The Enso Circle Exhibition Catalog Fall 2021

THE ENSO CIRCLE an invitational online artists’ residency created and led by michelle belto and lyn belisle

CATALOGUE

OF RESIDENTS’ FINAL EXHIBITION SEPTEMBER 2021 1

Copyright © 2021 by Lyn Belisle and Michelle Belto for The Enso Circle. All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher and the artists whose works are included except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Printed in the United States of America First Printing, 2021

The Enso Circle An invitational online Artists’ Residency Created and led by Michelle Belto and Lyn Belisle theensocircle.com

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The Enso circle symbolizes many things: the beauty in imperfection, the art of letting go of expectations, the circle of life, and connection-- the imperfections and contours are exactly what makes the Enso beautiful.

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INTRODUCTION: THE ENSO CIRCLE I reread some of the early communications between Lyn and I from 2015 when we first began planning what would later become The Enso Circle. Back then, I was doing a lot of teaching on the road and Lyn had created a thriving art center. The original impetus, I think, came from wanting to continue and expand our collaborative teaching experiences into something more enduring. We continued to throw around ideas for the next couple of years, while life took us in different directions.

The proverbial window opened when Covid forced us all into quarantine. Separated and isolated in our studios across town from one another, we had time and energy to design a focused experience based on connections-creative, collaborative and community—the opportunity we wanted for ourselves. The Enso Circle Artists Residency was born.

The second term grew unexpectedly last June when a significant number of the first residents wanted to continue on. They found that being in a small group of mutually supportive artists with focused time to develop a cohesive body of work was integral to their own studio practice. In response, we opened up a Continuing Residents track and have, with their direction and input, developed concepts that continue the tradition of the Enso Circle as it propels their work forward.

The stunning work in this catalogue speaks to the professional and artistic growth of each participant. The variety of media and artistic expressions you see here has been a rich and exciting cross-pollination of ideas and resources. Thanks to each of these twenty-one amazing artists for allowing Lyn and I to be a part of their life and their creative process.

Michelle Belto Co-Founder, The Enso Circle September 10, 2021

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This catalog is tangible proof that “what if” can become a reality. Each of the Resident artists whose authentic, eclectic work graces these pages answered a call for concept that had not been tried before – a virtual Art Residency based on a written application and specific goals.

The Enso Circle is not an art workshop or social media group, although it has components of each of those. It is an invitational Art Residency, a dedicated three-month time period in which artists join a community of creators for a specific self-chosen goal that is unique to them. The online residency provides the comprehensive artistic support that they need to focus and strengthen their work. Artists who apply are ready to focus on a conceptual goal in their studio practice. It could be a social theme, an exploration of media, a series of work that analyzes personal struggles or celebrates overcoming difficulty.

When Michelle and I opened up this idea online to the arts community in February of 2021, we had no idea how that community would respond. We just knew that The Enso Circle was something we would want at this stage in our creative careers. Much to our delight, we are now preparing for our third term of the Residency. We choose the Residents like those you see here based on a combination of factors, but any one of our applicants would be a great choice because they want to be here.

Since the first day, the Residents have shown respect, support, humor, and encouragement to others in the Circle. We’ve borrowed ideas from each other and made virtual visits to each other’s studios. I am incredibly grateful to these Residents who have made The Enso Circle a reality, now and in the future.

Lyn Belisle Co-Founder, The Enso Circle September 10, 2021

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WHAT IS THE ENSO CIRCLE? The Enso Circle is an invitational art residency, a dedicated three-month time period in which you will join a community of creators for a specific self-chosen goal that is unique to you. The online residency provides the comprehensive artistic support that you need to focus and strengthen your work.

You will have access to workshop sessions, a private online library of resources, regular Zoom critiques and group discussions, and presentations with guest artists. During the three months there will be opportunities to share your work in process, troubleshoot stuck points, get positive and supportive feedback, and meet one on one with Lyn and/or Michelle.

The residency culminates in a shared online exhibition and catalogue. This catalog showcases the work of the Current and Continuing Residents of The Enso Circle for the spring and summer of 2021.

WHO IS THIS COMMUNITY FOR? Artists who are ready to focus on a conceptual goal in their studio practice. It could be a social theme, an exploration of media, a series of work that analyzes personal struggles or celebrates overcoming difficulty.

It’s also a space for those of us who feel stuck in our work, need the externally imposed order of a community of creative colleagues, and value the exponential wisdom of the group.

If you’ve felt a sense of isolation, this virtual three-month residency may be exactly what you need to re-connect to your art practice through synergy with others in The Enso Circle.

If you feel the need for a balanced experience that encourages both personal creative time and guided encouragement from like-minded working artists, you will find a home in the Enso Circle with Lyn Belisle, Michelle Belto, and your fellow art Residents.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE APPLICATION PROCESS, PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE: WWW.THEENSOCIRCLE.COM

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CURRENT ENSO CIRCLE RESIDENTS SHERYL BELTRANE MARIAN MCKENZIE-CONE JEAN DAHLGREN VANESSA MARTIN-LANGONE BETSY MURPHY CAROL L. MYERS LESLIE NEWTON IRENE PEAKE KATE STOCKMAN MICHELLE TRACHTMAN SARAH TREANOR STAN UNSER DORIS VASEK

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TEXAS NEW ZEALAND TEXAS CALIFORNIA TEXAS MICHIGAN TEXAS ARIZONA NORTH CAROLINA MARYLAND OHIO TEXAS TEXAS

About the Artist

SHERYL BELTRANE Fifteen years ago, I took an art class and 30 courses later I knew I would always be connected to the world of art.

Now I am a Docent at the San Antonio Museum of Art where I share their treasures with the public.

At home, I dabble with my paint brush and acrylics, where I explore my happy accidents and if I’m lucky, produce a piece of beauty, for my eyes.

About the Work

When I have an idea, I make a sketch. Once I turn to the canvas, I allow the free flow of the brush to take over adding color and shapes and lines and wonderment. Nothing entertains or challenges me more than doing portraits of people I know and love.

Work 1 is a portrait of my youngest grandson. The face taken from a photo and the dream items painted randomly. Sketching a dreamscape just requires knowing how an 11 year old thinks. This is an acrylic painting on canvas.

Work 2 is a memorial of my husband on his patio enjoying the view. This is a keepsake for our children. This is an acrylic painting on canvas.

Work 3 is an abstracted portrait of my grandson and his imagination. Acrylic on paper.

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About the Artist

MARIAN MCKENZIE-CONE Who looks outside,dreams Who looks inside, awakes ~ Carl Jung I grew up in Waimate, a small rural township in New Zealand. My parents owned a small farmlet.

My Father was an Apiarist and we had a huge orchard, hens, ducks, sheep etc and clay banks under huge macrocarpa trees to carve into, trees to climb and make huts in, ponds to go frogging in, drawing and nature was a natural fit from very early in my life.

“Art, a handshake into possibilities “

About the Work

I explore the ideas of abandonment and synchronicity. Our life journey is an individual one that we must take alone, yet we simultaneously seem to be guided by unconscious happenings, that in hindsight we see as connected all along.

The idea of “Alone ,Together” makes sense here. My overall vision for this work was to take decades of my life 1948-2021 and seal these into concrete covered books as a pedestal on which my polystyrene,plaster bandage, paper mache,head rests,NZ stamps and aged with sepia toned inks and gel medium and concrete paint to experience new places peering into the next decades, through an open arch of being born again.

