BIOGRAPHY
Jacqueline McAbery lives in Northern California. She has a BFA in painting from the San Francisco Art Institute and a dual MA in Clinical Psychology and Creative Art Therapy from Antioch University.
Her art career started out as a fine arts photographer and since then she has worked in several different mediums including, oil, acrylic, watercolor, mixed media, collage and encaustic. She enjoys the challenge of the cross-pollination and interplay of different processes, which also allows the playful and accidental to come forth as they do in nature.
Her art work has won awards and is in private collections throughout the United States and Canada.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Aspects of nature are the inspiration for my paintings. The heart of nature's beauty instills in me a sense of awe, wonder, and fear as I am drawn into its world of mystery, power, depth, light and dark.
Nature and the universe are constant reminders to me of life and death; the impermanence of a cloud, a flower, a star, a wave and of our existence.
My paintings are archives of emotional and intuitive responses to nature/life/death. They are a way to interpret and catch the fleeting beauty that surrounds us and a way to embrace the unknown.
As I push the paint or the wax, I experience my reaction to a given moment; in that instant the complex becomes simple. Time stands still and moves on at the same time. The visceral act of painting leads me into the realm of constant change and movement. As I touch beauty, I see that she never sits still and is always beckoning me on.
ENCAUSTIC INFORMATION
Encaustic is an ancient painting method that was practiced by the Greeks as far back as the 5th century B.C. Most likely, the best known encaustic works are the Fayum funeral portraits that were painted in Egypt by Greek painters in the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D. Following the decline of the Roman Empire, encaustic use disappeared.
Although there was some interest again in Encaustic technique in the 18th and 19th centuries, it has remained an obscure art form. Due to the availability of electrical heating implements and tools in the 20th century, it is now easier to use and more accessible than in ancient times. Therefore, there has been a growing number of artists today who are using encaustic and discovering it's unique quality and the wide range of possibilities it offers.
Encaustic is a beeswax paint composed of wax, resin and pigment. "Encaustic" derives from the Greek word "enkaustikos" which means to "burn in." The encaustic paint is melted on a hot palette and then can be applied while still molten to any ground or surface including wood and plaster. Traditionally a heat source is passed close to the surface of a piece in process or finished - to "burn in" the colors fusing and bonding them; thus the name encaustic.
It is one of the most durable artists' paints. Since encaustic is impervious
to moisture, it will not deteriorate, nor will it yellow or darken.
*Notes derived from R&F Encaustics pamphlet
VISIT JACQUELINE'S PHOTOGRAPHY SITE: photographycreated.com