Encaustic Arts Magazine SPRING 2017 | Page 13

Drawing and ceramics were my first artistic loves ; drawing hands and feet and creating hand-built ceramic pots occupied many hours in my youth . I tried all types of painting mediums , but none of them grabbed me , that was until encaustics . Back in 2001 , while at an art opening , the featured artist , Melissa Battersby , was showing large beautiful luminous paintings . I was with a friend and we asked her , " How did you create the luminosity in your work ?" She replied , " I am not going to tell you .” and she was not joking . Every time Melissa was alone , we ' d go up and say , " come on , give us a hint " with her replying “ no ." This dialogue went back and forth for over an hour until we finally wore her down and she stated , " I live in Palm Desert , I paint outside when it ’ s over 100 degrees , I use my hands as a paintbrush and I am not telling you anything else .” After we arrived home , my friend Googled " paint " and " heat " and discovered the world of encaustic supplies and purchased some , even though he knew nothing about them .
When the supplies arrived , he set up a 3 ' x 3 ' birch panel canvas to work on . I was totally overwhelmed by the tools of the trade : a hotplate , heat gun , and melted beeswax so I said , " You paint , I find all these tools intimidating .” I proceeded to watch , from over his shoulder , as he laid down and fused the encaustic paint . After a few minutes I said , " I think I can do this , let me give it a try now .” He handed me the pot of melted beeswax , the paintbrush and stepped aside . In just a few minutes of painting I felt HOME , home like I have never felt before . Within 5 minutes I felt like I had been painting with encaustics ALL OF MY LIFE , it was a surreal experience .