Suzanne Tacheny Kubach, Abstract Artist, 1500 Jackson Street NE, Minneapolis, MN (2026)

08/26/2026

There’s a define sense of mystery in this piece, and a hopeful, uplifting energy in that swoosh of creamy golds and soft pale peaches rising through all that regal blue. That form appeared early in this design and I worked cautious around it because I loved so much about it. It almost feels like a spiritual staircase that transports one’s imagination into the mystic. .

“Into the Mystic” is a work in encaustic on a 12” x 12” x 1.5” basswood panel. The clean look of the basswood edges set the intensity of this design off nicely, so I leaned into that with a white wash stain that’s protected in a coat of clear poly on the panel’s edges.

“Into the Mystic” is one of several new works that will be featured in a new curation for Follow the Muse Gallery on Saturday, September 26th during Northrup King Nights – one of the three times a year when galleries stay open for Saturday evening hours. I’ll be in the Muse that night, so hold the date and join me anytime between 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

✨
✨
✨

International EncausticArtists

08/25/2026

I shared some of the details of this piece and it’s pal (coming next!) a few posts back. “Out of the Blue” is one of many pieces for a new collection that will be featured in Follow the Muse on Saturday, September 26th during Northrup King Nights – one of the three times a year when galleries stay open for Saturday evening hours. I’ll be in the Muse so hold the date and plan to join me Northrup King Building there from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

My encaustic paintings will be featured along with my pal Michelle Plombon ‘s work in acrylic. She’s my wall neighbor at the Muse and also been my real neighbor at home! Michelle’s work is gorgeous too, and if you love textured art, you’ll find plenty of it in all the work at the Muse.

“Bluer than Blue” is a work in encaustic on a 12” x 12” x 1.5” basswood panel and continues my love affair with Russian Blue. Given all the gorgeous umber in this piece, I thought I’d be finishing the panel edges in a dark walnut stain. But when I pulled the tape, the lightness of the basswood really set the painting up nicely, so I enhanced it with a white stain then protected it with a clear poly finish.

Swipe for a view across the surface of the piece - that’s a detail that often surprises people. While packed with visual texture, these encaustic creations have the finish of polished marble.

I’m still working on my palettes for that series, so if there’s a color combo you’d love to see explored with wax, let me know in the comments. Most of these pieces begin with a compelling choice of colors that then come alive as they dance with the heat that cures the wax. And as much as I love it, they can’t all be blue, so let me know your favorite color combos. Who knows - you might inspire my next series!

✨
✨
✨

International EncausticArtists

08/20/2026

“Out of the Blue” got a makeover. I shared what I thought was a finished piece back in March, despite a nagging feeling that something felt unsettled. Swipe to see areas of choice detail, then the befofe, and an image in situ.

It’s easy to become so enchanted with the organic details in my wax creations that I can lose site of the bigger picture. Overall, I loved the palette and proportions of lights and darks in the earlier design. But returning home to it after a composition lab with ARTfuel Studio , I could see the design pulled too much attention to the outer edges and offered no clear path for the eye. Also, those clouds of gorgeous blue were too consistently saturated. When everything is so intense, then really nothing stands out as important.

I can do a lot to adjust these wax pieces using heat to change the movement. Melting the blues into all those golds and browns naturally muted it. I then added more layers of the creamy whites, pale pinks, and rosy browns, and darker umbers, creating that messy C shape—a clear and classic design I’m often drawn to.

However, a field of now mostly muted blue created the same problem as before—the lack of variation in all that muted blue still offered little to move the eye around it.

Adding a few areas of Prussian Blue wax created darker saturated areas, then a cerulean oil stick to created pops of brightness and changes in texture. I augmented colors with other oil sticks too, including antique gold and pearlescence, which also create sheen. Once touched with heat, those oil pastels float across the top of the wax, adding depth.

“Out of the Blue” still works as a name for this one – in fact, it works better because that overall shape suggests an opening. Out of the Blue is encaustic on an 18” x 18” x 1.5” cradled basswood panel. It remains in my home studio until the next change of curation for my wall at Follow the Muse, planned for late September. You can also find it the available work section on my website.

✨
✨
✨

08/17/2026

These got a bit of love over the weekend, though not a proper introduction.

I am so endlessly charmed by the notion of finding paintings tucked into book shelves, so imagine my delight when I discovered these cradled boards perfectly sized for the small landscapes that have been capturing my imagination this summer.

I find nothing more restorative than a day by they sea. What kind of day would you choose? A day with crashing waves that drown your thoughts (“A Joyous Noise” indeed!) or a quieter day that soothes them (a “Seaside Serenade.”)?

