March - Artist of the Month
Anne Stuer
Anne grew up in southern New Hampshire and currently lives in Norway, Maine. She took classes in drawing and painting as a child, and her love of art grew with her into adulthood. After moving to Maine in 1994, she took many art classes with artists Aria Patch, and explored watercolor, acrylic, pastels, mask-making, clay and more.
Anne signed up for her first encaustic workshop with artist Kim Bernard and Dietlind Vander at the Maine College of Art in Portland in March, 2015. This ancient art medium ignited a new creative passion within her. To broaden her encaustic skills, Anne took workshops with encaustic artist Emma Ashby in Portsmouth, NH and Jorge Luis Bernal in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She also attended the Maine Coast Encaustic Workshop Retreat in Kennebunkport, Maine, in 2015, 2017 and 2018.
Encaustic painting incorporates elements from many of the techniques Anne learned over the years. She continues to explore new ideas and ways of working with wax to keep her art fresh and contemporary.
Encaustic painting is an ancient technique using beeswax, tree sap snf pigment. The beeswax "paint" is melted on a hot plate and then brushed in thin layers onto a solid, absorbent surface, usually wood panels. The layers are fused together using a hot air gun, torch, or iron.
Beeswax is resistant to moisture, so encaustic paintings are durable and archival. They should be handled with care as they can scratch easI willily. Exposure to extreme temperatures is not recommended.