DONNA FINCH ADAMS

For over 40 years Dr. Adams has studied, taught and created all types of art in all mediums. She received a masters of Fine Arts degree from Sam Houston University in 1974, and a Doctorate in Higher Education from University of North Texas 1983. During the past 20 years Dr. Adams has served as an adjunct faculty member at a variety of colleges and universities throughout the Dallas, Fort Worth area. Recently the staff at Southeastern OK University. Many of her students have gone to become professional artists, crediting Dr. Adams as central to their success. Her work is displayed in Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma and on the Internet. She has prints in the permanent collection of the National Museum of Arts in Washington D.C. Today, she continues to instruct as well as promote fine art on radio, television and in the print media.

Encaustic technique is the process of painting with molten wax, resin and pigment that are fused by heat into a continuous layer to achieve a lustrous enamel appearance. Once applied to a surface, encaustic pain doesn’t need to dry. It needs to cool. It cools in minutes and its adhesiveness makes it an excellent medium that can be saturated with a wide variety of other materials. Once the surface cools (within minutes of application). It becomes permanent. The wax waterproofs the paint, making it extremely durable.

The surface quality of encaustic paint can be left roughly textured, or given a matte, semi-gloss, or glossy enamel-like finish. The best-known encaustic works comes from funeral portraits painted from the 1^st to 3^rd centuries CE when Egypt came under Roman influence. The Roman’s taste for individualized portraiture altered the style of the Egyptian mummy portrait. The portraits were painted on a wood panel and fitted into the mummy wrappings, above the face of the deceased. The faces captured could be from life or from death, but the social significance was clear- these portraits memorialized and celebrated the interred for eternity.

The Greek’s Encaustic methods have enjoyed resurgence in the 20^th century because they allow the artist to use non-caustic natural materials to create effects similar to oil paint. Artists can layer colors quickly on top of each other. Thin, transparent glazes and heavy impasto textures are both easily created. Unlike acrylics, encaustic works can be reworked later with the addition of heat. No varnish or glass is necessary to protect the surface.

An inspiration, I have studied ancient female symbols and explored the voluptuous shapes of pears as a feministic expression of women’s journey through time.

HONORS:

2002 Outstanding Adjunct Professor, C.C.C.C.D.

1997 Outstanding Adjunct Professor, C.C.C.C.D.

1996 Outstanding Instructor Award Brookhaven College, Continuing Education.

Prints exhibited in “Global Focus”, Beijing, China 1995

Prints in permanent collection of The National Museum of Women in the Arts,

Washington, D. C.

Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers (1994,1998,2000, 2006)

Nominated for Outstanding Instructor Award, (1988,1989,1990 Brookhaven College)

COLOR:  Extensive research in art history, physics, physiology, psychology, symbology, theory and design.