Student Highlight: Lyn Belisle

Meet Lyn Belisle. 

When I first saw Clare’s work online, I had one of those “aha” moments of resonance and recognition that gives an artist goosebumps. I was very new to encaustics, and I certainly wasn’t a professional photographer, but I *had* to learn how she did what she did with wax and images. Unfortunately, her fall online workshop was full, but I waited anxiously for the spring session, and what I learned from Clare during that class has energized my work and given it new meaning – and rave reviews from my fellow artists. In fact, one of the first PhotoEncaustic pieces I created just after taking Clare’s class won Best in Show at a recent juried art exhibit.

Clare truly encourages incorporating the basics of photo encaustics into one’s own personal style. I’ve always been a collagist, and she encouraged my use of archival images in my work. With her help, I came to the realization that her method is not just painting a photograph with wax. It is a way of exploring translucent veils and layers to produce a new image entirely, one with depth and mystery and intrigue.

In discussions with my fellow students in our class Facebook group, it was evident that all of us were getting individual guidance from Clare about our own personal experimentation with the wax and our photos. As a teacher, Clare gives honest, enlightening criticism and guidance on both the technical and the aesthetic side of her process. I learned a lot about the wax medium itself, about adhering paper to substrates and what kinds of pigments work best for my purposes, but I also learned about the “voice” of the work.

As the class progressed, I found that I was drawn to anonymous photographic portraits from the early 20^th century, portraits that had been digitized by libraries and local governments and were available without copyright restriction. The translucent wax “veiling” technique that I learned from Clare lends itself beautifully to the concept of life’s captured, frozen moments which I want to celebrate in my work. I use the looseness of the pigmented white wax as an over-layer to enhance the image. This new work is incredibly rewarding. I’m grateful to Clare for her guidance.

I’d love to have you join me in my upcoming online course, [The Artistic Image]. Find all the details here>>

Be well….be creative,