Meet Ellen Koment | Ellen Koment/ Artist, Painter, Teacher

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ellen Koment and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ellen, why did you pursue a creative career?
There was never a time when I didn’t see my life as including something beyond the ordinary. I grew up in Coney Island, and that meant that the boardwalk and the beach were always fun, and beyond ordinary life. When my mother died when I was a child I spent a lot of time with an Aunt and Uncle who were both artists and always encouraged me in that direction. Drawing and painting were always my inner voice, where I could go to be in touch with myself. I have seen life as unpredictable, and painting as the constant.

I was fortunate to attend the HS of Music and Art in NYC, and during that time won a contest that put a painting of mine on a poster in the subway! No painting has ever been seen by more people. I went on to The Cooper Union Art School, where I was discouraged from becoming a woman architect, and once again, returned to Painting. With a full background in all that painting required. On to UC Berkeley for graduate school, and yes, I just kept going. In the New Painters show at the San Francisco MOMA..to an amazing collector, to shows in Napa and San Francisco.

In 1982 I was awarded a Wurlitzer Foundation Residency Grant in Taos, and New Mexico became part of my life.

But I always clearly remember sitting in a studio in San Francisco, opposite a large painting, and knowing, absolutely, that this is it, this is my path. That painting was my spiritual path, my most important path.

About 25 years ago, still in San Francisco, someone gave me a piece of wax, and I began exploring the art of encaustic. AT that time there wasn’t much information available about working with this ancient medium, and I had to begin exploring it on my own. Shortly after that I found my way to Santa Fe, and brought all of that with me. My first pieces were photo based, and then moved on in a variety of directions, including the Paper Pours that I have become, now, well known for. They have found their way into a number of books, magazines and galleries.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I have been painting for fifty years or so, and lucky to keep doing what I do, to keep painting throughout my life. Over the years I have shown in galleries in San Francisco and Santa Fe, as well as some spots further afield, in Colorado, Texas, and DC.

And yes, teaching as well. So, 35 years or so of Adjunct teaching starting with Santa Rosa Community College., and then on to UNM main campus, UNM Los Alamos and finally Santa Fe Community College.

But beyond that I was among the first to start teaching Encaustic Workshops, when I received the LaVendeeme award for encaustic education in 2013 I had already taught the ancient medium to over 1000 people, many of them teaching today. I have taught twice in Spain, and had people come from all over the world to work with me, and although my teaching is now limited, especially through the pandemic, I do still do private workshops. Two or three people at a time. And that has sustained me, and given me the ability to continue to paint!

But during the pandemic much has been different. I had to give up my big beautiful studio in Madrid, NM, since I never got there, and have a beautiful but much smaller studio here in Las Vegas, which I could do with $$ from the Gottlieb Foundation. And here I began the series of well over 100 pandemic watercolors. Watercolors have long been a hidden aspect of what I do. In art school they weren’t taught, it wasn’t a serious medium. But early on, on my way to Europe, I bought a little set, carried them around but never used them, when I returned to CA I gave them a try, and then even some watercolor shows. But mostly they sat on the back burner until these last two years, when I began with the premise that there is no wrong or right, you just put down colors, and let them sing their song. And then, with wax, on bigger panels, I have been trying to capture the spirit of the watercolors. A certain freedom of color and line.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Well in Las Vegas I might take them to dinner at the Bar at the Castenada, and lunch at the Skillet, and wouldn’t want them to miss the famous Dwan Sanctuary, or a tour of the historic district. Most importantly, our street goes straight to Taos, a very beautiful drive, to the galleries and to the Pueblo. If we were lucky to a dance there or at another Pueblo

But then I would have to go to Santa Fe for the galleries on Canyon Road, and in the Railyard, Meow Wolf and of course the many great restaurants!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
No one more than Jack Leissring of Santa Rosa, Ca, the patron and collector every artist dreams of. He bought the first paintings from me when I was in Valley Ford, CA in 1969. And over the years has accumulated over 200 pieces . At one point we emailed for well over a year, and he put together a five hundred page book. A documentary is now being made about him, a very remarkable man.

But of course, not the only one who has given me encouragement and support. The Gottlieb Foundation has awarded me two grants. There have been many dealers and friends who have been there for me. And still are.

But most importantly, my partner of 25 years, the ceramic artist Mario Quilles, who has absolutely always supported all that I do, and made my world a more exciting place

Website: www.ellenkomentart.com

Instagram: #ellenkomentstudio

Facebook: ellenkoment nmencausticworkshops

Youtube: Encaustic Workshop with Ellen Koment parts I and II; Encaustic Paintings Workshop in Santa Fe; ArtsThrive 2021

Other: Blog: www.ellenkoment.com (shows some new things) www.artworkarchive.com/profile/ellen-koment BOOKS: Encaustic Art in the 21st C (I wrote an article) by Ashley Rooney Artists of the Southwest by Ashley Rooney AND MORE

Image Credits
Leslie Hancock Lucy Finch