“A Joyous Noise” and “Seaside Serenade” are both acrylic on 6” x 12” x 1.5” cradled panels. The panel edges are finished in Danish Walnut oil. They come fixed with hanging brackets, or can sit solidly on those wide edges on shelves or tables.

I’ve been doing a lot in limited palettes this year. Here, I am working with Phthalo Blue Green Shade, Cadmium Orange, white and black. And yes—there is orange in both of these paintings! Adding a color like orange mutes the intensity of blue, and because it’s a complimentary color, it creates the most beautiful browns when blended. So while your eye doesn’t see any orange per se, it’s contributing mightily to these paintings.

Both are on view in my studio space in gallery_aurora_lps – Studio 179 in the Northrup King Building, or you can find them on my website.

08/16/2026

A wise artist friend once quipped that “selling art has a long tail.” Yesterday, both galleries showing my work held extended hours—so I was in the Northrup King Building from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Long tails, yes, and long days!

Here’s some snaps of the gallery_aurora_lps, where I’m a guest artist. My colleagues there (tagged) and our many visitors, make those days enjoyable.

As to the long tail? Well, a decisive collector snagged a piece I almost had thought was too subtle to make available, but I loved it and trusted someone else would too, and she did! An interior designer connected with me on social media, so there’s a possible future collaboration there. And one gentleman conducted a thorough review of the different paintings on my business cards to decide his favorite. The piece he chose wasn’t hanging, but I had it on hand, and he left the gallery musing that he’d likely return for it. We’ll see!

And so it goes on gallery days.

My favorite moment came right at the start, when a very young, future collector wandered through with his dad. He was maybe ten, and I watched him piece through my business cards, seeming reluctant to take one.

I said, “Oh, you have to pick!”

He grabbed “Retired Dreams,” which was also not hanging but with me in the gallery. I dug it out for him. (Swipe to see it. It's acrylic on a 12" x 12" birch panel, framed in white.)

“What draws you to this one?” I asked.

He shrugged. “It looks like a counter top.” (Dad looked mortified.)

I said, “I think you’re saying is it looks like granite?” Big nod.

“That’s a huge compliment—thank you!” (Dad looks relieved.) “One of the things that most delights me is to create textures and patterns that feel like nature. Granite is a natural stone.”

Big smiles all around.

I showed him a few images of my encaustic pieces and promised those would look even more like stone, then sent them down the hall to Follow the Muse to see my encaustic work for himself.

Long tail indeed, and I’m here for it. And am most grateful for these opportunities.

✨
✨
✨

08/15/2026

It’s a dreary day here in the Twin Cities, so a great day for an indoor art fair! The Northrup King Building will be open extended hours today – through 6 p.m. There’s been a steady stream of visitors so far, and BlackBerry Bakery and Bridgeman’s ice cream are both on site right outside our studio…come join us!

You can find my work in two galleries – my organic acrylics and gestural landscapes hang in Gallery Aurora – Studio 179 and my encaustic abstracts are featured in Follow the Muse – Studio 166. Both are along the main corridor on the ground floor.

New additions to my wall at Gallery Aurora – Studio 179 are “Last Stand” (acrylic on a 18” x 24” cradled panel, framed in a black frame with a silver face), “The Summer Winds” (acrylic on a 12” x 12” birch panel, framed in white with a black rabbet), and two new little acrylic gestural seascapes on 6” x 12” basswood panels.

Today is your last chance to see “Spring is in the Air” in Studio 179 – it moves to the State Fair Rejects Show at Flanders Gallery this week. (The opening reception for that show is August 29th from 3-7 p.m. at Douglas Flanders & Associate Gallery.

I have new works planned for Follow the Muse that will debut on September 26 during Northrup King Nights. More on that soon!

Weather like we’re having today explains why you’ll never find my work in an outdoor art fair. Paintings on wood are just too vulnerable to moody weather. And really, the beauty of renting space in this building is you can plan your own indoor art excursion anytime the building is open. There’s over 300 studios to visit, and so much great dining nearby.

08/09/2026

Here’s some gorgeous details on a few new encaustic pieces I have in the works. I’m still sorting out their overall designs, though I’ll share two soon.

I find that jumping back and forth between acrylic and encaustics keeps my brain fresh, and these abstract encaustic designs are pushing my thinking on some important ideas I learned in a recent composition lab with ARTfuel Studio

With every new learning opportunity, I’m reminded that to glean the most from that experience, I need to stay focused on the concepts from the course. Too often, I’ve come back from a workshop and jumped right into creating new work for exhibitions, which has pulled focus from recent learnings. I’ve been more intentional this year about practicing ideas I’ve recently learned.

