Encaustic Arts Magazine Winter 2012 | Page 32

Portfolio Patricia Baldwin Seggebruch Winter 32 Fields, 2011, 8”X8”, encaustic with ink, charcoal and tar paint. But more than this; the true purpose of my time there was in the aisles. Anyone with a pulse could’ve walked in there, taken stinky thick marker in hand and created the necessary signs for the day. But not everyone could’ve taken those trips down the aisles and come away with the same rekindled passion, reignited desire, re-purposed sense of direction that I did. These trips down the lumber, paint, light bulb aisles ignited a debunk passion to paint. And not just any paint; encaustic paint. This same year Encaustic Workshop hit the store shelves to blazing applause. It was about time-I think we can all agree! I was just the blessed individual portioned out to be the author; thank you God! The beauty came in its creation of course, but also in its existence-of which I was only a player. This fact was not lost on me as I also faced dramatic personal life changes to match this professional one. Which finds me at Home Depot, walking the aisles at 4 am….its amazing what an artist can discover in the rows of home improvement supplies! Plaster, tar, spray foam, nails, washers, interesting trowels and roofing materials…I was a kid in a candy store! After the ‘all the rules and proper techniques’ of Encaustic Workshop I felt released to explore and experiment to my heart content! And explore I did. Encaustic Mixed Media was the birth child of my 10 months at Home Depot. A second book; one I swore I wouldn’t write and I was sure would put me under. As in 6 feet under. But, I had crossed over; over the divide of don’t, shouldn’t, mustn’t and no Becker 1, 2011, 24”X24” encaustic with burned encaustic board and panpastel. into the world of ‘why not’ ‘how come’ and ‘what if’ and there was no return…. I experiment. I am an experimental encaustic artist. And I love it. For me, there is no other way. And I want to free others to explore to their hearts Btk Gifting, 2011, 8”X8”, encaustic with panpastel. content as well. Whether within the bounds of archival, ancient proprietary techniques, or stretching into the arena of melding the new with the old, the undiscovered with the foundational, the proper with the potential. To each their own has never had more value and worth than in this medium. To each their own is the value added benefit of encaustic and I hope to be the force behind making this so; to bringing the timid, the unsure, the experts, the learned alike to the dynamic, all-inclusive wonder that is encaustic alone. It is there. Now let it in. www.EAINM.com