Brilliant shine from buffing.

Whether I’m working on a new piece or continuing a work-in-progress, my studio must be in some semblance of order before I can start painting.  For new work, I play around with palette choice.  White?  Always!  With that exception, there is no magic formula for this process.  I paint to exist with the moment and expose a purely creative image from my own imagination, typically a horizon. I could spend hours gazing at a vista, wondering what is past my point of view; watching breezes morph the landscape.  I paint towards the awe of that vision.
 
I begin by laying down creamy layers of wax, then using a torch to fuse each layer of wax to the previous one. The torch work is appealingly hypnotic. I continue until I have achieved a smooth, sleek surface.  This is the jumping off point for imagination to take over. I always hesitate, not wanting to mar the clean surface. I know, once I break that surface, there will be tension until the painting is complete. I use a sweeping slash of color to jump off the cliff into the tension. From this point on, I chase any bright, shiny object. You will find that chase throughout the movement within my work.  Layers of marks, scraping to remove, swooping brush strokes, glazes and other inclusions, create the conversation of my paintings. 
 
Sometimes an amazing visual moment happens too early in my relationship with a painting and I have to move on.  Encaustic is the perfect medium to enhance the intersection of memories. I let these early moments be a painting’s memory, a shadow of history deep within.  
 
I am totally driven by curiosity and am not in control in this place of creativity.  The painting tells me when I have arrived by releasing me from the tension.  The finished painting becomes a historical moment.  It is an experience of the past, a diary of a moment in my life.
 
I have been told it is the movement in my paintings that resonates first. The best moments are when others express a feeling of bliss when interacting with a painting.  That is the splash zone of joy!