Friday, September 27
Longtime artist and art instructor Deborah Paulsen will present her first Buenaventura Art Association solo exhibition Sept. 6-Oct. 26 in Studio 99, BAA’s Ventura headquarters in Bell Arts Factory, 432 N. Ventura Ave.
Using hot beeswax and damar resin with added shellac, oil paints and pigment sticks, she creates encaustic paintings on cradled wooden panels and will display about 18 works from 3 by 5 inches to 48 by 18 inches in a show titled “Fantastical Blues.”
Paulsen will be on hand to discuss her art and the encaustic process at First Friday receptions 6-9 p.m. Sept. 6 and Oct. 4 and during Ventura’s annual weekend ArtWalk, noon-5 p.m. Sept. 21 and 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sept. 22.
She moved to Fillmore more than two years ago from Santa Clarita. She has shared her knowledge and passion for drawing, design, painting, and sculpture for 23 years as a professor of art at Los Angeles Mission College in Sylmar. Her imagination and exploration of the molten medium of encaustic are reflected in the seascapes and landscapes of Southern California, she said.
Paulsen holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Claremont Graduate University and earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Eastern Washington University. She further honed her skills since then in workshops and projects with other noted encaustic artists.
For this show, she works mainly with seascape themes, focusing on the horizon line to divide the sky and water. Elements of the land, such as rocky protrusions, are carved in as compositional elements.
“Layers of the encaustic medium are fused together with a torch so that the colors mix and marble on the panels to create fantastical effects,” Paulsen said. “Although they are based on land and seascapes, the methods used with the encaustic paint create spaces, colors, and textures that are luminescent and sensual as the paint is turned molten, layers are added and subtracted, and patterns are revealed.
“I love making encaustic paintings, because it forces me to live in the moment. The medium requires my full attention,” she said. “It is an alchemical and magical process that is not always predictable.”
For more about Paulsen and examples of her works, visit her website, https://deborahpaulsen.art, or see @deborahrpaulsen on Instagram.
BAA, founded in 1954, operates Studio 99, which is open noon-4 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and has an outlet at Harbor Village Gallery & Gifts and a display at SpiceTopia, a Main Street retail store.
Harbor Village Gallery & Gifts, at 1559 Spinnaker Drive, Suite 106, in Ventura Harbor, is open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. seven days a week. SpiceTopia is at 576 E. Main St. It’s also open daily, but the hours vary.
For more about BAA and its programs, call the gallery at 805-648-1235 or visit buenaventuraartassociation.org.
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