When I arrived on the island for the first time in February of 2021 nothing could prepare me for what I would experience. Quite simply, a place of raw and untouched beauty, unlike so many others taken over by commercial development. There are minimal structures on the island such as hunting lodges and tabby houses, as well as the Torrey’s estate built when they purchased the island in 1924.  Ossabaw Island became a Heritage Preserve in 1978 that can only be used for natural/scientific research and cultural education for future generations.

 

The process for most of my series starts with an on-location photo shoot.  I then select images that catch my eye and complete the process with digital manipulation.  Once satisfied with the images, I send them to be printed on archival paper.  I glue the printed images to a wood panel followed by fusing layers of encaustic medium.  The medium is a combination of bees wax and damar resin, all natural.  At this point, I can take the piece in many directions.  In this series, I incorporated pigmented ink.  India ink was something I had been experimenting with over the summer and decided it would be a great way to bring interest to the artwork. 

 

While nothing can truly capture the experience of being on Ossabaw Island, it’s my hope that I’ve come close. The combination of the captured images and the encaustic medium transports the viewer to the place and time that I experienced on that winter day.