Jessie Fritsch

Artist Statement:  I paint  because I was raised surrounded by a creative and arty family who  always supported my artistic talent. My driven is to make art, teach art, and help build a vibrant art community in Central WI. The two common denominators in my work is luminous color and protecting the pollinators.  

I began primarily using encaustics because I was captivated by its ancient history and was challenged by its process of heating and cooling which captures the dynamic of chaos and demands control unlike that of any other painting medium.The process of encaustic demands a confident hand as well as a hand that can allow the spontaneity of the flow of the wax. This balance of discipline and disconformities are reflected in my work as well as my life.

Artist Bio: In my first year of college, I came across the book about 2,000 year old funeral portraits that were painted with beeswax titled, “The Mysterious Fayum Portraits: Faces from Ancient Egypt” by Euphrosyne Doxiadis. I was fascinated by this lost art and began my journey to become an encaustic artist. In 2004 I received a research grant from UWSP to teach myself how to paint with molten pigmented beeswax. I graduated with a BFA in Studio Art with a painting emphasis in 2006. I did not get into graduate school so I began exhibiting at art festivals. I have been a working artist for 14 years and began teaching encaustic workshops in 2018. I am also council chair of the Stevens Point Festival of the Arts and part of the Hidden Studios Art Tour Steering Committee.