The Ancient Egyptians created portraits of their deceased Pharos using a hot wax process known as Encaustic. These likenesses were placed in the tombs with the bodies. The Egyptians were preserving the memory of the Pharos’ physical body. This process was so effective that we can view these portraits in vivid color today. In a similar fashion, I take photographs and preserve them in wax.

            I am a photographer of landscape. This has been my focus for many years. Each of my images evoke the feeling I was experiencing at the time I took it. These photographs demonstrate my vision of beauty, and are images that uplift the spirit.

            Life is fleeting. Photographs capture a moment, but both moments and photographs are fugitive. I use the encaustic process as a physical and emotional way to hold on to and enhance the moment when I captured the image.
 
The process:
            A mixture of beeswax and damar resin is heated to about 200 degrees and applied to a surface. In my case, the surface is one of my photographs printed on watercolor paper and mounted on board. After each layer of wax cools, it is “fixed” by reheating the wax with a heat gun. Additional layers are added in a similar fashion. I use three or four layers before making textural patterns in the wax surface, carving out elements, or adding pastel pigments.