I paint primarily in acrylics and mixed media with encaustic pieces occasionally showing up in my work. I love texture and movement on the panel or canvas, and use different tools and material to achieve that. I lived in the Vancouver area for most of my life, retiring to Powell River in 2012. My formal art training happened in the K-12 system where I was lucky to attend schools that valued visual arts. As an adult I have taken classes from instructors at the Shadbolt Centre and Phoenix Art Workshop. I have taken many mixed media and encaustic workshops both in person and on line during the pandemic. But my favourite way of incorporating art instruction comes from art travels with a small group of like minded individuals. For those who don’t know. encaustic is a mix of bees wax and resin. This medium is hand mixed with oil paints. The mixture is heated on hotplate or pan and applied while melted. The colours are then fused using a blow torch or heat gun. I particularly like all the layers that reflect through and add to the atmosphere of the work. Even in my acrylics I try to layer many colours and marks through a piece.