Alongside this 3D work I explore a new idea to me, spirit dolls, thus producing: “Mum Spirit Doll” a triptych, from objects collected over many years.

The purple buttons from cushions made for our first bedroom 1968, here representing my four children along with their nappy pins.Objects that represent farm life, the little necklace I received for Xmas when I was about five. A lamp to light my way, a suspender representative of holding on or letting go, a blue button from a coat mother made for me for Sunday School.

NZ Paua, a symbol of change and transition.

The writing is a page of thoughts from a lifetime.

The collage pulled childhood and adulthood together and spoke of the meaning of stamps on my face.

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About the Artist

JEAN DAHLGREN A phone call, and invitation to tie dye. Curiosity peaked, it was a date. My fiber experience to this point was some weaving and a little sewing.

After a mega dye day we are waiting 24 hours. Opening each bundle was a gift. A glorious mash up of every color imaginable. I was hooked.

Color by dye had me. The journey continued mastering the materials and learning about design. It took years of practice to reach a modicum of proficiency.

No matter what other mediums may entice, my heart always goes back the infinite colors produced by dye.

About the Work

“You can’t go home again” Growing up was spent on Treasure Island, a real place. Homes were small cottages, steps away from the pristine beach. You could walk along the surf for miles, alone and peaceful.

Each day was a treasure; swimming, maybe fishing, a boat ride, or just sitting and listening to the sound of the surf and watching the motion of the waves. It is GONE. Now high rise condos take the place of cottages. The beaches are fenced off.

Traffic is noisy and constant. Remembering the intense blue sky, a riot of red and yellow Hibiscus, dark green Sea Oats, white sands and golden purple sunsets.

Share with me my memories created in dye and print.

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REMEMBERING 16”X20” LINEN DYE AND PRINT NFS

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About the Artist

VANESSA MARTIN-LANGONE Vanessa Martin-Langone loves experimenting and working with mixed-media and encaustics.

Her work ranges from abstract to figurative and nearly always influenced by her love of nature. In her recent body of work, Langone explores the effect of a world pandemic on our lives. Most of us have had a lot of time to think, without our daily distractions. As an artist, Langone has relied on her practice more than ever to explore isolation and the conflict of structure versus organic and unstoppable Mother Nature.

She received a Textile Design degree from FIDM and has taken many classes including studying extensively at Art Center Print Studio under artist Erik Mark Sanberg and Master Printer Tony Zepeda. Zepeda worked with renowned artists such as Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Ellsworth Kelly and others. Langone has been commissioned by several Interior designers to create paintings for their own collections and their clients’ private collections.

Langone was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland and currently lives in Los Angeles, California with her husband and their two energetic boys. She is a very proud hockey and soccer mom.

When not at a rink or soccer pitch, she enjoys yoga, photography, the ocean, reading, travelling, museums and going to the movies with her family.

About the Work

We all share the experiences of life, death, grief and rebirth literally and metaphorically. Life is short and Covid has woken a lot of us up to how we want to curate the components needed to live our best and happiest lives. The yearning for community and realisation that we need and depend upon each other has been hilighted and weeding out what does not serve us. With all our distractions taken away when everything shut down, we were left with our thoughts, simplicity, chats at a distance with neighbours, walks around the neighbourhood and the role of nature as a comfort has become more prominent.

As an introvert and an artist, the last eighteen months really allowed me to fully immerse myself in my work and I have never been more productive. My process is mostly intuitive and I enjoy how my painting reveals itself as if it’s being channeled through my hands. During my creative process, I feel a connection to the influence of lineage. The passing on of information and traditions from our families and teachers and the knowing that we will share too. Making art is a meditative and cathartic experience and has been an anchoring practice especially as my dear dad passed away this year. I am grieving the profound impact and emptiness of his loss.

Writing poetry also helps me process my emotions and express my creativity. Ideas for my next series include exploring how to combine my art and poetry. The motifs in my work reference isolation, self-reflection, emergence, nature, butterflies with their life cycle and textured layers mimic weathered surfaces exposed to time and the elements. Mother Nature is such a force and communicates in her own way. Action, reaction. Covid, BLM movement, extreme weather, global warming, science proving we are being willfully destructive and showing us that this has to change.

We urgently need to be more in tune with each other and our planet to preserve and protect what we have for our precious future generations.

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About the Artist

BETSY MURPHY You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have. – Maya Angelou I am a creative and have been since I was old enough to pick up a pencil or paint brush. My parents valued fine arts and encouraged their children to pursue careers in visual art, writing, music, and theater. I graduated with a BFA in Art Education from The University of Texas and a master’s degree in Art Education from Texas Tech University.

Throughout 36 years as an art educator, most recently at UT Austin, I developed competence with a wide variety of art techniques and processes. Yet, in my own artistic practice I focused on two-dimensional work, mainly acrylic and encaustic painting.

Beyond my career as an art educator, I cultivated an interest in environmental stewardship and in 2016 was certified a Texas Master Naturalist. I took advantage of time at home during the Covid shutdown to start beekeeping. My interest in restoring nature and supporting pollinators in my home landscape dovetails wonderfully with my artwork, as these efforts inspire my paintings.

About the Work

Through a personal relationship with the natural world, I have continued to develop my curiosity as well as my powers of observation and in turn my appreciation of the beauty and peace I find spending time there.

In this series of three acrylic paintings, I investigate a newfound favorite in the garden, Dahlias. These floral pieces continue a larger body of botanical paintings that have been a mainstay of my acrylic work.

In this series I work on a larger scale and begin by printing multiple layers of color and pattern. The size of these prints emphasizes their textile-like quality. Printed monotypes become the substrate for the up-close and personal color investigations of petals as they unfurl, buds dripping with morning dew, flower heads that stretch toward the sun, and leafy stems that twist and contort.

Earlier time spent in the garden planting, watering, and pruning translates to a similar process in the studio. In cultivating the surface of each painting, I often use the alla prima technique, where colors are mixed directly on the surface. The term cultivate is my guiding word for 2021, and is a fitting metaphor for my creative process.

Through these paintings I pay homage to the last art movement of the 20th century, the Pattern & Decoration movement. Perhaps my career as an art educator has primed me to respect both art and craft as well as appreciate both in the non-Western cultures that these artists celebrated. Whatever the case, my affinity to the richness of the P & D movement of the 1970’s and 80’s is undeniable.

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TOP: DUET 16 X 16 X 1.5 INCHES ACRYLIC ON PANEL $600 BOTTOM LEFT: CAFE AU LAIT 16 X 16 X 1.5 INCHES ACRYLIC ON PANEL $600 BOTTOM RIGHT: CAMANO SHADOWS 16 X 16 X 1.5 INCHES ACRYLIC ON PANEL $600

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About the Artist

CAROL L. MYERS “To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.” Mary Oliver I was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. Experiencing the area’s lush landscape and major waterways assured my love of nature in all forms and the city provided a rich visual, cultural and literary history. My parents surrounded me with creative activity, and encouraged my interest in art as an avocation, if not a career.

I graduated from the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, moved to Ann Arbor,MI for my first job, and was inspired to earn a BFA in printmaking from the University of Michigan. Since graduation I have blended nursing, art, marriage and family.

About the Work

Currently I live in Southwest Michigan, on Paw Paw Lake, 12 miles from Lake Michigan.I am a self professed magpie collector of stones, bones, rusty bits and other fascinating natural and man-made objects found on walks around Paw Paw Lake and Lake Michigan. An intimate connection to the natural beauty of the area and the proximity to the lakes and waterways inspire my work. These inspirations find form in the flow of pigmented beeswax images printed to paper, delicate drawings on paper, layers and textures of encaustic wax paintings and the texture and mark of paint and stitch on fabric.

