You can see Gretchen's work on her website at www.gpapka.com

Raymond Papka has had a life-long love of wood, metal and discarded items. His many jobs as a youth often involved carpentry and metal work and helped to develop his "mechanical senses". He is entirely self-taught in woodcraft, finishes and metalwork. His formal training as a research scientist further utilized and expanded knowledge of photography, layout, technical skills and his sense of creativity, design, structure, imagination, and interpretation.

Raymond describes his work as “eclectic musings of the past thru found objects using mixed media”. The artist believes that old items are stable

and should be reused. His work is continually evolving and often incorporates a sense of the past, the future, science or geography. His love for books influenced his decision to recycle them in an altered form and embellished with various old found objects. These elements tend to be hidden in the mystery of the fusion of layers of Encaustic “paints”. 
Galleries:

Lorillard Lofts Gala
201 Price Road
Lexington, KY 40511
(859) 254-9934
Opening Exhibitors
Cool Rooster Weekend
July 6, 2007

DAMSELFLY
133 N. Winter Street
Midway, Kentucky 40347
(859) 494-8760
Currently Showing

 McKay Bricker Gallery, Kent, OH - May/June 2007
Rusty Nail, Twin Lakes, OH - March/April 2007
Damselfly Gallery, Midway, KY - 2007
Off Beat Gallery, Chesterland, OH


Art Fairs:

Francisco's Farm Arts Festival (Juried), Midway, KY - June 16, 17, 2007
Chesterland Art Festival, Chesterland, OH
Midway Art Festival, Midway, KY

Various professional workshops attended:

Assemblage and Encaustic Art/Graceann Warn - 2006
An Evening with Keith LoBue - 2003

Favorite Sites and Artists to Visit:

Toscana Americana, May 5 -12, 2007 - Cortona, Italy, Encaustic and Assemblage
www.toscanaamericana.com
Francisco's Farm Art Festival - June 16 & 17, 2007 at Midway College, Midway, KY
www.franciscosfarm.org
Toscana Americana, October 3-10, 2007 in Santorini, Greece, Encaustic and Assemblage (with some Classical Studies thrown in) www.toscanaamericana.com
Graceann Warn - encaustic & assemblage artist, www.graceannwarn.com



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