Hustle

Years ago, before my beloved art friend moved to Hawaii (see Constant State), we took a trip to Hunterdon Art Museum in Clinton, NJ to see a fibers show. I vividly recall being impressed not only by the exhibition itself but also by the museum's historic building. Originally constructed as a mill in 1763, this structure played a crucial role in grinding wheat for General George Washington's revolutionary army during its encampment in Morristown. In 1953, the mill was transformed into an art museum, preserving its rich history while serving as a cultural hub in Hunterdon County.

The structure exudes a sense of history and comfort. Its galleries are intimate, saturated with abundant natural light streaming in through numerous windows. That fibers exhibition felt oddly familiar, like coming home. I resonated with the artists and their creative hustle. I sensed that this was a space where my work belonged too.

13 years and 2 kids later, that intuition has become a reality. After a lot of dedication to my practice and my own creative hustle, my artwork is part of the 2023 Juried Members Exhibition at Hunterdon Art Museum.

Shoutout to my niece, Margot, and my brother and sister-in-law for sharing a picture of the banner outside the museum on opening weekend. This image overwhelmed me with immense pride and cuteness overload, of course! The clip below is an explanation of the work included in the show and how it relates to my creative journey over the past two years.

If you are in the area, I highly recommend checking out the space and show between now and January 7, 2024.

100%

I am emerging from the wonders of summertime, packing away the sunscreen and towels, and prepping my classroom for my 21st year of teaching high school art and art history. This transition is always difficult for me (enter eye roll here if you don’t have a summer break).

While I am grateful to be able to work with young artists everyday, the demands of teaching often slow down my own creativity. Like all things, this is something that I’ve managed to accept and find balance in. Over the past several summers, I have settled into the rhythm of working intensely on my own practice, and giving myself some grace over the school year. It is so important for me to recognize that I can not give 100% to all of the things all of the time. I was in 100% Art Making Mode this summer and I had the opportunity to work on a very special commission.

My dear friends, Liisi and Walter Lascarro, built a beautiful home in our neighborhood several years ago. It is classic and cozy and tucked in the trees on a hill. I was so excited to gift them a work inspired by the Denville Farmer’s Market when they first moved in, honoring Liisi as the founder. Several years ago, I was delighted to add to their Engfer Pizza collection when I created a print of their home that sits in the nook over their piano.

Every time we sit around their large kitchen island at the many gatherings they host, Liisi tells me about how she needs to find something to hang on the blank wall in her dining room. For years, I’ve suggested a giant mirror and she always shoots me down and says it needs to be artwork. As someone who hangs pictures on a wall the day I move in, I can appreciate her patience in finding the right piece to fill the space.

When I was driving home from Vermont in June, flying high from a week of abundant creativity, it occurred to me that my passion for abstracting the landscape might be exactly what Liisi and Walter’s blank wall needs. I suggested using our lake landscape as inspiration for an artwork and they were immediately on board. We agreed to collaborate on the work and all came to the kitchen island with ideas and suggestions. From this, I drafted ideas and thumbnails.

I knew that Liisi and Walter had a collection of large coffee bean bags from the Denville Farmer’s Market. I suggested incorporating these into the work as a wink and a nod. When I started sorting and cutting up the bags I came across two magical words: 100% and Family. I was thrilled to discover this and incorporate it into the work.

Installation Day! Shout out to Pete Pizza for always fully supporting my endeavors.

100% Family Acrylic and Collage on Canvas 48” x 36” Diptych 2023

I am so grateful to have a community of people who encourage and motivate my work. Making art is often a difficult and vulnerable endeavor, but my heart drives me to do it anyway. It helps to know that my appreciation for the lake landscape can be shared with others. Thank you to Liisi and Walter for supporting a local artist.

If you are interested in collaborating on a house or landscape commission for you home, let’s chat!

Wishing Hoping Thinking

Coming back from Vermont with a dedication to my work is no small task. Artmaking is a little different when you’re not purely focused on it in the mountains of Vermont. I started my return to reality with a walk to our favorite dock for drawing with my daughter and dog. My intention is to translate what I practiced in the Vermont landscape to my home landscape

Growing up in a lake community in New Jersey was a magical experience. I was always awestruck by the lake landscape - deep blue and green waters, rolling mountains in the distance, with exciting skies that evolve in extraordinary ways throughout the day. As an adult, I planted roots in another lake community so my children could grow up in similar surroundings. Drawing together allowed me to explain how transformative my trip to Vermont was and how it encouraged me to see the landscape in a new way. By returning to the basics of contour and blind drawing, I am able to capture what the landscape feels like.