My work explores the internal landscape of spirit. Meditative pencil drawings explore the natural objects that fascinate me: shells, bones, fossils, bare trees and roots…the architecture of nature. Intimate and meditative, my work creates a sacred space for contemplation and invites the viewer into connection with spirit.

During the pandemic, my studio practice shrank to the breakfast table where I created small meditative drawings, and digital images ‘sketched’ on my iPad from photos taken of my work and on my walks in nature.

For the Enso Circle I wanted to explore incorporating these digital images into my art practice while exploring the idea of ‘Home’. While drawing on the iPad doesn’t satisfy my need for pencil on paper, I am excited to explore the use of mixed media and drawing in conjunction with the digital images

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RIGHT: SHELTER DIGITAL PRINT ON ARCHIVAL PAPER 14” X 11”, 20” X 16” FRAMED $180.00, $240.00 FRAMED TOP LEFT: JUST BEFORE THE FIREFLIES FLY DIGITAL PRINT ON ARCHIVAL PAPER 12” X 12”, 16” X 16” FRAMED $160.00, $220 FRAMED TOP RIGHT: TRANQUIL SHELTER PHOTO ENCAUSTIC ON CRADLED PANEL 14”X 11” $180.00

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About the Artist

LESLIE NEWTON I have been working in ceramics for over 20 years. I have created some fantastic pieces, mostly animal-themed. Also I have made more than my share of what I considered failures. There was just no spark.

About 5 years ago, I started printmaking. Mostly copper etchings. My original goal here was to apply the images to ceramics pieces.

Then, last year, I started exploring watercolors. I have barely scratched the surface, so to speak. And now it seems I have fallen down another rabbit hole with encaustic!

About the Work

The work pictured here employs stencils or photographs with encaustic medium. I tried to do something with them besides just covering them with wax. The very dark one is my great grandparents with pieces of postcards that they wrote.

I’ve always enjoyed trees and images of trees and the leaves reflect that, as you can see from the two leaf studies at the bottom.

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About the Artist

IRENE PEAKE I have been making collages and assemblages for more than 40 years, working as a “weekend artist” while employed full time as a corporate writer/editor.

Making visual art complemented the creative work I did to make a living.

My most recent work focuses on childhood memories, with a special emphasis on visits to my grandmother’s apartment in New York City.

I enjoy working with various components, seeing how seemingly disparate items come together to tell a story.

About the Work

“I Am Not a Lamp” Every section of this assemblage honors a special childhood memory.

Each incident or activity—whether visiting the zoo or playing with clay in school—helped develop my senses and appreciation of beauty.

“Sweet Childhood Companions” This assemblage recalls the joys of play. My grandmother was a retired elementary school teacher and had all sorts of wonderful things stored in her large desk at home. I’d explore all the drawers and cubbyholes and discover items to use in making art: shiny paper stars, pencils, crayons, rubber stamps, a bottle of mucilage, etc. My favorite toys in her apartment were the little plaster dogs in this piece.

“Remembering Happy Times” Looking back, from “deep in my bones,” I know that my childhood experiences have transformed and made me into the adult I am today.

Remembering happy occasions reminds me to celebrate life whenever I get the chance.

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I AM NOT A LAMP SWEET CHILDHOOD COMPANIONS REMEMBERING HAPPY TIMES

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About the Artist

KATE STOCKMAN Kate Stockman is an assemblage artist who focuses on creating handmade jewelry, books, and fiber work. Kate is a native of Charleston, SC, where almost everyone is an ancestor worshipper, and she is no exception. A daughter and granddaughter of needleworkers and crafters, Kate grew up surrounded by handmade fiber works made to bring comfort and joy. As a toddler, playing in her grandmother’s button box was the enthralling genesis of her love of color, size, shape, and texture. Her mother taught her how to embroider, knit, and sew.

Now it is Kate’s turn to offer comfort and joy.

Kate has been creating jewelry since those pasta necklaces in kindergarten (remember?). This delight has matured into Kate’s passion for creating “TouchStones Anecdotal Art” (each piece tells a story; perhaps it touches your story) that honors Nature and the Self. Her jewelry combines sterling, semiprecious stones, and handmade lamp work glass beads with occasional antique or vintage pendants or bits of Nature to create these unique adornments.

About the Work

Creativity is one of her direct links to Spirit who uses her hands as a conduit in co-creation. It is a sacred and humbling relationship that brings her comfort and joy.

My goal for the Enso Circle residency was to deepen and expand my jewelry creations. I have created ensembles using my mother’s beautiful 1940s purses filled with my jewelry, a miniature handmade book that tells the story of the ensemble, vintage gloves, and a few other surprises. My hope is that the purse will store the jewelry while it’s not being worn and will be used when the jewelry is being worn.

This residency has been a pathway to a very rich and rewarding time of growth for me, in both my art and my Self. It was absolutely wonderful to realize that I had everything I needed (in creating new art and in moving forward personally).

How’s that for a life lesson?

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TOP: YOU HAD ME AT RED! MIXED MEDIA ENSEMBLE: VINTAGE PURSE, NECKLACES, HANDMADE BOOK, VINTAGE ITEMS $500

BOTTOM: FEMME FATALE MIXED MEDIA ENSEMBLE: VINTAGE PURSE, NECKLACES, HANDMADE BOOK, VINTAGE ITEMS $450

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About the Artist

MICHELLE TRACHTMAN It wasn’t until I was in my 40’s when my “grown up life” became chaotic, that I found myself looking for a creative outlet. Since that time, working in different ways with fiber and stitch has been a form of relaxation and meditation for me.

I am a self-taught fiber artist. In the past I have only made art on a part time basis but during the pandemic, I felt the call to create on a more regular basis.

While being a part of the Enso Circle I found the connection between art and spirit, and this has provided me with an opportunity to create in a whole new way.

About the Work

“LifeStages” Series Throughout this residency I focused on learning new skills to make female spirit dolls. This series of 3 dolls is made with sticks collected in my neighborhood, artificial sinew, sea sponge, nests, mosses. They are then clothed with a variety of different fabrics, both commercial and hand painted.

In the “ LifeStages” series each doll represents a woman at different stage of life. They are not meant to represent the Neopagan Triple Goddesses. They are instead named for goddess that represent their approximate ages! Each doll is adorned with an owl’s nest to symbolize their wisdom through time.

Making mixed media figurative sculpture created with natural elements helps me to connect mind, heart, and spirit. Each spirit doll has her own story to tell, leaving endless possibilities for continued creations.

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WORK #1 HEBE -THE GODDESS OF INNOCENCE AND YOUTH. SHE IS THE DAUGHTER OF ZEUS AND HERA. SHE IS THE SMALLEST OF THE DOLLS AND COVERED IN MOSS WORK #2 AMBIKA-THE FREE SPIRIT OF THE TEEN YEARS. IN NEPAL-AMBIKA IS THE NAME OF THE16 YEAR OLD GODDESS AND IS WORSHIPPED FOR ONE DAY DURING THE RITUAL OF KUMARI-THE RITUAL OF WORSHIP OF PREPUBESCENT GIRLS. SHE IS THE DOLL WITH THE “DANCING” ARMS DRESSED IN ORANGE-THE COLOR OF ENTHUSIASM, EXCITEMENT AND, WARMTH. WORK #3 AZRAELLE- THE GODDESS OF LIFE, DEATH, AND REBIRTH -THE CRONE. HER APPEARANCE IS THAT OF AN OLDER WISE WOMAN, WHO IS CONNECTED TO MAGIC. SHE CARRIES HER STAFF AND IS ALWAYS WATCHING HER YOUNGER SELVES.

