YOU'RE INVITED TO

The Whole Ball of Wax, Part II

Opening Reception 
​Friday, June 29, 2018
6pm-8pm ​
​Join us for the opening reception for artists and instructors, Bonnie Camos and Louise Guidry,
​and participating artists in the recent encaustic workshops at Achilles, John Benz, Melissa Bonin, 
Ken Douet, Ed Dubuisson, Burnell Lemoine, Vera Judycki, and Clare Zimmer 
at Achilles Print Studio on Friday, June 29, 2018  from 6pm-8pm. 

On exhibit, recent works consisting of encaustic paintings, encaustic works on paper and fabric. There will also be a demonstration of working with wax! Hors d'oeuvres & wine will be provided.

We hope to see you all there. Cheers!
*Please see below for instructors' biographies and artist statements as well as
images from recent Encaustic Workshops at Achilles Print Studio | Fine Art School & Gallery
Free and open to the public.
Facebook Event Page: www.facebook.com/events/1016248971884541/ 

About the art of Encaustic & Monotypes

  • Encaustic, a wax-based painting medium characterized by luminous color and lush surface, flourished more than 2,000 years ago in Greco-Roman Egypt. Encaustic, from the Greek encuastikos, means to "heat" or "burn". Heat is use at every stage of encaustic painting. The medium consists of beeswax melted with a small amount of resin to impact harness and pigment for the rich colors adde to the molten wax. Painting requires quick work, as the wax begins to harden the moment it leaves the heat source. The heat binds each layer to the one set own before it, so while the image my consist of discrete compositional elements, structurally the entire surface is one carefully crafted mass, a "whole ball of wax", if you will. ​                                                               
  • Monotypes are prized because of their unique textual qualities. They are made by drawing on glass or a plate of smooth metal or stone with a greasy substance such as printer's ink or oil paint. Then the drawing is pressed by hand onto a sheet of absorbent paper or is printed on an etching press. 

Instructor & Artist, Bonnie Camos

Biography 

Bonnie Camos is a visual artist, curator, arts educator, and native of Lafayette, LA.  For 25 years, Bonnie has been professionally exhibiting her art and actively participating in the cultural communities where she resides, having served on the boards of the Acadiana Arts Council and the Louisiana Crafts Guild.  She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and was an artist-in-residence at Louisiana Artworks in New Orleans in March 2007.  Bonnie was chosen as an official artist for Festival Internationale de Louisiane in collaborations with Craig “Whoojoo” McCullen to create the official art piece and poster for the year 2010.   She also created the “Games of Acadiana” poster in 2012 for the Miles Perret Cancer Services Center.  Bonnie teaches children’s classes in addition to conducting summer arts programs for the Children’s Museum of Acadiana and Achilles Print Studio. ​

Artist Statement

​The inspiration for my work is based on color and the impact it has on human emotion. Using the mediums of encaustic, oil pigment in beeswax and resin with heat, I explore the possibility of color relationships. By reducing the figure or face to the most simplistic shapes representing a universal "picture" of a man. I mean to suggest the connection we all have to each other through our life experiences and the emotions elicited from these experiences.

Instructor & Artist, Louise Guidry

Artist Biography & Statement

Louise Guidry was born in Ville Platte, Louisiana, a very small southern town, Louise didn't have any formal art training as a child, but her mother was a seamstress, and Louise was intrigued by the scraps of fabric and threads that her mother would discard and she would play with them. For Louise, this was her first attempt at creativity during childhood. It wasn't until Louise and her family moved to St. Martinville during high school that she started studying art independently, and later on at the age of thirty she began to paint in earnest.

​Louise married, had children and was very occupied with family life and an elementary school teaching career, but once her children were grown up she went to study at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette at age 54 and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the age of 58. Louise has been making artwork ever since and now her paintings are accepted around the world.
​​
​"I am 87 years old, and painting keeps me young!" -Louise Guidry ​

Images from Encaustic Workshops at Achilles with
​artists & instructors, Bonnie Camos & Louise Guidry