Tranquility. Kate Colclaser, artist
For the month of May, the Asheville Gallery of Art presents Waxing Artistic—Exploring Encaustic, a collection of works by Kate Colclaser. The exhibition runs through Saturday, May 31, with an opening reception from 5-7:30 p.m. on Friday, May 2.
The influence of Appalachia is deeply ingrained in Colclaser’s art. “The mountains, farms, forests and wildlife all influence my work,” she says. “As a child, I lived with those things, and they sparked my curiosity—why things changed with the seasons and how plants and animals dealt with that.”
Where They Came From. Kate Colclaser, artist
Through her encaustic medium, Colclaser does not simply replicate nature. “I don’t try to paint specifically what I see,” she says, “but I want to give an impression and express the mood of a place or season, whether it’s the lonely sparseness of a winter field as the birds head south or the vivid, lively color of a woodland in the fall.”
Part of Colclaser’s mission with this exhibit is to demystify the medium of encaustic. “Most people don’t know much about encaustic—how it’s done or how expressive and enduring it can be,” she says. This exhibit highlights encaustic’s potential for creating diverse works, from landscapes and abstracts to collages and portraits. By incorporating watercolor, photos, oil paints and pastels, Colclaser demonstrates how encaustic can be layered with other media to enhance both depth and expression.
It was the allure of hot wax, heat guns and propane torches that first captivated her. “It seemed a medium that was open to experimentation and offered lots of different ways to express ideas,” she says. “When I start a piece, I have a general idea of what I want to happen,” she says. “Sometimes the wax cooperates, and sometimes it doesn’t. Very often, the piece goes awry and I let the creative brain take over and go with it. Often it ends up a much better idea than what I originally had in mind. To me, that’s part of the creative process.”
Asheville Gallery of Art is located at 82 Patton Avenue, Asheville. To learn more, call 828.251.5796 or visit AshevilleGallery-of-Art.com.
