“Summer Stories: Encaustic Paintings & Mixed Media Collages” by Carol Retsch-Bogart

“Summer Stories: Encaustic Paintings & Mixed Media Collages” by Carol Retsch-Bogart

July 8- September 28, 2024 / *Opening Reception* Saturday, July 13, 2-4pm

Carol finds a surprising link between her former career as a therapist and her current art practice. Key to both is an appreciation of the many layers of life. People’s lives are textured by their past, present, and future with the complicated nuances of feelings, experiences, hopes, and fears.

Working in collage involves the blending of layers of paper, fabric, and color from a variety of mediums. Working in wax allows for layers to be exposed, hidden, revealed or even partially scraped away. The therapeutic process is similar as people only gradually reveal their authentic selves to the world. Most satisfying to Carol is finding the hidden beauty in the depth and juxtaposition of the elements. She embraces the unplanned accidents of spilled paint, torn paper, or unintended embedded elements which suddenly become an essential part of the piece. So it is with people, the surprises and sudden realizations become part of the integrated self.