JEFF SCHALLER

Education:

Beaver College, Glenside, PA, BFA 1992
City of London Polytechnic, London, England 1991

Selected Exhibitions:

2002 deBottis Gallery, West Chester, PA
Cheltenham 60th Annual Painting Exhibition, Cheltenham, PA
2001 American Color Print Society Exhibition, American College, Bryn Mawr, PA
Encaustic Works 2001, Ulster County College, Stone Ridge, NY
Printmakers 2001, Widener University, Chester, PA
Rittenhouse Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Newbury Fine Arts Gallery, Boston, MA
Artforms Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
61st Juried Exhibition Woodmere Art Museum, Chestnut Hill, PA
Immaculata College, Immacutata, PA
Mainline Art Center, Haverford, PA
2000 Rittenhouse Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Newbury Fine Arts Gallery, Boston, MA
Raab Gallery, Chestnut Hill, PA
Ocean County College, Toms River, NJ
Tolland Art Center, Tolland, CT
4th Street Gallery, Bridgeport, PA
Mainline Art Center, Haverford, PA
CBGB, New York, NY
St. Asaph Gallery, Bala Cynwyd, PA
1999 Raab Gallery, Chestnut Hill, PA
St. Asaph Gallery, Bala Cynwyd, PA
Spector Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia Inquirer, Conshohocken, PA
Yellow Springs Art Show, Chester Springs, PA
Cheltenham 56th Annual Painting Exhibition, Cheltenham, PA
1998 Times Square Lobby Gallery, New York, NY
PS Gallery, Chestnut Hill, PA
St. Asaph Gallery, Bala Cynwyd, PA
1997 Alexy Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
1996 Jaycee's Art in the Park, Sellersville, PA
1995 Artsake Gallery, Tolland, CT
St. Asaph Gallery, Bala Cynwyd, PA
1994 Rose Mallow, Mallorca, Spain
479 Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
1993 The Plastic Club Open Show, Philadelphia, PA

Selected Galleries:

Adler and Co., San Fransico, CA
Artsake Gallery, Tolland, CT
Bettcher Gallery, Miami, FL
Creekside Gallery, Park City, UT
deBottis Gallery, West Chester, PA
Galerie I.D. Geneve, Switzerland
Mixed Company, Philadelphia, PA
Newbury Fine Arts Gallery, Boston, MA
OXOXO Gallery, Baltimore, MD
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Corporate collections:
Environmental Resources Management, Exton, PA
BankPhiladelphia
Philadelphia, PA
Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America, Philadelphia, PA
Gecko Graphics
West Chester, PA
Foxchase Cancer Center
Jenkintown, PA
Stephenson Brothers Printing Philadelphia, PA

Awards:

Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowship, 2002
Rittenhouse Fine Arts Show -Second Place Mixed Media, 2002
Rittenhouse Fine Arts Show -First Place Mixed Media, 2001
Philadelphia Museumof Art Purchase Award, 1998
Victor Klein Family Award,1998
Jaycee's Art in the Park -Second Place Mixed Medium, 1995
ERM Art Show - Best of Show, 1995
Meridian Bank"Days of Hope" Art Contest, 1993
Spruance - Daumier Art Award, 1992


Schaller defines his oeuvre with uniquely sophisticated compositions. Provocative and whimsical, Schaller propels the viewer into scenes of seemingly unrelated subjects, his own captivating and complex sonatas. Simultaneously, they are pop and edgy, esoteric and direct. Using encaustic* paints, Schaller uses lost and found images, words and language, to paint with a precision and intricacy not normally found in encaustic paintings. His approach is expressionistic, contemporary, and painterly, with powerful brush strokes that are set instantaneously.Schaller's work has been exhibited throughout the United States. He is frequently published in magazines and newspapers, chosen for juried art exhibitions and selected for special projects, commissions and murals. This year Schaller received a highly coveted fellowship from the Common Wealth of Pennsylvania. In 1998, Schaller was the recipient of the prestigious Philadelphia Museum of Art Purchase Award. Recent juried exhibitions include ''Encaustic works '01'' (he was one of 15 artists selected for the exhibit from a field of 200). Schaller is a philanthropic and committed artist who lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and two small daughters.

About Encaustic:

Encaustic is a beeswax-based paint mixed with pigment and kept molten while painting. The word encaustic comes from the Greek meaning to "burn in'" which refers to the process offusing the paint. This type of painting was used in the 5th century B.C. for weathering boatsand coloring marble.Encaustic is the most durable of the artist's paints because the beeswax is impervious to moisture and will not deteriorate, yellow or darken. Upon completion of a painting, it can be polished to a high gloss for a brilliant surface. It is unnecessary to varnish or protect paintings by glass. The beauty in the paint is found in its immediate drying time. As it cools instantaneously, the gesture and brush stroke are captured. The spontaneous and indelible nature, with its ineffaceable outcome, make this an extraordinarily demanding medium. (Notably, it is the medium in which Jasper Johns paints.)Schaller paints on birchboard which he first covers with gesso. The gesso is made from titanium white, marble powder, a special glue, and water. The gesso is heated and applied warm, after the first coat has cooled and dried another coat is added. Schaller applies four coats before painting with the encaustics.