Verity Roberts

ARTIST STATEMENT FEBRUARY 2021 

I am a painter in the encaustic medium of eight years standing.  I was initially interested in the process of the encaustic –firstly the history of the medium being so ancient dating back to 1 AD. Then the alchemy of the mixing, fusing and layering of the beeswax so that once it dried,  which is virtually immediately, it became translucent and the detail and work on each layer became evident as the layers were scraped back  - and oftentimes buried.  The detail below is muted but still there for the viewer - exciting.

I am also recently painting in Cold Wax – CWM.  This process informs by pulling and pushing.  The cold wax is mixed with oil paint which allows it to dry faster with great texture :  layering and scraping can happen whilst still pliable without turning into mud.  I started working in this technique so as to be able to work in the very hot months of summer in Sydney when the heated wax palettes sometimes only allowing work for a couple of hours!

So, my work is a visual synthesis of memories stored over my lifetime of travelling the world.

This group of paintings is a collection of work which has emerged from the catalogue of very Australian images which I hold in my memory – ...

I am a self taught artist. Finally pursuing my artistic passion since retiring from my first career as a film set decorator both in Australia and in the UK. Always working in the visual arts it is now that I feel totally fulfilled with my work!! Due to the fact I have chosen ENCAUSTIC and COLD WAX MEDIUM I have fully immersed myself in advancing my knowledge: both here and have travelled to the US to attend encaustic workshops. I attended 3 years the International Encaustic Conference held in Provincetown annually where I have done many amazing workshops with the very best tutors. I have successfully exhibited in Sydney for the past 10 years and have exhibited at one TOAF previously..

My next exhibition will be @theotherartfairsyd
18 - 21 March 2021 at The Cutaway, Barangaroo.
Due to the 2020 pandemic it was postponed three times so am very excited to be exhibiting lots of new work of varying sizes in both encaustic and cold wax and oil.