Sweet Home........Chico.

Yesterday, I participated in a boutique show in Chico, CA. Chico was my home for twenty years and holds a special place in my heart. The town was in full bloom with bright green trees and the light scent of jasmine wafting in the background. It was wonderful to see some old friends, albeit briefly, and receive  an unexpected phone call from a long time friend (wow!) and enjoy the warm welcoming atmosphere of the place I called "home" for so many years.

The show was fun and swift as I watched a lot of my small works of art find new homes. This colorful floral encaustic painting went home to a collector of many of my mini works! I am excited to see my new paintings being positively received. I suppose no matter how long I have been at this, I still love the validation of people appreciating my art. It really touches me on a deep level and makes me feel more connected to this human experience.

Waxy Buildup & A New Painting!

I finished this fun little 3" x 3" piece yesterday. I finally am feeling like I have a handle (or brush) with the encaustic paints. I made my own colors with dry pigments, beeswax, and damar resin. I like the results and mostly the texture that is emerging. To really get depth with this technique, you have to build up layers of the encaustic paint. With more practice I hope to create larger pieces.

The Class

Beeswax blocks.

As mentioned, I went to Mendocino to take an encaustic painting class from Cynthia Schildhauer. There were five of us brave souls ready to jump into the waxy world of beeswax and accompanying mediums, colors and a plethora of collage materials. It was a wild ride for me as I was gently pushed away from my familiar comfort zone of the narrative imagery to the less comfortable area of non-representational art. 

This concept was challenging and sometimes I resisted it. Upon reflection, I am looking forward to moving forward with this medium and interpreting it in my own way. Anything goes and will go when I get going!

Doodle Encaustic Painting



I have been experimenting with encaustics and here is a tiny doodle painting that I created. It is a mere 1" x 4" and contains mixed media elements including: watercolor, ink, oil pastel and wax. I wanted to see how far I could go with all these mixed elements. It was fun to build up layers of wax and add some hand colored details.

Waxy Beginnings

Melting beeswax to make encaustic medium.

Finished cakes of encaustic medium that contain a mixture of beeswax and damar resin.

Over the weekend I finally had some time to begin my new venture with encaustic painting. I have been wanting to explore this medium for a long time. After reading several books, reading technical information on the Internet and watching a bunch of youtube videos, I felt ready to tackle this. I was surprised at how everything came together so easily. As I am not one to follow recipes while cooking on the stove top, it was a bit of a challenge to follow an exact recipe for making encaustic wax medium. But alas! I did conquer my resistance and here are a few photos of the process. It is not very glamorous, however, I hope my new artworks created in the medium will show the depth and subtle beauty of the wax.