The past few weeks I have been able to carve out several hours of studio time a day. The summer is the most realistic time for me to do this, so I need to take advantage of it! I recently completed my first set of paintings since returning home - Wishing, Hoping, and Thinking.

Wishing 10” x 10” Encaustic and Collage on Wood 2023

Hoping 10” x 10” Encaustic and Collage on Wood 2023

Thinking 10” x 10” Encaustic and Collage on Wood 2023

These three paintings are meant to be shown together as one work, also known as a triptych. I often work this way. It allows me to tell a visual story, returning to my roots in bookmaking.

Wishing Hoping Thinking 31” x 10” Encaustic and Collage on Wood 2023

The NJ waters and mountains provide peace, solitude, and rejuvenation to their inhabitants. I am translating the landscape through edges and color with a focus on shapes and values. These three abstracted encaustic panels move the viewer with the water and through the trees and mountains. I hope you enjoy the journey.

Unforgettable Fire

Another year down and I am transformed. Breaking down the studio and packing up new work feels like an ending and a beginning. I have so much inspiration to process and take home to my studio. My biggest takeaway from this week is how important it is to return to the basics - in art and in everything else.

Shapes and community.

Color and farm fresh food.

Value and values.

Thank you to Lorraine Glessner and Kelly Milukas and to all the beautiful women who I worked (and laughed!) with this week. After a thoughtful showcase of our work, I said goodbye to Peter, the resident farm cat who attended all workshops this week. I stocked up on Vermont syrup, said farewell to many lovely ladies, and hit the road.

I didn’t buy THAT much syrup but was delighted by the image of a shopping cart full of it!

The entire ride home, I couldn’t help but see the landscape as shapes and shadows and can’t wait to use wax and fire to depict them.

Leap

This week, I was surrounded by supportive teachers, delightful classmates, and breathtaking nature. This trifecta environment allowed me to leap forward in my work and my confidence. I am so grateful to be supported in all aspects of my life so that I can find these small pockets of time to purely focus on art making.

We observed the river for quite a while today - its shapes and the way it moves.

We looked closely at the rocks and documented how the water moves around them. They are the constant and the water will always ebb and flow to get where it needs to. So many opportunities for metaphor here - in life and in work - and more specifically the commitment it takes to be an artist with a regular practice.

River Studies. The left side is an abstracted observation of the river itself. On the right side are patterns created to mimic the sounds of the river and nature.

We were given a lot of time this afternoon to work independently and dive deep into our practice. I can’t help but be prolific here. It’s easy for me to be in the zone with zero distractions and materials at my fingertips.

It’s the dedication to the work when I return to reality that matters now. I am ready to take on this challenge and leap into summer!

Crush Beauty

Today started with another rigorous morning of seeing and drawing exercises. This kind of study takes intense focus and isn’t fun. Understanding and practicing how to translate the world onto a surface is hard work. But this foundation sets the stage for the freedom to play later.

Yes - that is a giant pencil that we had to draw with - holding it like a toddler with our non-dominant hand.

I have always thought about light in my work in the sense of the lightest lights and darkest darks. I believe this is an important guideline and I teach it to my students too. But these past few days of getting back to the basics of value- especially value in terms of color- have completely shifted how I will approach light in the future.

The afternoon was time for another extremely important reminder… that you can make any color in the world with a set of THREE primary colors (Red, Blue, and Yellow). And from that phenomenon, you can then create an infinite amount of tints using white. As a new encaustic painter (about 15 months), it had never occurred to me to start with the primaries. Instead, I was mixing from colors that a manufacturer created. How boring! And yet, another reminder of why returning to the basics is so important!

This revelation allowed me to be much more confident and free when working with encaustic and I was a painting machine today. I worked up quite an appetite from all the rigor and play and was delighted to find word magnets at the restaurant while waiting for dinner. These will always make me think of college and also my favorite ninja poet, Maya Stein.

