Spotlight on artist Chris Paschke
You can see more examples of Paschke’s work, and read more about her experiences and skills, at designsinkart.com
Artist Chris Paschke shows a wonderfully skilled passion for encaustic and mixed media artworks, such as abstracts, nudes, florals and calligraphy on paper, panel, and canvas. Her work, which hangs in CrossRoads Gallery, will be featured in January, and fans of her unusual art form will be treated to many new works.
Chris says: “The art of encaustic has intrigued me for decades. The depth it gives to the piece makes it almost a 3-D application. Every time I viewed pieces in a show I desperately hungered for the knowledge…and then it happened. About five years ago I had the opportunity attend my first encaustic workshop and I have never looked back. The integration of my Asian influenced art and Chinese characters has allowed me to create wonderfully unique pieces that totally showcase the medium while integrating my other passions.”
As Chris explains, encaustic “is the technique of applying wax to a rigid support to create a painting. The Greek term enkaustikos, meaning "to heat" or "to burn", requires each new layer of melted beeswax and resin to be hot fused to the previous one so the wax becomes unified to the support and all previous layers. If the layers are not heat fused it is not a true encaustic method. Contemporary encaustics come in all types and styles, on a wide assortment of surfaces and substrates; they may be smooth or textured; translucent or opaque; all wax or a combination of many mediums.”
Many of Chris’s works of original artwork, whether encaustic or calligraphic, seem to hover in float frames, as the nature of her medium allows them to remain unglazed when framed.
“I have also created sink mounts for those pieces that call for mats but still do not need glass. It is one of the most experimental and forgiving mediums I have ever worked in and I have only touched the tip of this iceberg.”
You can see Chris’s visually fascinating works of art at CrossRoads, with a special show opening on First Friday, January 7, from 5 to 8 p.m.
