My personal Vanna White & my messy studio

This mess is my tiny art studio. I created 54 encaustic works of art for the Audubon Wild Arts Festival last weekend sitting in that single spot on my chaise next to he electric skillet of wax, over the last five months. I organized a pivot like space so I wouldn't have to climb through the tangle of wires (1920's house). No sense in cleaning anything up. That made it soooo much easier to return to the work at any given moment. I now have to clean it up for I need the space for my mixed media acrylic collage work. For me, having a few mediums to work with keeps the boredom at bay.

With thanks given to my friend Brenda for the idea of using old doors for my booth walls I was able to affordably create my own little gallery space within the show of over 40 artists. I chose hollow core to keep them light, painted them black with the help of my 13yr. old Keaton and hinged them in small sets with my husband. A big YAHOO!! to the Gorge Rebuild-it Center [CLICK HERE] in Hood River, OR for having exactly what I needed at the budget I had to work with and the flexibility to accomodate my lack of immediate cash situation (cash or check only).

Encaustic art = encaustic sign. I love this medium!!!!!!!

I had a lot of help in preparing the details for this show. My friend Andrea (not pictured :( ) was my own personal Vanna White. She looked like a super model and rocked at organization & helping me with what ever I needed throughout the weekend.

I have so many wonderful friends and family who support me through my artistic ventures. Pictured here is Susie, me & Venka at the show. Truly a magnificent experience all around. I'm thankful for the opportunity to showcase my pieces that come from my imagination. I met incredible people who had questions and praise for my work. Many inquired how that could take a class from me. I'm flattered but not prepared to do so at this time. With returning full time to school my plate will be quite full. I do have a business plan in the works for opening an art studio here in Stevenson but have no idea when that idea will come to frutation.

Encaustic Journey

A year ago when I sold my coffeehouse I had no idea what I would do next. I've always had a plan or at least a notion of what to research to take me subsequently into the next phase of my life. I knew it had to do something with art but that's a pretty broad subject. I purchased Golden acrylic paint tubes in colors that caught my eye, many, many canvases and begun to paint. It actually took six weeks until I painted something for I was frozen in fear I would ruin the expensive product I had just invested in. I recall passing a section in the art store that had encaustic materials. I was curious but totally turned off by the sample that hung on the wall. I walked away and thought who would ever spend their money on such a medium. I was apparently stuck in the small business mind frame and lacked vision and the openness it took to think outside my frugal box. Above is one of my latest encaustic creations, below will explain more of my journey. Click on it & check it out a bit closer.


I received a new camera from my husband for Christmas. I snapped photos of everything that triggered an interest. Sunlit dancing shadows, textures of household objects and the insane snowfall we had last winter. I ended up taking a beginners encaustic class given by local Portland artist Amy Stoner at the Collage DIY Lounge store on Alberta Street. The sample that hung on the art store wall haunted my thoughts. Not that "I could do better" but more of a challenge to explore that strange medium. Amy was a great teacher and I took my two class projects and hung them proudly in my art space at home. They are nothing like what I have morphed into recently with incorporating my photography into my encaustic pieces but they symbolise a step into the unknown. In taking that class I opened a door within the depths of my creativity that I did not know existed. Go ahead...Click on it, it's cool.


Through my exploration of mixed media, taking photos constantly, posting in this art blog, discovering new magazines in the trade of mixed media art and brewing them together to created encaustic pieces...I have surprised myself with a path of creativity that feels sooooo right. It's taken a year of self discovery and conquering simple fears (but fears none the less) that has landed me in this spot. Hard to believe a whole 12 months have gone by. I don't do much acrylic painting these days. My canvases sit snug behind my desk & under a chaise....patiently waiting. I have been accepted into an art show for the Portland Audubon Society's annual fundraiser Wild Arts Festival at the end of November. A first for me. I'm working on creating my booth space as well as a well stocked arsenal of encaustic art all in the theme of birds and nature. Yet another path in the new journey of my life.