LORI NILAND ROUNDS
Lori Niland Rounds is an award-winning painter and printmaker who enjoys working in several mediums, especially encaustic (beeswax, pigment, damar resin). Her work at DISTRICT Arts exemplifies some of the finest attributes of encaustic; the sense of depth and translucency achieved with encaustic is unlike any other medium today. Encaustic dates back over 2,500 years to the ancient Greeks who used it to paint murals, tiles, sculptures and even ships, followed by the Roman Egyptians who painted encaustic funerary portraits.
Two heat sources are needed when working with encaustic, one to melt the encaustic, the other to fuse it. Colors immediately come to life as encaustic wax liquifies on contact with the heat source. The wax dances and flows across the surface as it continues to react to the heat. The outcome is unique and often unpredictable, something Rounds finds especially appealing. Lori says, “I’m intrigued by the unpredictable and fluid nature of the molten wax as it allows me to create my works in a spontaneous and intuitive manner. Fluctuations in temperature along with variations in the encaustic pigment-to-wax ratio all influence the final outcome. The end result of my work offers an abstract essence of the natural world around us.”
Rounds says, “When I am not in my studio creating art, I can be found observing art in one of the many galleries and museums in the Washington, DC and New York City metropolitan areas. The more art I create, the more joy I find in my everyday life!”
Lori has continued to advance her artistic skills by studying under several nationally recognized artists including Santa Fe encaustic artist Paula Roland, Chicago printmaker and painter, Jeffrey Hirst, and Philadelphia mixed-media artist, Lorraine Glessner. She has received awards in several nationally juried shows, and in 2022, she was awarded an individual artist award from the Frederick Arts Council/National Endowment for the Arts. Lori was honored to have one of her sun paintings selected by CBS Studios to appear on the CBS Sunday Morning Show, and to have one of her works selected for a digital exhibit at MOMA in New York City.
In addition to encaustic, Lori enjoys working in oil and cold wax medium as well as acrylic. She is active in several arts organizations and in her spare time, she serves as a volunteer for the Smithsonian Associates studio arts and art history programs.
WORKS SHOWN BELOW ARE REPRESENTATIVE AND MAY BE NOT AVAILABLE. PLEASE CHECK WITH DISTRICT ARTS FOR CURRENT SELECTIONS.
