Artists have been using encaustic techniques to create beautiful work since ancient times. It began in ancient Greece, and the earliest portraits from Greco-Roman Egypt date from the first century A.D. What is it? Simply, it is the combination of pigment with beeswax and resin. Heat is used to fuse the encaustic paint to a surface whether it be wood, fabric, clay, or paper. The suspension of pigment in the wax creates a translucence which allows light to penetrate the layers. Light seems to be trapped within the art. Although it was used throughout the centuries, it was revived in modern times in the work of Diego Rivera and Jasper Johns. I studied encaustic painting with Ezschwan Winding and Rae Miller while living in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
Encaustic paint can be applied with brushes in a traditional way, each layer being fused to the previous with a torch or heat gun. It can also be applied directly to a surface using a monoprint process. My works for this show are primarily encaustic monoprints. They are created by designing on a hot surface and then applying paper which absorbs the wax. Successive layers can be added in the same way with care that the heat doesn’t melt everything together. I incorporate oil pastels to expand my palette and add detail. Each monoprint is original and unique. I love the fluidity and spontaneity of this process.
I hope that viewers of my art enjoy looking at it anew every time they see it. Sometimes they may find an element that evokes a reality, a form that seems like a figure or a landscape feature. Other times, the representational may disappear and be replaced with a feeling or a sense of something calming or wildly adventurous. There is no ordered progression to my work. You can start at any point and follow different paths to explore it. I hope it evokes a spirit of endless opportunity, a spirit of hope, and looking forward to a brighter future.
With my beloved presses at the Sonoma Community Center where I monitor the print studio unavailable since March of 2020, I have had to change course and renew my interest in other creative media. I’ve turned to oil paints, pigments, cold wax, and encaustics. This has led to a lot of creative exploration, not always having a specific goal or knowing the end point. So far, I’m enjoying the journey. I hope you enjoy traveling with me by viewing my work.