg, South Africa and Kampala, Uganda; Santa Fe Art Institute; Virginia Center for Creative Arts (France and US); International Encaustic Artists (Innovation Award); and Anderson Ranch Arts Center, among others. She has an MFA in painting and sculpture from the University of New Orleans.

A pioneer of the Encaustic Monotype, Paula taught the process for over 25 years as a university professor and visiting artist, through self-organized workshops and at the International Encaustic Conference, Provincetown, MA.

Paula lives, creates and teaches in Santa Fe, NM.

Website: paularoland.com

Facebook: facebook.com/PaulaRolandArt

Instagram: @paularolandart

Classes with Paula Roland

Zen Printmaking with Encaustic

Through my many years of developing encaustic printmaking I noticed the following:

This process is absorbing, fascinating, and very meditative.

The somewhat unpredictable wax materials inspire improvisation and new discoveries.

Later, I heard about Beginner’s Mind --one that is free from pre-conceptions, a mind that is empty and ready for new things. Borrowed from Zen Buddhism, it is an apt metaphor for working in the mercurial Encaustic Monotype process.

I added the above principles more consciously to my teaching and after 25 years, I find there is still no end to the possibilities with the monotype process. There are only a few key variables: paper, heat, and the way pigments and wax behave. Understanding the nature of these allows one to work with intention, broaden the creative process, and produce stunning, unique works.

These may be direct and calligraphic, or layered for depth of color and translucency.

Encaustic Monotypes tend to be abstract and are an enjoyable way to bring abstraction to your practice. That said, one can work with imagery as well!

How it works: Encaustic, in solid, block or crayon form, is applied directly to a heated metal plate. The wax paint melts instantly. These first direct marks may be printed or they may be manipulated with brushes and other tools to desired effect. When satisfied, the paper is laid on the surface and the wax paint is absorbed into it. No press is used --the image is transferred using only gentle hand pressure.

Because the encaustic is absorbed fully into the paper, there is no risk of chipping or damage from heat or cold. They may be shipped in a portfolio, or they may even be rolled!

In this class, you will work directly and calligraphically, "sculpting" your lines and marks with tools as you draw onto, and remove from, the plate's surface. We will also layer color and experiment with the variables to expand possibilities.

You will also:

• Become familiar with many presentation options for paper -mounted, framed, or free-hanging.

• Learn to mount your works with wax or acrylic gel.

• Make a "floating" panel--it's easy with only a few tools needed.

Join me on Paint With Fire from Santa Fe, New Mexico, and let the sun shine in!