Colette

I am a Northwest Artist, living with my family in Tacoma, Washington.

The Pacific Northwest is an inspiration. There is beauty at every turn of the head!
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My focus has been on Encaustic Painting for several years.

​I started Encaustic painting a few years back. My first experience with encaustic was seeing it being done at an open studio on one of the islands North of Tacoma. 

​I recall the sense of total fascination.

​It was a couple of years before I took a class, and then another. I started buying supplies and was soon doing Encaustic Art in my garage. I was completely hooked!
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Ten or so years later - The garage has morphed into my studio and is a place for me to lose myself in the depth and layers of wax, collage & various media.

​What is "Encaustic"?

Encaustic, or enkaustikos, is a Greek word meaning “to heat or burn in” Heat is used throughout the process starting with the melting of the wax. Encaustic Medium is what I use most often. It consists of natural beeswax and damar resin. The medium can be used alone for its transparency or pigments may be added for color. The medium is melted and applied, most often to a firm, absorbent surface such as wood, with a brush. Each layer is then fused to the previous layer.
 Picture
                                              Photo credit -Sue Gettmann
Encaustics | Mixed Media |  Photography
Encaustic Painting is my passion! The layers the translucency and the magic of the hot wax just draw me in. Encaustic also embraces many of the other art forms that I also love.​​
Collage, photography, painted silk, ink, and drawing are some of the art forms or materials that may be found fused together in one of my Encaustic Paintings. 
​Found objects, particularly old printed materials, and small rusted objects, are also a delight and support my belief in reusing as a way of blending the old and the new, natural and man-made, hard and soft. It is a way of respecting the earth. It is also an honoring of the wood, the wax and the silk in my work. These things come from nature but require that human hands make it available to me.
It is about the connection of nature and humanity.
​Enjoy wandering through the Encaustic and Mixed Media art that you will find on Enfusiastic Art!

News!

I was to teach in Duvall in April, but like many events, this was cancelled.  So, as an alternate creative outlet, geared towards keeping spirits up, and helping to keep our kiddo's busy...
I am working to create a page where I will show  an art project step-by-step and would love to see and post the projects they make as they follow along. Watch for this updated page!