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About the Artist

SARAH TREANOR My work explores personal growth, spirituality, and a relationship to nature.

I have a deep curiosity about the moments of transformation in our lives… the times of endings and beginnings, and the ways we as humans continually reinvent ourselves.

Transformation presents us with so many emotions - grief, fear, and anger, but also hope, empowerment and joy.

I use creativity as a tool to build meaning and beauty from the complexities of life’s changes… to continually see things, and myself, from new viewpoints.

About the Work

I came into this residency from being in a stuck place artistically. My goal was to try some new mediums while focusing on self portraits - hoping this would reignite my joy and reconnect me with myself. The results were all I’d hoped for and more.

The new mediums I explored - eco-printing and assemblage art - brought me two opposing experiences. Ecoprints brought a light, playful joy back into my artmaking! I fell in love with this process of allowing nature to be a part of the creating. In contrast, assemblage art had me doing some deep soul searching and visiting my past in powerful ways. In between those was a marriage of these new mediums with my existing mediums of photography and encaustic.

The new ways I explored photographic self portraits with wax and eco-prints was especially cathartic. This body of work represents reinvention. The idea of rediscovering ourselves over and over in our lifetimes, each time finding more value, depth, and beauty.

It was a process of uncovering parts of myself that had gotten buried beneath layers of doubt, loss, busyness and fear. A process of remembering play, and allowing myself to let go of the idea of control. This work is both a telling and a retelling of so many pieces of me.

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TOP RIGHT: THE WAY HOME ENCAUSTIC, PHOTOGRAPHY AND VARIOUS FOUND OBJECTS 13X17” NFS TOP LEFT: PORTRAIT STUDY NO.2 ENCAUSTIC, PHOTOGRAPHY, ECO-PRINT TRANSFER 6X6” NFS TOP CENTER: PORTRAIT STUDY NO.5 ENCAUSTIC, PHOTOGRAPHY, ECO-PRINT TRANSFER 6X6” NFS BOTTOM: THE WAY HOME (DETAIL)

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About the Artist

STAN UNSER A fascination with intriguing images and a compulsion to merge them into stories directs my work. My focus is on presenting a narrative and artistic composition.

I start with digital manipulation of the images before transferring them with acrylics and finishing with oils. Abstract or tumultuous environments are frequently opposed with organized figurative elements.

I also welcome ambiguity to invite viewers to advance their own interpretation of the piece. Creating viewer involvement is my foremost purpose.

About the Work

Beach2, Liz During the residency a scheduled family beach trip occurred and I took my camera. During morning seaside walks, I discovered and photographed the intricacies of waves and sand as well as my shadow.

A mistake on sizing the transfer print made them too short to cover the canvas. I decided to turn this into a “happy accident” by turning the uncovered white area at the top into a negative space reaching towards the pink hat.

Square Head Round Face I am inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat’s work which I try to approach using children’s drawings. This combines a grandson’s drawings, posters for the South Korean group BTS, and a magazine advertisement as a background.

An Enso Circle goal to work larger helped since the crowding won’t work in a smaller space. The stripes are white molding paste in black areas and black modeling paste in white areas.

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TOP: “BEACH2, LIZ” 2021, PHOTO TRANSFERS, OIL, ON CANVAS. 24”X24” BOTTOM: “SQUARE HEAD ROUND FACE” 2021, PHOTO TRANSFERS, ACRYLIC, MODELING PASTE, OIL, ON CANVAS. 36”X48”

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About the Artist

DORIS VASEK When I was in school in central Texas, art class consisted of crayons and manilla paper.

I always had to find my own inspiration and mediums over the years.

This lead to an independence that usually centered around color and texture no matter the medium.

Today, painting in oil and cold wax meets that need for me. It takes me in so many different directions. It allows me to create work that lets each viewer imagine something different. I am happy with it each day.

About the Work

OPPOSITE PAGE TOP LEFT: LOOKING FOR TREASURE, OIL, 16X16, $650 TOP TOGHT: MORNING WALK #1, OIL, 16X16, $650 BOTTOM: ABOVE THE CALDERA AND SMOKE, OIL, 24X30, $1800

I decided The Enso Circle residency would be my time to experiment and work with no preconceived ideas. I would add new materials to my usual, comfortable, daily art practice.

I added dry pigments, sage ashes, pastels and other new-to-me mediums. One of my initial goals was to explore marks made by nature. I used sidewalk cracks and shadows cast by trees.

They are things I see on my morning walks. These became marks that would be woven through the many layers of each painting. From the start, I felt I was free.

Sounds silly but this was the intention I started with for these works. It lead to pieces that are still recognizable as mine but have a slightly new feel because of a change in a color combination, mark or shape. They are a little softer in places and bolder in others.

Working this way was a great escape from my usual approach.

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ABOUT THE CURRENT ENSO CIRCLE RESIDENTS WHO BEGAN IN JUNE 2021

SHERYL BELTRANE It is time to stop thinking and let the brush move from forces within me. Fifteen years ago I took an art class, and 30 courses later will be a forever student and absolutely love creating art. I did a workshop with Michelle in 2011.Currently am in second year Docent Training at SAMA. Since Covid, I have not found a class that appealed to me until I saw Enso Circle opportunity. I remodeled my kitchen with a studio area by french-doors. Enso Circle is the nidus to create and share daily with like-minded souls, and be part of something greater than self.

MARIAN MCKENZIE-CONE I am a qualified pre-school and primary teacher who currently resides in Timaru, NZ. I believe that art is the freedom to explore ourselves and teach us who we want to become through trial and perseverance in the application of medium and never giving up when we think the world is against us. For me it is about colour and imagination, feeling the color in ourselves and the world around us. I combine these two aspects and leave the viewer to decide what they see in the work.

JEAN DAHLGREN Retirement allowed the time and opportunity to explore making art. First techniques were weaving, clay, paper and print. The search led to fiber art, in particular, dye and screen printing. Creating fabric for wall art that tells a story, garments that make the wearer smile and upholstery fabrics that lend individuality to a home. This is my passion. Happiness is time in the studio with fabric, immersed in color.

VANESSA MARTIN-LANGONE An early memory I have is being a little girl at my grandmother’s table painting and happy as can be. My art practice has sustained me in many ways during the Pandemic and I am so thankful to have it. My husband has always been my biggest cheerleader and I dedicate my participation in this show to him. I am so very grateful to Lyn and Michelle for giving me this wonderful opportunity and knowing we have a mutual love of serendipity! I look forward to seeing what the next chapter unfolds...

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BETSY MURPHY Many people today find themselves disconnected from the pleasure of spending time in nature. Often, we think that we can only experience peace by traveling to vast untouched wilderness. In my paintings I celebrate nature where I find it, from urban pocket parks to local green belts, to my own backyard. Aspects of my paintings, just as in nature, vacillate between working intuitively and having work well planned.

Through painting I enjoy finding intersections, overlaps, layers, and relationships both in the subject matter and in the process of the painting.

This work helps me gain focus and keeps my hands busy.

CAROL L. MYERS For as long as I can remember, I have been enthralled with the natural world in all its color, shape and form, both microscopic and macroscopic.

Meditative pencil drawings explore these natural objects and create a sacred space for contemplation and connection with spirit. These explorations form my personal constellation of image and meaning.

