It was scary how easily I let go of the watercolor. Actually, that is not completely true. I relied heavily on my watercolor brain to express myself in encaustic. I
found the similarities between the two were remarkable. They both shared the
same crucial elements of fluidity, and transparency. The biggest challenge before
me was to translate my style of painting through encaustic. The content of my
work is figurative. Yet I consider it to be technically motivated, and structurally
inspired. In the end, it is not really what I paint, but rather how I have painted
it. When working I divorce myself from my imagery and focus on abstract elements which eventually reveal a recognizable representation. If I put shapes of
varying colors and values in the right places, an image will emerge. Conceptually, image does play a large role in my paintings. I paint those things that move
me, things that have an impact on me, and things I find amusing. I like to suggest vague narratives that engage the viewer to decipher the content according
to their own history.
Even though processing like a watercolor painter worked with my transition
into encaustic, the execution of the two mediums are completely opposite. With
watercolor you need to work rapidly and in my case, work areas to completion.
I paint with the intention to accept what I have painted and I am quite reticent
to rework areas. With encaustic I generally need to take a moment to gather
myself before beginning to work. I cannot work quickly and I must be willing
to embrace that notion. Then, I need to constantly remind myself to breathe and
pace myself. I often regard this approach as a form of meditation.