What a Year 2012

Dear friends,

I hope you had a very happy Hannukah, Winter Solstice, Christmas, Kwanzaa season.

As I write, I am on the tail end of a whirlwind year of art and weddings.  I am so happy and so proud, I would like to share some of the highlights of my year with you.

• I had 3 successful Open Studio events in my studio at the artists’ coop on 915 Spring garden in Philadelphia where many of my pieces found new homes.

• One of my paintings, “Reflection,” was selected to be part of the Confluence: Water and Light juried exhibit at Kobalt Gallery in Provincetown, MA. during the 2012 Encaustic Conference. For this conference-sponsored exhibition, we were asked to submit work that related to the extraordinary light of Provincetown, a spit of sand that is surrounded by the Massachusetts Bay on one side and the great Atlantic on the other. The exhibit was juried by Francine D’Olimpio.

• Two of my paintings, “1974” and “Reflection Too,” were selected for the juried exhibit…An Art Journey From Argentina to Philadelphia, held on the Mayor’s floor in City Hall. The Exhibit was up during the month of November after a wonderful opening that included the Argentine ambassador, tango music and dancing, and featured select Argentine wines and hors oeuvres. The exhibition was housed in display cases along the second floor of City Hall, and was presented in partnership with the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy. Its opening was timed to coincide with the celebration of Argentine Week (Oct. 29 – Nov. 3) in Philadelphia.  The works remained on display throughout the month of November.

• My artwork was exhibited at Bluestone Fine Art Gallery and Nichols Berg Gallery in Philadelphia.

One of my BIG Highlights of 2012 was going for my 2nd year to The International Encaustic Conference in Provincetown, MA. I was there for 8 days this year learning sooo much and reconnecting with some wonderful friends and fellow encaustic artists. The conference itself was 3 days long but I got there a few days early and stayed another 3 days to do workshops. The Conference is produced by Founder/Director Joanne Mattera with Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill and its Executive Director, Cherie Mittenthal.
Following are several photos from the 2012 conference. You can see some demonstrations by different artists, the Saturday morning panel, the vendor room, dinner at one of the restaurants, Kobalt Gallery, the postcard exhibit, and the view from my room.

In reference to my art career advancement, I took 5 workshops this year.

• In April I attended a wonderful workshop: Encaustic Monoprinting at R&F Handmade Paints in Kingston, NY taught by David A. Clark.

                     

During the 6th Annual International Encaustic conference in May/June in Provincetown, I attended 4 workshops.

• Pigment Sticks, instructor: Lisa Presman

  

• Silkscreen with Encaustic, instructor: Jeff Hirst

                     

• Bricolage, instructor: Nancy Natale

                                      

• Photo and Encaustic, instructor: Elena De La Ville

             

Except for the summer months when I am busy running my Summer camp business, when not in the studio I am usually at my home painting my watercolor/India Ink paintings or doing my computer work. This past year I created several musical theme ink drawings/collage and picked 12 to be included in my 2013 calendar in honor of my late father Miguel Ficher. I chose the music theme because it was my dad’s big love.

                        

All my ink drawings and calendars are available on my Etsy store online.

And now…to my personal life…A very wonderful busy year full of Happy events. Our Big Highlight: ……..we had 2 weddings:
In April, my partner Heidi’s daughter Emily (my step daughter) got married to Jonathan Mills (so we now have 2 Jonathan’s in our family).
They had a beautiful wedding surrounded by family and friends. Emily & Jonathan live in Media, PA. with their French bulldog, Popcorn and 3 cats…Madeline, Jack and Cayenne.

    

              

And then In September I spent the most amazing week (because this was a week long affair)… in the most amazing place…in the company of wonderful friends and family…as  my son Jonathan and his beautiful bride Jessica shared their wedding vows on a beautiful day in Fire Island, NY.
Jon & Jess live in Manhattan with their cat Noonies.

    

                                 

Both weddings were truly special and magical.

I would like to wish you the happiest, healthiest, and most peaceful New Years.
Sincerely,
Dora

 Dora Ficher Art

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