Rendezvous with Wax

New Exhibit at ARTS Opens On March 4

Arts Texas opens a unique exhibition of works on Saturday March 4 at the ARTS Ross Gallery in Fayetteville. The exhibition is a collection of works that shows the diversity and mastery of paintings that incorporate wax. At some point in their lives, most people have probably experienced, the unmistakable sensations of playing with crayon scratch art or the melted wax of a candle. However, few have taken this well-known medium of wax to the level of artistic splendor that the women do in the group mixed-media art show, Rendezvous with Wax, which will be open to the public at the artists reception from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday in Fayetteille.

With a bevy of experience among them, these exceedingly talented Texas women share a deep love for the use of cold and encaustic wax in their mixed-media art. The seven women have created works of art that also provide unique perspectives regarding the subject of nature, in either its literal or figurative form.

NJ Weaver’s encaustic paintings are intuitive and spontaneous, punctuated with action, movement and gestural markings. She loves the concept of the unknown that begins with each new piece of art and unfolds along the way to completion. She works to combine and create intuitive abstract art rich in color, texture, and light.

Similarly, Cari Washburn’s work is a visual contrast between opposing surface textures and colors, as well as between antiquity and modernism. Her encaustic paintings all incorporate a three-dimensional ceramic component. It is whimsical in nature and serves as a playful reminder to everyone to nurture their inner child.

“You can declare yourself an artist and then figure out how to be an artist.” This quote by Kara Walker completely changed Bara Gustafson’s thinking about what it meant to be an artist. Self-taught, with an avid love of learning, Gustafson loves to travel through Texas, photographing subjects that are ‘brought to life’ through her art; with found objects adding another dimension to her creations. Her journey as a practicing artist was lost for years, hidden from sight, layer over layer, and years of helping others follow their dreams. She says, “I thank God for allowing me to unearth those layers to have a breakthrough of a special moment to re-discover my lost dream. My interest in theology is a common theme in my life, and my work often reveals itself through images of clocks, churches, numbers, and figures. My art practice is part of my daily spiritual practice of drawing, prayer, silence, visual journaling, and meditation. “

Meanwhile, Samantha Melvin, calls upon her perspective as a Texas Master Gardner, as she investigates the dynamics of landscape and space. Through layered abstractions and patterns, gestural conversations of color, light, and form explore materiality and the interrelation of interior and exterior and deconstruct the duality of order and chaos in the complex system of the world in which we live. Melvin is also a respected art educator, recognized as National Art Educator of the Year by the National Art Educator Association.

Alternatively, it was not until after completing a lifelong career in public health and epidemiology, that Virginia Headley Maserang fell in love with beeswax and encaustic painting. She loves to create art that juxtaposes artificial forms and textures with the natural, biology-based mediums of the tree resin and beeswax. Headley Maserang wants her work to ultimately ask the viewer to consider, “What is the impact of the human footprint on the earth?”which she accomplishes through her use of the natural elements that are restricted in human-manipulated forms.

Like Headley Maserang, Doris Vasek also never knew she would become an artist. But, her fascination with color and techniques led her through mediums such as embroidery, stained glass, weaving, spinning, quilting, and watercolor. She enjoys the oil and cold wax process because it is intuitive. Vasek’s paintings in the show are abstract and about the creation of color and texture. Her work invites the viewer in, to enjoy it, not only from a distance, but close-up, where one can experience a color or shape that is one of a kind, never to be repeated.

Unlike some of her peers in the show, Betsy Murphy has had painting and drawing as part of her life for as long as she can remember. She also has a background in art education and studies of nature.

A lover of nature, beauty, and peace, Murphy uses color and pattern to connect viewers with the splendor of a simple encounter with nature and to experience our environment in a deeper way. Each of her paintings is a unique investigation of materials and processes coupled with nature as subject matter.

ARTS invites the community to come experience these unique works Saturday at the ARTS Ross Gallery in Fayetteville, from 4 p.m – 6 p.m.. Rendezvous with Wax will run from March 4- April 8.