The Art Blog

It's been a long hot summer here in Seattle and things have been heating up in the studio as well. I want to share with you some highlights from a special project that's been in the works. My friends over at Shep Films have been busy creating an Artist Profile video that features me working in the studio. The film is in the final production phase now and will be available to view soon. I can't wait to share it with you.  It was a very exciting (looooong) day of shooting but it was so much fun to capture some of the many magical moments that happen during my creative process. Here are a few screen shots and behind-the-scene images… A look behind the scenes…. Stay tuned my friends...

Works by Dustin Yellin were on display at the Winston Wachter booth. Seattle is my FAIR lady!  The city is still buzzing with energy after what has proven to be a smashing success for Seattle's inaugural Art Fair event.  City Arts contributor, Amanda Manitach, has written this amazing recap and follow up article on the Seattle Art Fair.  Below is an excerpt but you must read the full article here: City Arts …..As we emerge from the whirlwind of the weekend, the collective vibe is too amped-up to objectively assess how successful the fair was in financial, critical and cultural terms. At a party on Saturday night, representatives from Artist Trust were glowing. The proceeds from the Seattle Art Fair patron VIP ticket sales—which were entirely donated to the organization—amounted to $85,000. That number was three times what they expected. A representative from the Office of Arts & Culture gushed when describing his tour of the art fair and Out of S...

It's ART season here in Seattle! The inaugural Seattle Art Fair opens this evening with a preview party at the  CenturyLink Field Event Center (WaMu Theater), and the fair runs through Sunday, Aug 2nd.   This means a jam packed weekend for art lovers awaits with numerous art happenings coinciding with this main event. Too many to mention here so I am including a link at the bottom of this post.   In conjunction with the fair I will have new work on display for this weekend only at the Hall Spassov Gallery  in Seattle. Below are the images that will be up from Friday thru Sunday only (July 31 - Aug 2).  Codex - encaustic, shellac,oil - 24 x 48 Blue Tide - encaustic, shellac,oil - 24 x 48 Wanderer - encaustic, shellac,oil - 24 x 48 Courageous - encaustic, shellac,oil -48 x 24 Fair Dates/Hours/Locations/Satellite Events: Click Here to see the listings in The Stranger

Hey there...I hope you are enjoying this amazing summer so far! I have spent most of this season hunkered down in the studio enjoying the long sunny days that spill into my windows and light up my workspace.  Work-in-progress for my upcoming show at the Hall /Spassov Gallery There has been a lot of painting and preparing going on here as I get ready for my next solo exhibition coming up this October. (see info below) " Sojourns" opens  at the Hall / Spassov Gallery in Bellevue, Washington this October. Come check out this gorgeous "jewel box" of a gallery  and see what I've been working on all summer.   Here are the deets….. Hall Spassov Gallery presents: Sojourns New Encaustic Works  by Alicia Tormey October 1 - 31 Join Us for the  Opening Reception Friday, October 2nd 5pm - 9pm Hall Spassov Gallery 800 Bellevue Way NE, Suite 150 Bellevue, WA 98004

Inscape Arts Summer Open Studios Sunday, June 14, 2015 Hours: 1pm to 6pm (Visit Studio #118 if you want to see what I have been up to.) More details here: Inscape Arts on Facebook

Since I first encountered encaustic over 25 years ago I have watched it grow from an obscure ancient painting method to a widely popular and recognized fine art medium.  With interest in encaustic continuing to expand,  I receive daily inquiries from other artists about my painting methods and  techniques...  especially the shellac burn technique that I have become known for in recent years. So I have created Learn to Burn Workshops designed around my specific way of working with encaustic with an emphasis on the shellac burn technique.  Detail from Carnival Vista - Encaustic w/mixed media - 24" x 48" -Alicia Tormey 2015 I offer live sessions in a group or private setting and will soon have an online course and Skype sessions available.  For a list of current classes please visit my workshop page at: Alicia Tormey Workshops   In the mean time...here are some very informative links on the subject of encaustic that you may find help...

Boston Globe art critic, Cate McQuaid, reviews Organica show. . . Read her article below... Wild, Dreamy Images At Chase Young Gallery, Alicia Tormey’s “Gaudium.”   Alicia Tormey makes pictures. Wild, intoxicating pictures with jewel tones, spatial complexity, abstract passages, and giddy motion, which are now on view at Chase Young Gallery . Looking at them is a less contemplative process than looking at work by Lipsky and Tollens. Likewise, they are rewarding in different ways. What Tormey has in common with those two painters is a commitment to technique. She mixes beeswax, ink, and shellac, and builds her images, in part, with a blowtorch. The ink, it appears, makes the picture; layers of wax add the illusion of distance. The heated shellac bubbles and threads, creating an organic overlay that crawls over the surface, and frames the color beneath like a stained glass window. The artist’s floral pieces, such as “Sublimus” and “Gaudium,”are hardly still li...