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Gayle Hurley and Encaustic Care
"Blessed are the curious for they shall have adventures!"
Care for Encaustic Wax Paintings:
- Treat an encaustic painting as you would any fine art. Use care in hanging, transporting, or storing a painting.
- Be mindful of the edges and surface. If it needs to be wrapped for transport, cover with parchment paper to avoid contact with bubble wrap.
- Avoid long exposure to freezing temperature and do not leave in a hot car or attic.
- Encaustic paintings can be buffed to a beautiful high gloss using a soft lint free cloth. If the original sheen becomes dull, it can be brought back by buffing taking care not to scratch the surface with fingernails or jewelry. Once an encaustic painting has fully cured and hardened, it will repel dust.
What is Encaustic Art?
Encaustic paint made of beeswax, pigment, and natural resin has been around for thousands of years. The word “encaustic” comes from Greek and means “to burn in” thus hinting that fire or heat in some form is its primary means of application. Its versatility allows it to be used with oil paint and applied over watercolor, ink, clay, wood, and almost any absorbent surface. This medium can be polished to a high gloss, carved, scraped, layered, collaged, dipped, cast, sculpted, and textured. Wax is a natural adhesive and preservative. It is moisture and mildew resistant as well as unappetizing to insects.
Artist Jasper Johns resurrected the encaustic art form in the 1960’s as seen in his famous “Flag” painting at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Other notable examples include the Fayum mummy portraits that are over 2000 years old.
About the Artist:
Gayle Hurley is a southern multidisciplinary artist who has worked in a painterly, representational style for the past 30 years. While portrait painting was her primary focus, she is currently engaged in a season of exploring looser, more abstract, and expressive work as well as discovering the fascinating world of encaustic art, monotypes, and cyanotypes. Gayle's love of plein air (outdoor/landscape) painting keeps her in touch with the Alabama Plein Air Artists community along with the Mountain Brook Art Association. She has taught watercolor portraiture, plein air painting, and has conducted several workshops for children, teens, and adults.
A graduate of Vanderbilt University with a B.A. in French and Business Administration, Gayle took a post graduate semester at the famed Cordon Bleu Cooking School in Paris and later studied watercolor and pottery in Edinburgh, Scotland. Instead of pursuing a masters degree at one particular school, Gayle has studied with scores of outstanding artists over the years believing strongly in the importance of ongoing learning and growing.
Gayle and husband Ed are avid travelers and have called Birmingham, Alabama home for the last 20+ years. They have family all over the US including five precious grandchildren, and some 60,000 honeybees in the backyard.
ASSOCIATIONS:
Mountain Brook Art Association
Alabama Plein Air Artists
Ladies of the Fire, Birmingham, AL
35 Women of Expressive Abstracts
Previously represented by Portraits, Inc., Birmingham, AL
RECENT EVENTS, EXHIBITIONS & AWARDS:
2025 Ladies of the Fire Present Encaustic Art, Aldridge Gardens, Hoover, AL
2025 Holiday Art Show Mountain Brook Art Association, Mtn. Brook, AL
2025 “Good Hope” solo show at the South Arkansas Arts Center, El Dorado, AR
2025 Biennial Harpeth Hall Alumnae Art Show, Nashville, TN
2024 Art in the Village, Mtn. Brook Art Association, Mtn. Brook, AL (Crestline Village)