While I’ve been primarily focused on gestural landscapes in limited palettes like the pieces I’ve shared recently (ideas from courses last year), these encaustic test my thinking on designs because they are purely abstract – and because it’s easy to fall so head over heels with these gorgeous details, I can lose track of the big picture.

Make sure you’re following so you see where these beauties land. I’m really excited about them!

✨
✨
✨

08/03/2026

That sky may look foreboding, but the gift of walking a beach on such a day is solitude. That chorus of waves washes your thoughts clean. The nip in the air drives the tourists away. And such a gray day allows you see so many surprising colors when the sun calms its glare. It’s all there for you and, likely, you alone. These are the gifts of a gray seaside morning.

“Gifts of a Gray Seaside Morning” is painted on an 8” x 10” canvas panel and framed in natural maple float frame. It joins the collection on view in the Gallery Aurora – Studio 179 in the Northrup King Building, or you can find it in the online gallery on my website.

✨
✨
✨

07/28/2026

For most of this year, I’ve been focused on a series of gestural landscapes using limited palettes. This piece joins that series, though most are being held for a special release in one of a kind, exotic wood frames later this fall.

However, this one has a mind of its own. The palette here is a mix of yellow ocher, cadmium yellow light, white, and black—and I especially love the greens that emerge from that combination.

Like so many of these landscapes (but not all), I started this one on cold press paper. The composition outgrew the substrate I had in mind for it, but something about it just wouldn’t let me leave it. Especially that sky! As I pushed it toward more, it told me it wanted less, and so I calmed its horizon line.

Once I became committed to it, I looked for a larger wood panel to mount it, but it’s finished edges didn’t quite reach into the panel I had on hand. That’s when I realized all that unfinished business was what I loved most in its design. (Who says a painting has to touch all its sides?)

A dull, moody sky packed with subtle movement, and the suggestion of land so endless, it just fades out of sight? And a painting that ignored my plans to demand its own path? Well, what else would I call it but “Roam Free”?

“Roam Free” is acrylic on 98lb cold press paper adhered to an 8” x 10” cradled wood panel. It’s framed in my standard natural maple frames, and since this character seems intent on parting ways with my plans for a special release, I’m adding it to my available inventory immediately. It’s also joined my guest artist wall in Gallery Aurora – Studio 179 in the Northrup King Building .

✨
✨
✨

07/22/2026

“Cold Moon Rising” got a bit of a glow up, so I’m sharing it again.

I didn’t mean to repaint this piece, but that’s what happened. It started by simply trying to fix a tiny spot with a slightly different color right along the edge of the moon. (Swipe to see the original then a close of the spot…if you can find it! You’re going to laugh with me because it’s so small!)

Since it’s an area of high contrast, once I saw that difference, I couldn’t stop noticing it, so I thought I’d fix it that bit with a tiny dab of paint. But because acrylic dries darker than it looks wet, exact color matches are really tough—particularly with these muted shades. I guessed wrong, so then needed to paint around the whole shape.

I ended up repainting the entire sky – twice!—because the first time I made it way too dark. And a challenge with these gestural pieces the small details, like drag marks left from a palette knife, makes a big difference. Those marks are impossible to paint around without ruining their energy.

So, really, I by the time I called this done AGAIN I’d repainted the whole picture. I do like the softness of the original, though there’s so much about this version that’s just stronger. The values are more committed to the design and the shape of the moon is more round and crisp. I also added moonlight in the water/land element, a detail that was missing from the first version. Most delicious, there’s a lot more texture overall due to all the added layers.

And here’s the thing—after 4 years of painting, I can recreate a version of a painting! That’s not always been true—early in, so much of my work was packed with happy accidents I didn’t always know how to replicate.

It’s still called “Cold Moon Rising” and is painted on 140 lb cold pressed paper that’s adhered to a cradled panel, then framed in natural maple (I included the back to show how high quality quality frames are.) I’ll get it into my online gallery later today and it will returns to my guest wall at Gallery Aurora – Studio 179 in the Northrup King Building this weekend.

✨
✨
✨

northrupkingbuilding

Suzanne Tacheny Kubach, Abstract Artist

08/26/2026

08/25/2026

08/20/2026

08/17/2026

08/16/2026

08/15/2026

08/09/2026

08/03/2026

07/28/2026

07/22/2026

Address

Website

Alerts

Contact The Establishment

Shortcuts

Share

Category

Listing takedown request