Why do I NOT own word magnets!? It was a good set too!

Crush Beauty by Erica Engfer Pizza

I’m the best kind of exhausted by crushing beauty today. I might swim badly tomorrow (stay tuned). And I definitely enjoyed these views walking out of the studio and up to my room.

Good night.

Back to Basics

Everything is so simple here. The meals are impossibly fresh and sourced from the farm on site. The rooms are uncomplicated and cozy. I wake up, eat breakfast, and make art. Eat lunch, make art. Eat dinner, make art. Sleep and repeat.

Today’s workshop was so simple yet challenging and rigorous. Our instructors brought us back to the foundations of artmaking and we practiced exercises I hadn’t done in 20 years. It was refreshing to strip everything back and start from the beginning again… to really make yourself see what’s in front of you. To find the line, the shape, and the value. To draw for the sake of drawing. To be open to possibilities and new visual languages.

Tomorrow our value studies will transform into upside-down color. I’m not exactly sure what that means but I am here for it and excited to find out!

Constant State

I planned to write about how thrilled I am to be back in Vermont because my memory does not disappoint… This place is truly magical! But when I opened my journal to start writing, a blank postcard fell out and it immediately made me think of my grad school art friend, Jamie R Allen.

I have several “art friends.” These are people who I value for being amazing humans in general but the bonus is that when they are in town, I know an art adventure is certain. One of these friends moved to Hawaii about 13 years ago and works there as a successful fine artist. We always plan an art adventure when she is home and over time, we also became ART pen pals.

Every few months, we connect through the mail. We send each other mini artworks, postcards from a good show we’ve seen, and other little surprises (stickers, articles, cool leaves, etc). The best days are when I check the mail and come across a gem from Hawaii. Artists are collectors and it’s a beautiful thing to share some of the things you come across.

Creativity is a constant state of being for me. I am always mentally and physically collecting visuals, materials, and ideas. If you see me staring off into the distance, I am probably thinking about how I can turn an idea into artwork OR… I’m thinking about what time I need to feed my kids dinner so they can make it to their activities on time!

Speaking of, my son asked me this morning why I need to go all the way to Vermont to make art. Valid question, kid. I explained that it is important for artists to have time to only focus on their art without other distractions. Mom guilt aside, I hope to be setting an example of what it means to follow your passion.

Here’s to an important week of transforming my collections into visual expressions (Jamie’s postcard included).

Imposter Syndrome

For me, making art is a necessity for survival, like drinking water or getting enough sleep. When I’m not creating or at least thinking about creating, I am lost. As a certified introvert, I best express myself through visual art. When I am in the middle of making a new work, I am in the zone during the pockets of time I am able to carve out for complete immersion into making. Please note “pockets of time.” As a mother of young kids, a high school art teacher, and a leader of my local, this takes planning and a lot of support and understanding from my husband.

For someone who makes creating and showing work a priority, it’s funny how little confidence I have in what I make and put out into the world. It’s a classic creative problem, right? Always feeling like an imposter - not as original or experienced as everyone else in the room.

Being accepted into the NJ Arts Annual this year was a big boost for me. 100 artists (out of 800) applicants were chosen for the exhibit this year. The theme Mother Nature vs Human Nature resonated with me and a concept for this work emerged quickly.

My work, Other Nature, examines the human inclination to settle in areas that Mother Nature never intended for human inhabitants. 130 monoprinted houses translate to cascading rain or a cyclone from a distance and will respond to human movement with gentle swaying and rotation. The stoneware vessel is literally made from earth and the cracked edge conjures the dichotomy of beauty and destruction.

Other Nature 2022 detail

Here’s to less doubt and more confidence in what I put out into the world.

Forever

In light of recent events, I’ve been coming back to this work again in my mind.

Forever 2022 Encaustic and Collage on Paper

When I returned from my Vermont Retreat this summer, I knew exactly how I was going to incorporate encaustic into my work. Forever was a part of the show Pages at Studio Montclair in Fall 2022. I was thrilled to be a part of this exhibit because I have great respect for the curator, Pam Cooper, and showing work with other bookmakers felt like coming home. I was first introduced to bookmaking during my undergraduate studies and immediately fell in love.

We were asked to create an audio file to supplement the work in the show. Below, I describe the work and subject matter in detail.