Encaustic allows me to work intuitively in layers, adding and excavating marks and objects that create depth, history and meaning in the sensuous layers of wax. I infuse my work with my experience of spirit and intentions of healing.

LESLIE NEWTON My life so far has been a series of love affairs. With teaching, travel, family, and clay. I have been teaching for 50 years and am still at it.

Same for traveling around the world. My family used to be my parents, sisters and me. It has both shrunken and grown with death and marriage and adoption. I have taken a break from ceramics but in the back of my mind, I’m never finished with it. Now I am in a flirtation with encaustic. I’m waiting to see where it takes me.

IRENE PEAKE

I like to find beauty and meaning in everyday objects. I’m the person who goes to the beach and comes back with a pocketful of shells, or who visits the woods and comes back with a handful of sticks and stones. Each item in my stash is special to me, whether made by nature or, like a piece of fine, old lace, made by hand.

When I work with these items, magic happens. A story emerges in the form of a collage or assemblage.

KATE STOCKMAN Creating art is one of my direct connections to Spirit. I am deeply grateful that The Muse sings to me night and day. My experience in the Enso Circle is one of gratitude for the nurturing attention and creative encouragements, especially from Lyn and Michelle. The ensembles that I created have have been in my mind for over a decade. I feel that my creativity has exploded during this brief exploration of my art! What more could an artist hope for?

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MICHELLE TRACHTMAN As a child I loved to sit and color and play with paper dolls! Eventually I craved doing something more creative. I fell in love with working with fiber and stitch. I learned to needlepoint, to make traditional hooked rugs, fabric collage/art quilts and art dolls.More recently I’ve wanted to connect more with Spirit through my artwork and started making spirit dolls. This series theme changed many times and ended up being about aging. Creating this way is freeing and has added to my desire to work with natural elements, mixed media, and sculptural creations.

SARAH TREANOR I’m a mixed media artist and writer from Northeast Ohio. I have a deep curiosity about the moments of transformation in our lives… the times of endings and beginnings and what we as humans choose to do with them. Transformation encompasses so many things, from grief and loss and sometimes anger, to trust, self love, acceptance and joy. Having experiences a great deal of loss personally, I am always exploring my own times of change in some way through my work, whether overtly or in some subtle underlying tone.

STAN UNSER I’ve been making artwork since my retirement in 2015 and am influenced by multiple class instructors including Michelle and Lyn at the Enso Circle. One class taught me to photo transfer using dissolving paper. After learning oil painting, I started using that to finish over the photo transfers. Now I use Photoshop, a larger printer, and various mixed media processes including encaustic which I learned from Michelle.

DORIS VASEK I have always been lucky to have “my room.” It and I have changed over the years. Most of my life, I had been a fiber artist…sewing, quilting, weaving. The magic for me was always the colors and textures. Then came painting. Years of realistic watercolors became oils. Using cold wax medium with the oils gave me colors and textures. It also gave me actual sounds and expressive movements as I paint. This is why I can say, most days, you will find me happily working away in “my room” in Rockwall, TX.

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ENSO CIRCLE CONTINUING RESIDENTS FLORIDE BARTELL GAIL BYRNES SUE CONNER JOANNE F DESMOND KATHERINE DYER NANETTE RAE FREEMAN HARLEEN OSBURN HEATHER TINKHAM

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CALIFORNIA MASSACHUSETTS CALIFORNIA MAINE MINNESOTA ILLINOIS CALIFORNIA MINNESOTA

About the Artist

About the Work

FLO BARTELL From a small South Carolina town with a strong influence from a family of teachers, artists, and musicians, I developed an early passion for the arts. Though my drive to create persisted, I devoted many years to a career in education and mental health. When I decided to follow my lifelong passion, I established a needlework business and studied art and music again. A practicing artist for over thirty years, I currently teach encaustic painting and sculpture and am represented by Art Central Gallery in San Luis Obispo, California.

With GUIDE I developed a renewed interest in figurative work representing the concepts of goddesses and muses. I am finding satisfaction in exploring ancient traditions, historical and familial symbols, and new ways to use my materials. While I believe those materials I used and the texture I created in this piece reference my past work, this wall sculpture seems to be guiding me toward growth in a somewhat new and exciting direction.

GUIDE represents the wisdom of seeking guidance and healing support from our muses, either past or present, and the willingness to follow new paths.

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About the Artist

GAIL BYRNES Long ago, I was introduced to shamanism and have worked with and apprenticed with shamans in multiple traditions. I believe that we are all connected; people, animals who walk, swim, and fly; plants and trees, earth and sky. Spirit moves freely through us all, unless it is blocked by some force.

In art, my goal is to give creative expression to my soul, which is part of this great web of connectivity.

About the Work

My goal for this Enso Circle residency was to explore restrictions on women’s bodies through fashion and culture.

I CAN’T BREATHE. This piece is about binding women’s bodies through corsets and the resulting constrictions upon organs and the breath itself. On the top, I embedded faces of women who might have had to wear corsets during their lifetime. I created a cage to further emphasize being trapped within this manmade confine.

METAMORPHOSIS. This piece shows a woman emerging from her cocoon and eventually breaking free of her cage. She has fierce determination as she midwifes herself across this threshold from entrapment and hibernation to freedom.

She will fly free as she claims her true self, and realizes her destiny as a butterfly, pollinator and bringer of beauty.

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LEFT, AND RIGHT DETAIL METAMORPHOSIS FOIL ARMATURE. CREATIVE PAPERCLAY, TISSUE PAPER WINGS. WILLOW BRANCH CAGE. 12” IN DIAMETER 3’ HIGH NFS

RIGHT: I CAN’T BREATHE WIRE ARMATURE WITH MULBERRY PAPER AND ENCAUSTIC WAX. EMBEDDED TISSUE PAPER IMAGES. TEA PAPER SKIRT. WILLOW BRANCH CAGE. 14” IN DIAMETER 3’ HIGH NFS

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About the Artist

SUE CONNER Discovering the world of encaustic painting in the fall of 2014 ignited within me, a spark that has yet to be extinguished. As I delve deeper into the nuances of this extraordinary medium, I continue to experiment with ways to create textures, embed found objects, incorporate images, and integrate paper, where the wax becomes the unifying factor.

I find satisfaction when, instead of trying to control the outcome, I let the spontaneous nature of the wax guide me.

About the Work

The poetic nature of trees and the environment in which they exist, continues to be a recurring theme in my art. My intent for these pieces was to explore ways to communicate the connection I feel with nature while experimenting with alternative construction methods in which the means of presentation was an integrated part of the work.

“Uka”, surrounded by the downward, graceful, organic shapes of the leaves represents the idea of “letting go”. She possesses a carefree spirit that reminds us to be more “in the moment”.

Taking a closer look at the intricate network of lines within the eucalyptus leaf inspired “Honoring the Not So Perfect”. Finding beauty in imperfection leads us to better understand this diverse world in which we live.

“Josua Tree – a Study” explored the stark contrast of the smooth granite rocks and the majesty of the Joshua tree within its natural environment, both symbols of strength and perseverance.

