Mountain Climbing in Wax

Susan Wallis at Elevation Gallery during her solo show, “Traversing the Land”. (Left) Virtuous Stand 24x72 , to the far right; Crescendo 34x69

During my yearly visits to Canmore, Alberta for my solo show at Elevation Gallery I have always enjoyed the wonderful mountain views. The drive from the Calgary airport to Canmore is a winding route along the base of these majestic natural monuments. I catch myself often looking upon nature’s snow capped sculptures in awe. Over this past winter I was asked by Cheryl Baxter of Elevation Gallery to produce a mountain commission for one of her clients who has admired my work. I have never attempted this subject matter in wax, and with some hesitation I agreed to produce a few sketches in wax. In the end the client was thrilled with the results and a larger commission followed. Subsequently I have fallen in love with the mountain as my muse. My approach to encaustic process requires a more sculptural and textured technique. Although I use a brush to get the wax onto the board initially, once it has been applied I manipulate it by carving, scratching, gouging and ironing the surface with a variety of irons I have collected over the years, sealing all with my trusty blow torch. The results is a new series called “Ascension”, that was on display for the 1st time at my solo show this May at Elevation Gallery in Canmore, Alberta called “Traversing the Land”.