Roxy McCloskey, senior lecturer and professor at University of Texas San Antonio and Trinity University, turned to R&F in the early 1990’s for information about the materials and the process. Years later, as a director of Majestic Ranch Art Foundation in the Texas Hill Country, she remembered her experience with R&F and invited them to bring their new regional teaching program to Texas. The location of the school in Central Texas provided an opportunity for artists statewide to receive a strong grounding in the medium.
Robert McGehee (RIP) became interested in wax early in 2000. He, too, went to R&F to study and began working in the medium and teaching its process to his students at the Lone Star College-CY-Fair Campus. Along with Gwendolyn Plunkett an adjunct professor at the same college, he was one of the founding members of Texas Wax/Houston.
Bonny Liebowitz who, along with Deanna Wood, began The Encaustic Center in 2009. This space continues to host a full complement of workshops, visiting artist classes and gallery shows and continues to be a strong encaustic influence in the state.
this article who were foundational in forming Texas Wax, I discovered that most, if not all, of our pioneers were R&F trained…and they, in turn, trained others in our universities and colleges, in our art centers and in private workshops around the state. I believe that one of the primary reasons that Texas Wax—in all of its incarnations—grew so rapidly was the fact that so many of our members had a strong foundation in the medium. Special thanks to R&F Paints and to some of our early mentors….