Following the mentally debilitating lockdown cave of last year, in a bid to refresh my creative urges, inspiration and practice, getting back to nature has been cathartic.
Walking with my new puppy has give me a verve for life again and thrust me into getting out into the countryside. This has delighted my bashed, worn and dulled senses and allowed me to be open to new and exciting influences.
A trip to Cornwall in January was a joyful exploration of the textural extremes of sea eroded, seaweed strewn rocks and captivating wind whipped beaches. Whilst treading familiar local paths has drawn out the wonder of stark tree-scapes, barren hills and misty gray days.
I pondered long and hard about my practice, which was based mainly on charcoal and oil portraiture; I felt that I needed to allow myself to break out and experiment. I had to give myself permission to do this because I was on what I felt was such a fixed trajectory; thus, following a dip into encaustics during my first year of my BA (Hons) Fine Art Degree, my exploration of Encaustic Wax began in earnest.
Encaustic wax is an ancient medium that dates back to the Egyptians, it is all natural, using a mix of beeswax and damar resin; a tree sap. It is extremely versatile and can be used in many interesting and creative ways. Each layer has to be fused to the layer below, which can generally be done with either a blow torch or a heat gun. The wax mixture is therefore fluid and as such, a letting go of my OCD tendencies is a must! Accepting and working with mistakes and miscalculations is frustrating, but also liberating.