(Artwork by Janice Rhodes)
Janice Rhodes loves to paint faces and figures, both human and animal. After painting for more than 17 years, “That’s always been my favorite subject,” she says. The artist seldom depicts real subjects; they are visages and poses that she conjures up from her imagination, usually adding “a little bit of whimsy to them,” she says. Her encaustic paintings are showcased at Red Chair Gallery in March.
Typical paintings by Rhodes include women gossiping over a glass of wine, a chef de cuisine, in a white toque and with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, presenting a delicious entrée, or a big-eyed goat with a mischevious smile. Although Rhodes does paint landscapes and flowers, her face and figure pieces allow her to portray attitudes, such as humor or contemplation.
Encaustic painting is Rhodes’ technique. Sometimes called hot wax painting, it is a term derived from the Greek encaustikos, meaning a “burning in.” The oldest surviving encaustic paintings are the Fayum mummy portraits from Egypt dated 100-300 A.D. These were portrait masks of the deceased affixed to their mummy cases. Encaustic art became popular again in the 20th century as artists such as Jasper Johns and Mark Perlman employed encaustic techniques.
The technique entails heating beeswax mixed with damar resin to about 200 degrees and then blending it with oil-based pigments. Rhodes heats the wax/resin in a slow cooker and pours it into small cans containing pigment which she keeps heated on an electric griddle. She then brushes the mixture onto a birchwood panel. As she adds more layers of color, she fuses the layers with a heat gun. The viscous nature of the medium gives it more depth and texture than other types of painting. Its thickness and viscosity allow the artist to sculpt it, collage other materials into it, scrape it, and carve it with tools such as spatulas or knives. “There’s a freedom to letting the molten, pigmented wax lead the way,” she says.
Rhodes learned the ancient technique of encaustic painting here in Bend. After retiring from a long career in the Bay Area in interior design, she seized the opportunity to attend art classes here in various mediums. After taking a class in encaustics at the Art Station in 2006, she was hooked. “It grabs you because it’s so unique,” she says.
Rhodes became well known as a local artist after she joined the Mirror Pond Gallery (closed now) in 2005. She has been a member of Red Chair Gallery since its founding in 2010. She also paints commissioned works for previous buyers who love the nuanced look she gets with that molten wax. Currently, she has works on display at Touchmark and the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship through the end of March. In July, she will have a show at the Oxford Hotel.