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Judith Walsh, Encaustic Artist
Encaustic is a beeswax based paint containing oil paint or pigment. It has been traced back to the ancient Egyptians around 100 – 300 A.D. Early Greeks and Romans used the art form. Contemporary artists attracted to the versatility of encaustic are now using it.
Judith “Judy” Walsh is one such artist. She has been an encaustic painter for more than 29 years and at one time she was the only artist in Arizona doing encaustic.
Judy started her art career painting with acrylics and working with fiber. She participated in a two week encaustic workshop in Los Angeles and “fell in love with the medium” and has been working in encaustic ever since.
Surf Cat by encaustic artist Judith Walsh.
Judy uses bees wax, micro crystalline wax and oil paint in her encaustic. She applies layers of colored hot wax on a wood surface. She then scrapes, carves and sculpts the encaustic into a piece of art. She uses a “hot palette” to keep the different colored waxes at 200 degrees.
Besides brushes she uses tools including an iron and blow dryer to heat and manipulate the encaustic. She does not start with a plan. She begins to paint spontaneously and responds to the paint, color and texture.
Delicate Balance by encaustic artist Judith Walsh.
“Like a young child,” she said, “I discover what I am painting while I paint; images form and reform, dissolve and resolve in a non-logical way. Over time, shapes and symbols reappear without my conscious decision to use them.”
She added, “My work as an artist is the process I go through to trick and frustrate that part of me that follows rules, uses logic and sees the world the way it really is.”
Perhaps by encaustic artist Judith Walsh.
She has had a solo exhibition of her art at the Victoria Boyce Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona as well as the Showspace Gallery in Flagstaff and the Casa Grande Art Museum. She has been a featured artist at numerous galleries in Arizona including the Burton Barr Central Library in Phoenix, Arizona Gallery at the University of Arizona, Shemer Art Museum in Phoenix, Adobe Gallery in Oracle and the Hayden Library at Arizona State University in Tempe. Her work has also appeared at many group shows in Scottsdale, Sun City, Phoenix and Tucson. She’s even had art displayed in New Orleans galleries. More locally, her art was recently on display at the Patio Café in Oracle.
Uncle Harry by encaustic artist Judith Walsh.
Judy also makes jewelry. Several years ago it was so hot that she couldn’t work with the beeswax as it tended to melt. She has always liked working with her hands so she started working with beads and making necklaces. Making jewelry allowed her to keep busy when she couldn’t do encaustic work.
Judy has been part of the local artists’ group that organizes the annual Oracle Artists’ Studio Tour in the Spring, and the Holiday Arts and Crafts Fair between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
She currently lives in Oracle, where she works and teaches in her rural studio, hikes with husband Jim and an awesome dog named Bella. She enjoys being part of a community of artists who critique and support each other.
Mixed media collage incorporating monotypes and collographs, ex libris book plates purchased in Prague in 1989 and embroidered fabric by encaustic artist Judith Walsh.
John Hernandez lives in Oracle. He is retired and enjoys writing and traveling. He is active in the Oracle Historical Society. He covers numerous public events, researches historical features and writes business/artist profiles.
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