“The artist never entirely knows — We guess.
We may be wrong, but we take leap after leap in the dark”
– Agnes de Mille
I was born and raised in Switzerland and moved to the North West of British Columbia, Canada in 1995. At first, I felt a sense of being lost in the vastness of this big beautiful country. I learned to embrace the quiet beauty of the land and now it gives me the inspiration and the time I need to reflect on my daily walks through the hills and valleys of the beautiful Peace River Region.
Growing up, I was the happiest child when I got a box of new pencil crayons and a colouring book. Did you ever notice how wonderful these new wooden pencils smell?
About nine years ago, a card created with wax and an iron was given to me from a cousin in Switzerland. I was hooked on encaustic art! I did some research and ordered my first supplies.
Since then I have taken several workshops with well-known encaustic artists and have learned a great deal about the process of painting with wax.
For me, working with wax is relaxing, satisfying, fascinating and yes, sometimes frustrating and challenging, but I love it.
I fell in love with the versatility and vibrancy of the medium. There is a luminosity that only wax can have, and, of course, you can’t beat the wonderful smell of it!
Three of Irene’s encaustic paintings are featured in her “Beeswax Art” card.
Check out her Exploring Encaustic Facebook page.