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TOP: UKA, ENCAUSTIC MEDIUM, PHOTOGRAPHS, ASSORTED PAPERS, FIBERS, FOUND OBJECTS ON FOAM BOARD 11X26 NFS LEFT: HONORING THE NOT SO PERFECT ENCAUSTIC MEDIUM AND PAINT, PANPASTELS, FOUND OBJECTS ON FOAM BOARD 7X16.5X2.5 NFS BELOW: JOSHUA TREE - A STUDY ENCAUSTIC MEDIUM, PHOTOGRAPHS, FOUND OBJECTS, RECLAIMED WOOD 14X19X3 NFS

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About the Artist

JOANNE DESMOND The long and winding road that leads to your door Will never disappear, I’ve seen that road before It always leads me here - Lead me to your door THE BEATLES And such has been my relationship to art and being an artist – a meandering pathway of fits and starts to my embracing my role as an artist. Art influenced me at an early age beginning with my great aunt teaching the fine art of stitching and reading fairy tales illustrated by Arthur Rackham to being drawn to calligraphy as an elementary school student, desiring to pursue art in college though it was frowned upon as not being a viable source of income by my parents.

After one year of college, I quit and made my way to the medical field becoming a certified cardiac tech. However, the longing of not completing my degree was always in my heart. At the age of forty I returned to school to pursue my undergrad degree in Art from the University of MA/Boston, concentrating in printmaking and photography. I was bitten by the lifelong learning bug compelling me onward to obtain an M.Ed., in Arts & Learning from Endicott College, a CAGS in Expressive Arts from Salve Regina University, and an MFA from Massachusetts College of Art & Design. During my artistic evolution, my work has shifted from the traditional use of media into an exploration of materials and how they can be combined and further developed. My work is now primarily mixed media, which sometimes takes on a sculptural form.

I live in Berwick, Maine where I have a studio in my home. I am a member of the Monoprint Guild of NE, The Boston Printmakers, Zea Mays Printmaking Studio, and Unbound Visual Arts – Boston.

About the Work

I find myself continually curious about the relationship between memory and emotion as connected with the sensitivities of time, place, and familial attachment.

The notion of hiding, covering up, obscuring the truth – the reality of who we really are at any given moment in time – has always intrigued me.

As in an archaeological dig, discovering what lies beneath the surface of someone or something is what I pursue.

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About the Artist

About the Work

KATHERINE DYER As an empath who feels ‘life’ like an itchy sweater, often taking in “too much”, my art wants to be light in a world that is often not. I consciously choose to focus on light, whimsy and strength, and the fun of a possible mystery unfolding (like the hidden piece of rose quartz* inserted in each of my pieces). I create art in essence to remind us to appreciate our creative spirit. *Rose quartz is a purifying stone that opens the heart to promote love, friendship, inner peace and most importantly, self-love.

In ancient times in a remote village in faraway Japan, an alarm goes out! Fire! Fire that could end your life, your livelihood, and consume your wooden home to ashes.

The revered firefighters in their water-soaked multi-layered kimonos arrive to save this day, hero’s of your village.

The outside of the firefighters kimonos are simple; usually displaying their name and fire brigade.

The insides of these kimonos are intricately stitched scenes from their legends and folklore, of strength and heroism. The fire is extinguished, the exhausted firefighters reverse their kimonos to display the legend that had protected them.

Each item in this Firehouse Kimono series was created to honor the firefighter in each of us, often requiring our own daily brand of bravery and strength.

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TOP LEFT FIREHOUSE KIMONO SPIRIT DOLL AND BOX THIS ITEM IS MADE FROM LAYERS OF JAPANESE COTTON FABRIC, WHICH IS SASHIKO HAND-STITCHED. THE KOI FISH REPRESENT GOOD LUCK, PERSEVERANCE AND STRENGTH. THE BACK OF THE SPIRT DOLL HOUSES A SPIRIT BOX TO KEEP YOUR LITTLE TREASURES AND SPECIAL INTENTIONS AND GOALS. 8-1/2” WIDE X 9-1/2” TALL AND 1” THICK. RIGHT FIREHOUSE KIMONO TAPESTRY THIS ITEM IS MADE FROM LAYERS OF JAPANESE COTTON. FABRIC, WHICH IS SASHIKO HAND-STITCHED. THE KOI FISH REPRESENT GOOD LUCK, PERSEVERANCE AND STRENGTH. 18-1/2” TALL X 201/2” WIDE X 1-1/2” DEEP. TOP RIGHT FIREHOUSE KIMONO BUNDLED BOOK THIS ITEM IS MADE FROM LAYERS OF JAPANESE COTTON FABRIC, WHICH IS SASHIKO HAND-STITCHED. THERE ARE 5 INDIVIDUAL UNBOUND PAGES TO ADD YOUR OWN ART OR CREAVTIVE STITCHES. BUNDLES BOOKS ORIGINATE WITH THE Q’ERO, THE QUECHUASPEAKING INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF SOUTH CENTRAL PERU.

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About the Artist

NANETTE RAE FREEMAN Before becoming a full-time artist, I was a librarian at The Chicago Public Library for 25 years serving children and young adults in neighborhoods throughout Chicago. In addition, I have provided library services to women in the Cook County Jail.

I have discovered that found or repurposed imagery, objects and materials carry powerful associations, nuanced messages and multiple meanings. Of course, in some of the work I create some of the story will be apparent. In others the story will not be evident.

Viewers will have the chance to allow their imagination take over in vividly emotional ways.

About the Work

New Rays My desire to develop a body of work around what reality conceals and evades our view led me to looking at the collection of vintage X-rays I had on hand. X-rays pass through human tissue, rendering the bones and tissue beneath visible.

Our bodies are informed by a lifetime of experiences throughout our childhood, young adulthood, middle age and our senior years.

With the use of found materials and repurposed imagery, I find the work carries powerful emotional associations to memory and mourning.

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About the Artist

HARLEEN OSBURN I am from Northern Minnesota. Memories of snow angels, wood smoke, Jack Frost’s windowpane art, sleigh rides and a snowsuit so thick I could barely bend my knees were part of my winters. The darkness came early, lots of time to draw at the kitchen table! When the snow melted there were wildflowers, swimming, bike rides and nights spent laying on the lawn looking at the stars and our glorious Milky Way. Every now and then we were able to see the magic of the northern lights. I loved living in the woods, collecting “things” and drawing on anything that didn’t move.

After my parents died my life changed. I was thirteen and had a younger sister to take care of. Those carefree days were gone, I had to create a future that would keep my sister and I together. A new town, a new school and so much uncertainty.

Becoming an artist was not a career path that was encouraged. I loved science, history and English. My relatives thought I should become a secretary – “you will always be able to find a job” – I chose science. And, I continued to draw!

Then came “love and marriage and the baby carriage”. And, I continued to draw!

When my husband died following a long illness, I started taking my art seriously, for the joy of it and for the healing. I love experimenting with all kinds of art, but my favorite is still drawing. Most of my work is done with pencil or charcoal.

About the Work

My work records a moment in time but represents a myriad of memories and a blurring of time – the model, the mood, the light. Just like the smell of a cinnamon roll takes me back to my grandma’s kitchen and those wonderful rolls coming out of her wood burning stove. The touch of charcoal to paper draws my soul through my hand. I am a record keeper and a recorder of memories and I will continue to draw.

My home is filled with art, the walls covered with drawings and paintings. Each represents a cherished memory, a moment in time. My bookcases are filled with well-loved books and photos, the result of decades of gathering. Even though it is a comfortable space I am beginning to feel a need to downsize, to simplify my life – maybe it is the result of growing older.

As part of this downsizing, I decided to gift my children and grandchildren with the art that spoke to them. I knew I would miss the pieces, but I had a plan. Each piece was photographed and resized to just a fraction of its original size. Old photo albums were mined for forgotten treasures and books were deconstructed. I found images that nudged me in the direction of things I want to accomplish in the future. I then collaged these elements into new pieces that brought my past into the present and will help steer me into the future.

