Brief Biography

 

Starting at the age of four with the encouragement of my photographer father, my interest in photography has evolved through three home made conventional darkrooms into digital schemes.

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Influencing this development was the 10 years during which I studied the piano, competed locally and regionally in Virginia, and gave several solo recitals, the last of which was in Caball Hall at the University of Virginia. Combining the visual and auditory aspects of the artistic milieu continues to shape many of my works. Integral to my theses is the notion of the fluidity of art and the necessity of the viewer to the overall process.

 

In the last 20 years my artistic endeavors have lead to multiple solo and juried group shows as well as local, national and international awards. I have been an ardent participant in international conferences related to encaustic painting and have participated in many of their workshops. After gaining practical acumen I taught workshops utilizing encaustic, often incorporating photography, serigraphy and other techniques. In order to disseminate this information further I formed a group, BluesWax, for artists with an interest in using encaustic in their works.

 

My profession was a pulmonologist, having studied at the University of Virginia, Yale University Affiliate, and University of Utah where I taught and did research on elastin's relationship to emphysema. That work was continued at the University of Tennessee in Memphis, TN until entering private practice in 1992. My medical accomplishments can be found in the medical CV (see above). In February 2013 I retired from the practice of medicine and currently spend most of my time practicing various art forms including photography, printmaking, and encaustic painting in addition to perfecting my piano technique. Many of the pieces I produce use photography as a basis.

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My artwork may be viewed at http://www.normansoskel.com and I can be reached at norman@normansoskel.com.