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 use. 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 Farenheit before an artist can paint with it. After painting each layer, it is essential that the paint be fused with a torch or heat gun so the paint will grab on to the surface area beneath it. 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 the last 15 years educating children and adults in the arts. Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, with a BA in Art from Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, Iowa, she continues her own arts education through workshops and specialized instruction with notable instructors. Her encaustic paintings explore the preciousness of time, empathy and the value of human connections.
She is an encaustic painting instructor, working artist, curator and advocate for the arts in Walnut Creek, California and beyond. Her encaustic paintings are collected, exhibited and sold in galleries throughout the United States and Europe. She has served as the Social Media Chair of Valley Art Gallery in Walnut Creek, CA since 2016. In 2022 she co-founded NorCAL Wax, an IEA Chapter.
That same year, Stephens created Hope Lives: Art for ALS, a fundraising art exhibition that honors her sister who contracted Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in 2020 and perished from it in 2023. Her annual exhibition raises awareness and provides funding for ALS research.
Beginning in 2024 she represented R&F Handmade Paints demonstrating their paints, Pigment Sticks and Drawing Oils across northern California. Stephens has served as the Exhibitions Director for the International Encaustic Artists Organization (IEA), responsible for multiple live and online exhibitions each year.
In addition to her own teaching studio, Stephens records encaustic tutorials on her YouTube channel The Encaustic Edge. She is a web designer for older artists and volunteers at several galleries and art institutions in the Bay Area. Her artwork recently exhibited at Cooperstown Art Association, Cooperstown, NY; Encaustic Art Museum, Cerillo, NM; North Gallery, Edmonds, WA; San Antonio Arts Alliance and Museum, San Antonio, TX (Juror’s Award); Encaustic Art Museum, Cerrillo, NM; Sarah Spurgeon Gallery, Ellensburg, WA; Arts Benicia, Benicia; Bedford Gallery & Valley Art Gallery, Walnut Creek; San Francisco Women Artists Gallery, San Francisco.
ABOUT MY INSPIRATION
Themes in my work include empathy, the preciousness of time and the value of human connections. Handwritten letters are historical and personal records in time. I include portions from journal entries, penned communication and visual patterns in my work that represent emotions and familiarity.
Asemic writing is a freeform way that I can create images of text without the use of language. When words fail me, these scrawled out passages can represent my deepest feelings.
Dried flowers, plants or pressed flora in my paintings are visual clues representing the passage of time. Their color, sweet scent and beauty may have seemed to pass, but their new form reflects on the power of memory and fragility of life.
My paintings are heartfelt abstractions met with real life experiences. Life’s forces, that give and take, influence the tenor of my work, while intimate stories are layered in my paintings leaving room for reflection and introspection.