Studio Ventilation Equipment

Please consider contributing to my campaign!

This GoFundMe campaign will allow me to work comfortably and safely in my studio.  

I will have an air duct and ventilation hood system installed to remove contaminated air to ventilate my studio with fresh air, update the electrical wiring to be appropriate for the equipment necessary and to replace my work surface to be effective with the ventilation system by the deadline of May 11.

For 18 years, I have been a full-time, mixed-media artist and currently sell my art for a living.  My artwork has been exhibited widely receiving numerous awards and is in many private and corporate collections.  In 1995, I received a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Art from the Minneapolis College of Art & Design where I instructed printmaking in the Continuing Studies program for over nine years.  Currently, I instruct encaustic (painting with molten beeswax) workshops at the Minnetonka Center for Art.  Since 2006, I have been a co-op member in my studio building at the Traffic Zone Center for Visual Art in Minneapolis and I coordinate exhibitions in the lobby gallery.

I choose encaustic painting because of the potential to obscure the boundaries between mediums like no other art material. Encaustic is a beeswax-based painting medium that is worked by heat and I have been exploring the medium for the past three years. Painting with encaustic is a multi-step process.  First, the paint must be melted, or liquefied and then the molten paint is applied to a porous surface. The wax is melted with a heat gun and fused into the working surface, allowing it to form a bond to the previous layer. 

I am intrigued with how light accentuates the height and depth of the waxy paint creating light and shadow on and between the surfaces. I am also using iron oxide, powdered pigments and patina finishes in the works, so the paintings also manifest into the considering of safety and safe-handling of materials. Inspiration comes to me through the experimentation of different materials in conjunction with the beeswax.

There are three barriers to effectively work in my studio on my encaustic paintings, which are: an ineffective ventilation system that creates a health hazard, ergonomic concerns about my workspace and inadequate electrical service.

Encaustic paint/waxes release a mixture of invisible fumes in the form of tiny particles and gases, such as acrolien and aldehydes when they are melted. The process of creating an encaustic painting requires each layer of wax paint be heated to at least 160 degrees and melted to the layer beneath for stability. When I began painting with encaustics, I installed an attic fan to emit the contaminated air and open a window to let fresh air into my studio.  This basic system has proven ineffective especially due to our Minnesota winters (temperature drops) and when the wind changes direction.  I have experienced irritation such as sore throat, headaches and burning eyes from poorly vented wax emissions in my studio.  It makes it hard to create artwork since I am so uncomfortable.  The fumes also escape my studio into the hallway and irritate my studio neighbors.

Encaustic painting requires substantial electrical voltage for the necessary equipment of heated palettes, heat guns and several electric pans of melted wax paint. Currently, my studio has only two different fuses and the equipment is blowing these fuses several times a day. Having the equipment would also allow me reach my goal of teaching encaustic painting in my studio!