2024 Exhibition at the historic Kessler Building, Birmingham, AL
2023 Art in the Village, Mtn. Brook Art Association, Mtn. Brook, AL (Crestline Village)
2023 Ladies of the Fire Encaustic Show, Birmingham, AL
2022 Purchase Award, SKB Artist’s Rendezvous, Dubois, WY
2022 Program on “The Artist’s Studio: Inspiration, Organization, Motivation” for Mtn. Brook Art Association, Mtn. Brook, AL
2022 Art in the Village, Mtn. Brook Art Association Mtn. Brook, AL (Crestline Village)
2022 Cahaba Lily Gallery, Cahaba Springs Presbyterian Church, Trussville, AL
2021 Lyndon House, "Inside Out", Athens, GA
2019 Harpeth Hall Alumnae Art Show, Nashville, TN
2018 University of South Carolina, "InsideOut: Expressing Our Inner Voices" Beaufort, SC
2018 North Charleston City Gallery, "InsideOut: Expressing Our Inner Voices", N. Charleston, SC
2017 South Highland Presbyterian, "And Who is My Neighbor?" installation in the Waters Atrium, Birmingham, AL
2016 South Highland Presbyterian, "On a Wing and a Prayer" installation in the Waters Atrium, Birmingham, AL
2016 TV show "Nashville", Purchase Award of "Whimsey" for use on the show, Season 5
2016 The Centennial Club, "A Retrospective: From the Mansion to the Manse", Nashville, TN
2015 The Cahawba Art Association, Speaker: "Monochromatic Portraiture", Trussville, AL
2015 The Painting Table at South Highland (Spring & Fall), Teacher/Facilitator, Birmingham , AL
2015 Harpeth Hall Alumnae Art Show, Nashville, TN
2014 The Painting Table at South Highland (Fall), Teacher/Facilitator, Birmingham , AL
2014 Cherokee Rose Garden Club, Speaker: "Nature from an Artist's Eye", Mtn. Brook, AL
2013 Harpeth Hall Alumnae Art Show, Nashville, TN
2012 MBAA Holiday Art Show, Mtn. Brook, AL (Colonial Brookwood Village)
2012 The PACE Art Club, Speaker: "Travel and Painting en Plein Air", Trussville, AL
2012 Mtn. Brook Art Association Spring Show, Mtn. Brook, AL (Crestline Village)
2011 Mtn. Brook Art Association Spring Show, Mtn. Brook, AL (Crestline Village)
2011 MBAA Holiday Art Show, Mtn. Brook, AL (English Village)
2011 Energen Corporation Art Competition (juried), Birmingham, AL
2010 MBAA Holiday Art Show, Mtn. Brook, AL (English Village)
2010 Mtn. Brook Art Association Spring Show, Mtn. Brook, AL (Crestline Village)
2010 Belle Meade Plantation, "Four for France" (four person show), Nashville, TN
2009 MBAA Holiday Art Show, Mtn. Brook, AL (English Village)
2008 MBAA Holiday Art Show, Mtn. Brook, AL (English Village)
2008 Watercolor Society of AL Members' Show (juried), 1st Place, Birmingham, AL
2008 Energen Corporation Art Competition (juried), Birmingham, AL
2007 Mtn. Brook Art Association Crestline Show, Honorable Mention Dry Media award, Mtn. Brook, AL (Crestline Village)
2007 Belle Meade Plantation, "Memories of France" (two person show), Nashville, TN
2007 Energen Corporation Art Competition (juried), Birmingham, AL
2006 Portrait Brokers of America (Portraits Inc.) Featured Artist Show, Birmingham, AL
2006 Mtn. Brook Art Association Crestline Show: 1st Place Dry Media award, 3rd place Watercolor award, Mtn. Brook, AL
2005 Mtn. Brook Art Association Crestline Show, 1st Place Dry Media award, Mtn. Brook, AL
2004 Mtn. Brook Art Association Crestline Show, 1st Place Watercolor award, 2nd Place Pastel/Charcoal award, Mtn. Brook, AL
2003 Junior League of Birmingham, Antiques and Gardens Show, Birmingham, AL
2003 Mtn. Brook Art Association Crestline Show, 2nd place watercolor award, Mtn. Brook, AL
2000 Medical Center of Bowling Green, “Women in the Arts”, Purchase Award & Merit Award, Bowling Green, KY
1999 Houchens Gallery, “Housewives with a Hobby” (five person show), Bowling Green, KY
Recent Works
