Bethany in Portland Part 2: Karl Kaiser’s Studio

Part 2 of a 3 part series

An Amazing Place to Visit

I was super excited to get a peek at the studio of Karl Kaiser. A past student of Linda Robertson, Karl is a very exciting artist who has been working in encaustic for many years and is widely recognized for his unique sculptural paintings that can be hundreds of layers thick. He carves into the paintings revealing striking bands of color which creates his signature look. Check out this video by Marc Shoop, filmed in the studio, where Karl discusses his process.

One of the first things that struck me about Karl’s studio was – okay it was the bunny! Karl has an adorable studio bunny named Willie. How cute is that? It was also neat to see the easy back and forth between Linda and Karl as they discussed his process and upcoming commissions.

Okay, back to what my artist eye was also drawn to – the organization! Everything was so neatly organized and laid out. The studio has three sections: gallery, sitting area, and working studio. From his brushes and paint to the presentation of his finished work and paintings displayed for sale; everything is lined up and ready to go. His work area is immaculately set out with a venting hood situated right over the paints that vents to the outside.  

Karl keeps all of the wax that he excavates from his paintings and either turns them into lovely decorative orbs or adds them to other paintings to great effect.

He was very generous with his time and I was happy to go home with an original painting that he made ready to hang on the spot.

If you would like to visit Karl’s studio it is open this weekend as part of the Portland Open Studios event October 17^th & 18^th. This annual event is a great way to meet artists you have been curious about and to discover new artists as well.

Be sure to visit Karl’s website to see more of his lovely paintings or to contact him regarding purchasing. (A huge thank you as well to Karl's wife Sam who let us delay their dinner time and for helping with photos.)

In Part 3 we go back to Linda Robertson's studio for a class on transfers!

Links:

www.karlwkaiser.com

www.karlkaiser.blogspot.com

 www.portlandopenstudios.com