"Last night I invited all of the Portland encaustic artists I could find to meet at my studio to talk about starting a local chapter of the International Encaustic Artists (IEA). Everyone is busy this time of year so I was happy to see that six people attended and several more expressed interest in future meetings.

As I had hoped, it was a very casual event where we shared a couple of bottles of wine and talked about our art. I showed images from the IEA Member’s Retreat in California this spring and the recent National Encaustic Conference in Massachusetts, and eventually we got around to talking about what form a local chapter would take. We decided we would most like to participate in organizing group shows, trading studio visits, and networking with each other. Based on that the Portland Chapter of the IEA was born!

Our inaugural members are (see group photo below, from left to right): Kimberly Kent, Natasia Chan, Melinda Fellini, Andrea Benson, Amy Stoner, Judy Wise and Linda Womack.

If you would like more information on how to join the Portland Chapter of the IEA please email me at lw@lindawomack.com or call (503) 348-9139.

      - Linda Womack