Studio Reset is a full-time encaustic artist working out of her rural home studio on the Kapiti Coast of New Zealand.

You will find Studio Reset’s work ethereal contemporary and with a nostalgic quality that takes you back in time.

I’m sure you’ve heard the term from “farm to plate”, well in this case Studio Reset works from “Beehive to Artwork”. Taking total creative control and keeping sustainability as one of her key focuses , she works through the time consuming process from scratch; harvesting wax from her beehives, making encaustic medium and then painting with it on up-cycled or re-purposed substrates.

Her artwork is a result of combining 3 passions/professions together to create a full circle in her creative processes: beekeeping, photography, and encaustic painting. Studio Reset starts with a found substrate, usually an old tray or wooden platter to create nature inspired compositions with depth, translucency and environmental meaning. She assembles her imagery by layering portions of photographs with ink, pigment, and building up the layers between many fine sheets of beeswax. The process is very much an organic one; supporting sustainability in her art practice by the material she uses.

Working with heat guns, blow torches and molten wax is not for the faint hearted. She is attracted to this medium for its dimensional quality and luminous colour. It also keeps her close to nature. Encaustic painting, also known as hot wax painting, involves using heated beeswax mixed with a tree resin, to which I add coloured pigments. The liquid or paste is then applied to a surface, usually prepared wood, though canvas and other materials are also used. This ancient technique from Egypt dates back to 100-300AD, used to make Fayum mummy portraits.

The Encaustic medium encourages experimentation and playfulness, for its capacity to be layered and scraped back. Its satin nature encases and seals the substrate, adding depth and translucency to her layered photographic images and mixed media finds, only to reveal portions hidden by pigments in its wonderful waxy texture. The natural beeswax will make your home smell absolutely lovely.

Her artwork is held in private collections throughout NZ, Australia and Canada and is represented in galleries nationwide.