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HALFSHELL COLLAGE 6” X 6”

LEXY COLLAGE 4” X 6”

THE PASSION COLLAGE 6” X 4”

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About the Artist

HEATHER TINKHAM My art is a garden in my soul: a place of depth, layers, contrasts, and balances. It changes and swells, as any garden does, and plays with the senses, the mind, and our very beings. It calls us to settle for a while, to simply be as we are, and freely offering gifts of the heart.

I challenge the labels we rely on so heavily, focusing on the essences and authenticity in the world.

About the Work

Tuánkana, Elder Sister (left), and Aubrey Ser, Duchess of Cavendish (right), provide encouragement to their friend Kailio in these stressful times of conflict.

Yes, there are challenges and so much uncertainty. Yes, we have so very much to learn, and it can be daunting to consider the future.

“It is in your choices, your simple, everyday, responses to what you encounter, that make your life what it is.”, says Tuánkana.

Aubrey offers, “We feed the world with each smile, laugh, and tear we bear. We stand, again and again, as life marches on, discovering strengths we didn’t know we had, and coming to recognize who we are deep inside.”

Kailio, young as she is, took a deep breath. One step at a time, one moment of presence, and the world became filled with life, intense and real, but oh so amazing in its possibilities.

Omma, Elder of Loving Kindness, smiled deep within her eyes.

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TUANKANA, ELDER SISTER (LEFT IN PHOTO) FIBER, MIXED MEDIA 8” X 8” X 8” SOLD KAILIO, THE GENTLE (CENTER IN PHOTO) FIBER, MIXED MEDIA 7’ X 7” X 7” $59

AUBREY SER, DUCHESS OF CAVENDISH (RIGHT IN PHOTO) FIBER, MIXED MEDIA 8” X 8” X 8” SOLD OMMA, ELDER OF LOVING KINDNESS FIBER, MIXED MEDIA 9” X 4” X 4” NFS

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ABOUT THE CONTINUING ENSO CIRCLE RESIDENTS WHO BEGAN IN MARCH 2021

FLO BARTELL When I make art, I excavate stories, scars, and symbols and give them form with encaustic and mixed media. I work with encaustic because the smooth, glossy surface, the pleasant aroma, the soothing rhythm of my torch, the unpredictable and preservative nature of the medium, and the intense color and movement possible with hot wax and pigment are seductive and satisfying. I sculpt and paint with determination, passion, and with a spirit of exploration that I hope the viewer can feel in my art.

GAIL BYRNES I inherited an old treadle sewing machine when I was 16, which began my passion for creating. I was an avid sewer for many years, and eventually did fiber arts, including weaving. I worked with clay for several years, and photography for a decade, having several solo shows. My work was largely about reflections and the macro world. More recently I have begun working with collage, and mixed media, and love combining different modalities. I have been an acupuncturist and shamanic practitioner for many years and enjoy experimenting with light, energy, and flow in my art and my work.

SUE CONNER The encaustic medium’s rich colors and sculptural qualities, for me, are intriguing and exciting. I find satisfaction when I let the spontaneous nature of the wax guide me as I explore ways to create textures, embed found objects, incorporate images, and integrate paper where the wax is the unifying factor. I have learned that life is essentially about the journey, what we encounter as we move forward, and how we choose to react. This is how I approach the creative process — I embrace my failed attempts and think more purposely about the process, deriving more value from the lessons learned than in the final product itself.

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JOANNE DESMOND The notion of hiding, covering-up, obscuring the truth – the reality of who we really are at any given moment in time – has always intrigued me. Discovering what lies beneath the surface of someone or something is what I pursue. My current work straddles the thresholds of identity, experience, and memory as they connect to ancestry, relationships, and the fear of loss of connection. It is an exploration of the relationship between the visible and invisible, the gaze, the subject, and the other.

KATHERINE DYER Before COVID, I was an adult educator and leadership coach for the business sector. This last year I have been recalibrating the “who” I am, and the “what” I do as a retired person who hadn’t planned to be one. Your Enso Circle replicated my Enso collage in my journal I started last July signifying this new beginning. At that time Spirit Dolls found me. And Lyn, your faces graced my first two dolls which lead me to my next two stick dolls, and now I am exploring needle-felted Compassion Dolls.

HARLEEN OSBORN I work predominately in charcoal, pencil and watercolor. Most of my drawings have been done from life, but I occasionally work from photographs. I have had three one man gallery shows and one of my charcoal drawings was published in “Strokes of Genius”. I have no formal art training, but I have taken workshops with several classically trained artists. I recently retired from my job in healthcare and am ready to grow as an artist.

HEATHER TINKHAM I create fiber based mixed media art to express aspects of our deeply human experiences in their conflicting yet intimately integrated ways. These unique pieces are designed to intrigue and capture your imagination. My art challenges the labels we rely on so heavily, focusing on core essences and relationships, bringing more authenticity into our chaotic world. Ideally, my pieces end up like drops of water at the intersections of a grand spider web, magnifying the heart of the matter and focusing our attention on questions that are not easily answered while drawing us close with their haunting familiarity.

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WORKS IN PROGRESS One of the strengths of working as a group of Residents in The Enso Circle is posting works in progress to our Slack discussion channel to get feedback and inspiration. This happens on a daily basis.

All of the photo clips on this page were posted to the group, and most of them ended up in the finished work that you see in this exhibition catalog.

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ENSO CIRCLE FOUNDERS LYN BELISLE MICHELLE BELTO

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TEXAS TEXAS

About the Artist

MICHELLE BELTO Most artists will tell you that some of their earliest memories are wrapped up in something creative. As a voracious reader I developed a storyteller’s imagination which drew me to the stage. When I was nine, I was given the lead in our all-school annual play. It was more than magical to be a character in a life-sized story. I was hooked!

For the next twenty-five years I was involved with every aspect of educational and professional theater including a three-year adventure transforming an abandoned 1890 vaudeville opera house into a thriving community theater. My work took a dramatic shift into visual art in the early 1990’s while working on a solo show I had written, Hildegard of Bingen. I woke up from a dream with the thought that I needed to paint. So, I did.

What emerged from following that year-long intuitive journey of painting and writing the play is a series of five large paintings on paper that told me my own story. That year took me from stage to studio and effectively changed the direction of my career.

About the Work

I am intrigued by the textures and shapes around me. I usually limit myself to a minimalist’s color palette choosing to let the richness of the beeswax and the surface of the paper speak for itself. I often use organic materials such as rust or the marks of a torch to inform the paper before I apply the wax. My themes tend toward the spiritual and my images still appear in dreams or flashes of insight.

My new body of work is a departure from the style and content of the intimate stories told through vintage papers and wax that I have been creating since 2017. This, the year of Covid, I have come face to face with my own mortality, as we all have.

Each day I committed some time to listen to a story of someone who either survived or were taken too soon. The resulting work and these sculptures are my own imagined understanding of that thinnest of veils we call death.

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BOTTOM LEFT NEXT DOOR NEIGHBORHOOD 16X6X16” WOOD, WIRE, ENCAUSTIC, FOUND PHOTOS TOP RIGHT TERRA INCOGNITA 14 X 11X 4” ENCAUSTIC ON PAPER BOTTOM RIGHT NEXT DOOR NEIGHBORHOOD (DETAIL)

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About the Artist

LYN BELISLE Shards, Relics, and Beeswax My work has always been strongly influenced by the idea of “shards” as a metaphor for human communication across time. A shard can be a found fragment of clay, a rusty nail, a scrap of handwriting – any little clue that becomes a “secret handshake” between the maker and the discoverer.

