About

I have created art all my life in many different media – clay, stained glass, photography, and now I’ve discovered Encaustic wax.

In high school I was lucky enough to take Art classes with a great teacher, Rick Coleman - he was also the football coach and built like a linebacker 🙂 The late 80's was a great time to be a student of Art because we worked with leather, stained glass, clay, pencil, charcoal, and other materials. It was an exploration into different applications and it helped me understand which media appealed to me most.

I am surrounded by women in my family who work with different media starting with my mom who has worked in a variety of media but now focuses on watercolour, my aunt who paints with acrylics and my sister who writes. When we were children, Mom always provided my sister and me with a blank sheet of paper and crayons. We could use our imaginations to create whatever we wanted. Imagination has been a useful tool because to have because you see images in your minds' eye rather than needing a blueprint to work from. I find inspiration in nature and always have. Mother Earth provides the most incredible canvas of colours, textures, shapes and light.

Over the years I have worked on stained glass pieces for friends and family, taken Tole Painting classes, hand built clay with students in grade 7 and played in my girlfriend’s pottery studio. Working with my husband on our Home Medical Equipment business didn't leave me a lot of time to play Art but when our twin boys were born I was able to work on some projects. A few years ago, when our boys were tweens, an encaustic wax art class for kids was offered at our local Art Center. I'd never heard of it but it sounded neat so I asked the boys if they wanted to go, they said "Yes". The best news was that an adult had to accompany them. Yay! I learned a new art form. We started on small cards and then moved to larger cards and then paintings.

Sometime later, while visiting an Art Gallery on Salt Spring Island, I came across encaustic wax on wood. I was so excited I dragged my family to the artist’s studio and probably drove her crazy with all my questions. Funny how life works sometimes, I had only been home for about a week or so when my aunt texted me about an Art Retreat hosted by her friend. You guessed it, it was encaustic on wood. A wonderful weekend with four women who have worked with wax for 5-6 years and I was hooked. I now have my own studio where wax and glass meet 🙂

Lanna Arts Second Studio

Lanna Arts Third Studio