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An unexamined dream is like an unopened letter from God.
For many artists, the “what-to-paint-dilemma” is, at best, haunting, and at worst, it threatens to derail our creative pursuits altogether. Gleefully, I have found answers and inspiration in one of the unlikeliest places—in what Carl Jung calls a “confrontation with the unconscious.”
In letting go of conventional methods of thinking about what to create, my experience has instead led me to surrendering to a process that can best be understood as an excavation of sorts—a diving into the depths that characterize the unconscious. Here, of course, describing the process becomes tricky, murky, vague—in other words, precisely what we encounter as we plumb the depths of our selves and our psyches for inspiration.
Once again, Jung, himself an accomplished artist, offers clarity and even validation for a process which can be at once daunting and ecstatic: “I…can affirm that one can paint very complicated pictures without having the least idea of their real meaning. While painting them, the picture seems to develop out of itself and often in opposition to one’s conscious intentions.”
For me, the result of this process– that is, my artwork– is not necessarily abstract, but my creations are often dream-like, in that they may be interpreted to reveal aspects that surprise and inform about the Self, the Unconscious, the Divine and their interrelationships.
Elie Wiesel has observed that “An unexamined dream is like an unopened letter from God.” My corollary to that is that whenever I avoid creative self-expression (by not prioritizing studio time, for example) I am, in effect, hoarding—or squandering—these unopened gems.
The optimistic side of this is that by allowing my creative process, and then sharing the results, I, as an artist, am opening a channel for others to access that inspiration which is inherent in the art.
WHAT IS ENCAUSTIC PAINTING?
Most encaustic artists like to tell you that the technique of painting with melted wax is an ancient one, used to fashion Egyptian mummy masks, and even earlier, to coat and seal bottoms of Greek fishing boats in Homer’s time. So, like many of us, it has an interesting past!
But history isn’t the big attraction for me; it’s the wax’s irresistible texture and hypnotic charm, as any kid who’s ever played with melting candles will tell you.
Can you imagine anything more fun than melting wax, brilliantly colored wax, on a heated palette and then painting with it? I can’t.
And the delight factor has yet to let me down.Generally, the encaustic medium, or wax I use for painting or sculpture is a blend of beeswax with damar resin added to create a more durable surface.
Sometimes pigment, too, is added, sometimes not. Then, on a heated 220-degree surface, the wax is melted, often in metal cups, or directly on the palette surface. It can be sculpted, brushed on or applied to a piece. Then a heat gun, blowtorch or iron is used to fuse the wax with the painting.
Sometimes, I’ll start right out, slathering the melted beeswax medium on a cradled board; while other times, I save the wax to add interest and texture to some oil paint or collage.The melted wax colors can be blended and mixed like oil paints themselves, or layered, gouged out or pooled for an infinity of imaginative effects. And I’m not even going to get into body casting…
HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE YOUR WORK?
“Fun, whimsical and divinely inspired…”
“Devoutly irreverent…”
“Living-out-loud color and texture…”
“A Jungian-flavored, dreamlike approach to encaustic &
mixed media collage…”
“At its best, creativity on steroids; at its worst, creativity on steroids.”
“Resistant to judgment…”
I confess it:
The truth is, I first learned I was an artist from a San Francisco Bay area psychic.
At the time, I didn’t even own a paint brush, but fortunately, I took her “you-have-a-gift, use-it-or-lose-it” message seriously. Slowly, but seriously.
Today I can see that I’ve been an artist all along, but this wasn’t always the case. In fact, it wasn’t until I was in my 30s, when that psychic first broached the subject. I was young and inexperienced in the ways of the psyche; she was Italian and very pregnant.
“Oh, so you’re an artist?” she asked midway through my reading.
“No, why?” I responded as I watched her expression change from cosmic to confused.
“Well…” she began, “I see many extraordinary paintings, beautiful work, but I caution that you must learn and use your gifts. Very important!”
Of course–or amazingly– she was right. It took a few more years for me to get up the courage to buy art supplies, and more still to learn how to use them. Art for me is often about courage; not work, but guts and bravery.
Also, it’s about finding humor, and irony, and about irreverence and about play. It’s very much about an excavation of my psyche, discovering layers like an archeologist digs, and about using color and texture as my preferred vehicles for that.
My progression was from watercolor and pastels to oil paint. Then a workshop at Haystack in Maine helped germinate my mixed media artist self. And when I discovered encaustic painting, I finally had a profound sense of “coming home,” of finding, finally after so many years of mixed dabbling, my artistic home base.
Since then, I have been consistently, sometimes obsessively, working with wax and most days I feel like the luckiest of dogs to have discovered such a compatible medium and process for my artistic forays into the subconscious.
Thanks for stopping by and taking a look around!
Please drop me a line and let me know what you think.
If you are interested in learning more about any of the pieces, fill out the form below and I will get back to you soon.
Stay peaceful,
Betsy
Ph:207-441-1825