For decades I’ve worked with clay, fiber, and paper in assemblage and collage to express this non-verbal time-circle connection. When my friend Michelle Belto introduced me to the encaustic process in 2009, This new-to-me medium seemed the perfect companion for my most-loved materials. I’d briefly tried encaustic medium on collage, but I began to understand that beeswax is a metaphoric material in itself, ancient as clay, versatile as paper, compelling as ivory and bone. Now beeswax and encaustic are integral parts of my process.

I rejoice in the power of art to elicit both recognition and belonging. Art humanizes and joins us, helping us communicate in a universal non-verbal language across time and space.

About the Work

TOP: I’LL FLY AWAY

MEDIUM: DIGITAL PHOTOCOLLAGE, BEESWAX, PIGMENT, FOIL

Part of the bedrock of the Enso Circle is goalsetting. As a long-time professional artist, I realized that during the Pandemic, I had pulled back from challenges, content to work in comfortable themes and media while developing online workshops and other educational media.

My self-imposed challenge and goal was to to get back in the practice of entering some national juried shows for the purpose of focusing on prescribed themes in my artmaking. No matter how long artists have practiced, competition can be scary, and rejection a tough lesson.

The two pieces on the right were, blessedly, juried into two national juried exhibitions during the course of this Enso Circle Term. I will swear that the “Enso influence” of accountability and structure contributed to reaching my goal!

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DIMENSIONS: 12” X 12” X 2.5” DESCRIPTION: DEFINITION OF METAMORPHOSIS: CHANGE OF PHYSICAL FORM, STRUCTURE, OR SUBSTANCE ESPECIALLY BY SUPERNATURAL MEANS. CROWS BELIEVE THAT THEY GET TO TURN INTO DRAGONFLIES WHEN THEY GO TO HEAVEN. ASK ANY CROW. BOTTOM: TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY MEDIUM: FIBER, WOOD, FOUND OBJECTS, MIXED MEDIA DIMENSIONS: 17” X 6” X 6” DESCRIPTION: THIS WORK EXPLORES AMBIGUITY IN THE LANGUAGE OF COMMUNICATION THROUGH FIBER ART. ANY INTERPRETATION OF THIS MEMORY-STORY IS NEITHER BAD NOR GOOD. THE VIEWER INTERPRETS THE PLOT FROM VISUAL CLUES ON BOTH SIDES. TEXTURES AND EXPRESSIONS REMIND US THAT THERE IS ALWAYS BE MORE THAN ONE RIGHT ANSWER.

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MICHELLE BELTO My best work has always had components of image, story and dance. Without the immediacy of live performance, I’ve had to wrestle with the limits of the visual form.

How was I to merge narrative in my work or give a sense of movement in what is basically a two-dimensional static image? My questions and my ensuing study led me to paper and wax as mediums of choice. Paper, as an organic material, is useble only after it is transformed from grass into pulp which becomes canvas. Wax, in its molten state, incorporates movement as an essential quality in both application and process.

LYN BELISLE Human faces, ancient or contemporary, fascinate me as summaries of life stories in the moment. Clay, paper, beeswax, and fiber are my instinctive, beloved media but mark-making through abstract painting challenges me to develop my own language of expression and translation.The more aware I am of the little day-to-day things that capture my attention by calling to me in a mysterious way, and the more I take note of them, the more understanding I gain about the purpose of my art as basic human communication, both to myself and to the viewer.

Congratulations to the Residents of the Enso Circle for an excellent exhibit!

We are so grateful to you for your creativity, courage, and diversity!

Michelle Belto is a multi-faceted artist and teacher, whose work as an artist, educator and author spans more than forty years, three continents and multiple publications. She holds degrees and certifications in Fine Art, Theater and Expressive Arts. Michelle’s teaching schedule includes instruction in her signature work with paper and wax (Wax and Paper Workshop, Northlight Press 2012) and her life’s work developing an insightful process for deciphering meaning and purpose from the art we create. Her work is in private, corporate and museum collections.

Michelle is a R&F Teir Instructor for R&F Paints and an adjunct faculty at Southwest School of Art where she teaches a variety of encaustic painting courses.

Lyn Belisle is an award-winning teacher, artist, designer, and writer, who has taught a range of fine arts, humanities, English, and graphic design throughout her career. Lyn teaches mixed-media workshops at Lyn Belisle Studio in San Antonio. She also teaches nationally, recently in Taos, Santa Fe, Provincetown, and Washington State. Her signature media are earthenware, paper, encaustic, and fiber. She has had six one-person gallery exhibits since 2011, and recently retired from the faculty at the Computer Science Department at Trinity University. Lyn is an active member of the San Antonio Art League, the Fiber Artists of San Antonio, the San Antonio Potters’ Guild, the Encaustic Art institute, the International Encaustic Artists, and The American Craft Council.

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Sarah Treanor

Harleen Osborn

The entire experience of the ENSO Circle has been so good for me on so many levels. It has pushed me to try new things and experiment with some kinds of making that I’ve wanted to do for years. It has encouraged me to let go of expectations and experiment more openly. Through the residency, I’ve been able to take the time and space to concentrate on some deeply personal work that has allowed me to work through some emotions in a very cathartic way.

It has helped me to feel more supported and like I have a “crew” I can talk to about art things who “get it”. And lastly, it also helped me embrace parts of my process I have struggled with for years by giving me new perspectives.

When I first read about The Enso Circle, I was so excited. An opportunity to work with Lyn and Michelle – I couldn’t apply fast enough! Little did I know that I would be joined by a group of wonderful women, sisters in spirit. All these artists are talented and blessed with generous hearts and a giving spirit.

The residency has brought focus and a purpose into my art practice and dear friends into my life. I’m already planning for the next three months in the Circle as a continuing resident. Oh, and did I mention how much fun it is!

Kate Stockman I relished meeting and learning from Lyn and Michelle and the other residents. But even more importantly, you both are such supportive guides and mentors. When I changed my mind regarding my goal, you both responded with a resounding “Brava!”

While I had given myself permission to change my mind, that support affirmed my choice. I’m not sure what I was expecting from you, but your response was balm to my frustrated artist soul!

Marian McKenzie-Cone Knowing the teacher and knowing I needed to reach out to a like minded group of people to keep me focused on producing more art and this seemed like a dream place at the right time. (It was)!

It became a place of refuge for me I just couldn’t wait for the next ping on my Slack site, the community built from this residency is more than I could have ever thought possible, the organization behind the scenes has been enormous I know, but such a smooth outcome and beautiful group of ‘found’ friends.

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Katherine Dyer Enso Circle experience: When I was accepted to the circle, I thought I’d won the lotto! And then fear kicked in…what have I done I thought. I’m not a full time artist, I’ve never had a show of my work, much less know the first thing about it. Words like ‘artist statement’ and ‘bio’…oh my!

Now that I am almost at the end of my Enso Circle, I have to tell you that Lyn and Michelle are gems! They openly share their experience with you and make you feel so welcome regardless of where you are in your art journey.

The Circle artists are amazing and I often bask in their knowledge and insight. I have moved ahead in my art farther than I even expected.

I now even say I am an artist, and my voice is getting stronger.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE ENSO CIRCLE: WWW.THEENSOCIRCLE.COM

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