ABOUT ENCAUSTICS
The Greek word "Encaustikos" means: to heat or burn in, which is central to the encaustic process. The Greeks and Egyptians were originally drawn to its preservation properties, and then invented ways to color the wax paint for more creative uses. Many of their paintings still exist today!Modern encaustic medium is a combination of beeswax and damar resin, a sap that comes from deciduous trees in southeast Asia. Color is added to the medium using dry pigments or oil paints. Encaustic paint is melted on a hot plate between 180-200 degrees F before an artist can paint with it. Layers of the paint are heated, or "fused" with a torch or heat gun. When the paint cools, an artist may add texture and other media to the painting.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Melissa Stephens is an encaustic painter, photographer and printmaker who has spent 17 years educating children and adults in the arts. Stephens exhibits nationally and internationally. She received a BA in Art from Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, IA, and continues her arts education through specialized instruction with leading encaustic educators.
Themes in her work explore memory, time and the value of human connections. She is an R&F Handmade Paint Educator, Director of Exhibitions for International Encaustic Artists, Social Media Director at Valley Art Gallery, Co-Founder and Co-President of the NorCAL Wax Chapter and advocate for the arts in Walnut Creek, California. To honor her sister, Stephens founded the annual Hope Lives: Art for ALS fundraiser and educational art exhibition in 2022. Stephens records encaustic tutorials on her YouTube channel The Encaustic Edge.
She volunteers at several galleries in the Bay Area. Her artwork may be found in the permanent collection at the Encaustic Art Museum in Cerillo, NM, and she is published in The Weight of Light Anthology Volume I (2026). She recently exhibited at Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL; Truro Center for the Arts, Truro, MA; Cooperstown Art Association, Cooperstown, NY; North Gallery, Edmonds, WA; San Antonio Arts Alliance and Museum, San Antonio, TX (Juror’s Award); Arts Benicia, Benicia, CA and Valley Art Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA.
ABOUT MY INSPIRATION
My paintings are emotive abstractions guided by hope and human connection. I create visual touchstones influenced by the push and pull of life’s natural forces. Much of my earlier work responds to the narratives of others; however, my recent paintings are rooted in my own experiences of love, loss and celebration of the invisible thread that binds people together.
I often include historical and personal records of time like handwritten passages from letters and journals, photographs, dried flowers or other mementos. Emotion and memory are revealed through these, while original patterns and intimate layering invite curiosity, reflection and introspection.
