Inside My Advanced Photo Encaustic Workshop

Last weekend I taught my first-ever Beyond the Basics workshop in Minneapolis, and I have to say—it was incredibly energizing to work with a small group of experienced encaustic artists who were truly ready to see their images in a new light.

I adore teaching beginners, of course. But there are already many workshops devoted solely to the foundational techniques of photo encaustic. This workshop was intentionally different. Yes, we covered plenty of technical information, but with a more creative, expansive purpose behind it. We explored things like:

• Why printing on tissue paper can be so transformative

• How to think about perspective, layering, and visual depth

• Choosing the right images for the process

• Isolating subjects

• The tools and materials needed for successful tissue printing

• Techniques for building backgrounds

• Creating smooth, consistent wax surfaces

• Hiding tissue edges

• Tiling multiple images

• And even working large with tissue paper

But the magic happened after the technical pieces were in place. I watched students sift through their photographs with an entirely new mindset—wondering which images could be transformed into something more expressive, more mysterious, more layered.

This is why tissue paper feels so powerful to me. When combined with beeswax, a photograph becomes only the beginning of the story. The space around the subject becomes imagined rather than literal, and suddenly the image feels timeless and open to interpretation. Isolating the subject gives viewers room to bring their own memories, emotions, and meaning to the piece.

Seeing the process through my students’ eyes reminded me how transformative this medium can be. The creative energy felt different than in a beginner workshop—curious, intuitive, open, and deeply personal.

Another special part of the weekend was teaching inside the new collective studio I recently joined. My own paintings were hanging on the walls around us, which is rare since most of my workshops happen on the road or in studios without gallery space. Teaching while surrounded by my work created a sense of grounding and clarity. It made something inside me shift.

I’ve been feeling this internal shift for a while now—an uncomfortable but necessary kind of soul-searching. I talk a lot on this blog about finding your artistic voice, and that’s because it’s exactly where I am personally. Something is rising to the surface, asking for my attention.

The next few months will be devoted to diving deeper into my own work and allowing space for my voice to develop in new ways.

Teaching is a tremendous gift, and I’m grateful for every single workshop. But this one showed me something important: I want to teach more Beyond the Basics experiences. When each student arrives with a foundation and a unique artistic perspective, the learning becomes richer and more collaborative. We teach one another simply by showing up fully.

Techniques are essential—but they’re not what make great art. What matters is what we do with those techniques. How we shape them into personal expression. How we use them to say something only we can say.

And I’m excited to spend more time surrounded by artists who are also searching for their voice, their truth, and their role as creators.

Would love to hear any comments you may have.

Be well….be creative,