After Chihuly Painting

Making art is an encore career for me. Years ago when I hosted a community access TV show called “Alivelihood:New Adventures As We Age,” I interviewed an artist who had been a German professor. She invited me to her art studio. I loved painting and collaging with her immediately and never stopped painting. Soon I discovered the ancient, now popular medium of encaustic, using hot pigmented wax, and was enraptured with the possibilities. I studied with many sterling artists learning to make mono prints and paintings with the wax and a torch to burn each layer to the one beneath. I attended workshops at the International Encaustic Conference in Provincetown each spring. Next, I added acrylic and mixed media to my repertoire. My most recent paintings are created with oil mixed with cold wax. The subject matter that intrigued me during the pandemic was painting the abstracted, distorted human figure, often with backgrounds depicting a fantasy room or landscape. Now I am exploring adding "narrative art" to my repertoire, using abstract layers with collaged painted stitched fabric. My life outside of art encompasses many wonderful things: living in the country in Massachusetts with my husband of 40+ years and 2 adorable rescue dogs from Mexico, dancing Argentinian tango and studying with one of the world's most accomplished teachers, wintering in San Miguel de Allende, MX to name a few.