I'm a great lover of camping in the summer. I got away in my VW Westy several times this summer to paint in my art journal. The outdoors and the distance from city realities offer fresh inspiration to my personal art journal and this fires me up with green energy for the winter! There’s something about being immersed in the wild that fills the pages with lasting ideas, colours, and quiet moments of creativity. https://www.sharybartlett.com/courses #artjournal #creativeprocess #springinspiration #encausticpainting #mixedmediaart #natureart #artistlife #shorts

I haven't posted much this summer, but I've done a lot of drawing and painting and reflecting, I threw the vehicle of my art journal. ✍️🌿 I know there’s a connection between my heart and spirit, and my hand, and the materials that I use. None of this creative Mark making leads anywhere in particular. The sketches and scribbles aren’t direct plans painting, but they leave traces: gestures, rhythms, and textures that quietly guide the wax and colour as I work. It’s a conversation between observation and making, between spontaneity and intention. Every doodle, every line, every mark contributes to the energy of my creative practice. ✨ http://www.sharybartlett.com/courses #encausticpainting #artistprocess #sketchbookart #doodlinginspiration #mixedmediaart #waxpainting #contemporaryart #canadianartist

My local botanical gardens are my most ongoing source of natural inspiration. In summertime, I often find myself painting in art journals or accordion books like this one - or photographing the quiet beauty that lies everywhere in this green oasis — tucked between bustling city streets, paved roads, and towering skyscrapers. It’s a reminder that nature’s magic can thrive even amidst the urban rush, offering endless moments to pause and create. https://www.sharybartlett.com #botanicalgardens #natureinspiration #encausticpainting #mixedmediaart #creativeprocess #artistlife #urbannature #shorts

Today I was working with @RFpaints pigment sticks over encaustic giving the wax that gorgeous, shiny water surface. You can see how I layered in that luscious cold wax medium texture - channelling my inner Monet! I love how the marks and coloured surface shifts from soft to bold , almost like the wax is collaborating with me. ✨🎨 Cold wax adds this velvety matte glow that makes the encaustic surface feel alive, and guiding the way for the wax with pigment sticks is one of my favourite ways to build depth and movement. I'll soon be releasing online tutorials on cold wax medium on encaustic photos! Join my mailing list to learn more. https://www.sharybartlett.com/contact #encausticpainting #pigmentsticks #rfpaints #coldwaxmedium #mixedmediaart #textureart #encausticclasses #creativeprocess #shorts

This batik writer by @enkaustikospaints never fails to amaze me. Just a tiny bit of wax goes a long, long, long, long, long way, and I love how it lets me get lost in the gestural movement and spirit of flowing wax and energy. It’s one of my absolute favourite tools — a simple design - like an Indonesian tjanting tool - that unlocks so much expression and rhythm in my encaustic work. http://www.sharybartlett.com/courses #encausticpainting #batikwriter #enkaustikospaints #waxart #mixedmediaart #creativeprocess #artisttools #shorts

This piece began as a simple watercolor with pen and ink on an @ampersandartsupplies encausticbord — just soft washes and quiet marks drifting across the surface. Once I covered it with clear encaustic medium, the wax built up more thickly than I expected in a few areas, is I peeled back some areas to create a thin smooth glassy surface. ✨🖌️ !t was almost like uncovering a hidden version of the painting beneath. The subtle watery marks revealed themselves again, softened by the wax but still glowing through it. https://www.sharybartlett.com/courses #encausticpainting #encausticbord #ampersandartsupplies #watercolorart #mixedmediaart #creativeprocess #intuitivemixing #waxandwater #shorts

Have you ever tried Suminagashi? 🌊🖤 This traditional Japanese marbling technique creates mesmerizing marks of ink floating on water — delicate rings, expanding lines, and quiet ripples that shift with the slightest breath. When paper is gently laid on the surface, the image transfers in a single, unrepeatable moment. I’m always drawn to processes like this… where control softens and you guide rather than force. The movement of ink on water feels meditative, almost like watching thought itself take form. Each print becomes a record of that brief suspension between intention and chance. There’s something timeless about pulling a sheet of paper from the water and seeing those fluid patterns revealed. Simple materials. Profound results. 🌿 See my links for more information - or my YouTube page https://www.youtube.com/sharybartlett #suminagashi #marblingart #japaneseart #inkonwater #printmakingprocess #meditativeart #creativeprocess #canadianartist

With this Encaustic photograph, I explore the tension between structure and flow. 🔹🌿 If you look closely, you can see that the geometric lines are carefully inscribed into the wax, creating a sense of order and rhythm, while the more fluid, natural carving allows the surface to breathe and move. The contrast between the two invites the eye to travel across the piece, discovering subtle textures and layers that emerge with each angle of light. Encaustic lets me fuse these opposites — control and spontaneity — into a single, cohesive surface. Every mark becomes part of the story, every incision a moment of intention. ✨ Texture, line, and light all speak together here. #encausticpainting #photoencaustic #textureandline #mixedmediaart #artistprocess #beeswaxpainting #contemporaryart #canadianartist

I don't do it very often, but this beautiful walk the other day reminded me how a walk at dusk made me think about chiaroscuro — the relationship between light, dark, and shadow. 🌆✨ In classical painting, artists like Caravaggio and Leonardo da Vinci mastered this technique to make figures appear sculptural and dramatic. In contemporary art, chiaroscuro can also refer to using any strong contrast — in colour, texture, or tone — to emphasize form or mood. Even a simple stroll through a local neighbourhood can shift the way I see. Reflections in the water, the way light catches edges, the subtle gradations between dark and light — all of it sparks ideas for painting. Each shadow, each glow becomes a note in the visual language I carry back to the studio. 🌿💧 Walking isn’t just exercise for the body — it’s exercise for the eye and the imagination. Inspiration often comes in the quiet moments, just before night falls. #chiaroscuro #lightandshadow #artistprocess #encausticpainting #inspirationfromnature #visualthinking #contemporaryart #canadianartist