Barbara Bitner, Mixed Media & Encaustic

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With a degree in Environmental Studies, my heart has always belonged to the natural world. And as I hike, ski, paddle and peddle through her landscapes, what my inner eye and my outer eye see often differs. My work is an attempt to reconcile those two visions. It is also an attempt to convey some of the insight gained from watching her.

My photographic work makes extensive use of Photoshop. It allows me to combine, enhance, and manipulate images to arrive at an end product that couldn’t otherwise be  captured in-camera.  The process is very intuitive adding layer upon layer, each one informing the next until the piece is complete.

Twelve years ago I became absolutely smitten with the beauty, depth and luminosity that can be achieved with encaustic, an artform that combines beeswax, damer tree resin, pigments, and shellac. Combining encaustic with photos lends an organic quality to image while working just with encaustic allows for a more dream-like, abstract and unpredictable expression which I love.

More of my work can be seen at barbarabitnerart.com.