Marilyn Banner

My experience of the natural world (and of painting) is one of awe and reverence. As an artist I am inspired by the physicality and challenge of working with encaustic, with molten wax, heat and fire. It seems like magic to me, like an alchemical shift from matter into spirit.

Often I begin with just the hint of an idea, a memory, a partial image, something fleeting, hidden in the background of my mind. Sometimes the “idea” is loud; sometimes it is as quiet as “the still small voice.” As I work with the molten beeswax, the torch, the color, the various tools and brushes, I am eventually drawn into an almost trancelike state. I immerse myself in the feeling of the flow of water, the expanse of oceans, the complexity of beaches, the grains of sand, the miraculous shells, the tiny details of earth.

Sometimes I may have the thought, “I don’t know what I am doing!” But I always return to my trust in the unconscious, the deep imaginative self, to flow through my hands and produce what needs to be seen and heard by others at this moment in time.

When a painting is received with openness, when the viewer is drawn into the beauty and mystery of life and the natural world, I feel it has done its right work. I can only hope that the energy goes further, that experiencing the artwork will move the receiver to act on behalf of our precious home, Earth.

C.V.