After graduating magna cum laude from CSU Chico with a Master of Fine Arts, Theresa Fike founded Folsom-based Fike Studio, which specializes in decorative arts. Years as a working artist led the multi-talented Fike to achieve award-winning status internationally. “For me, creating art is much more than a career—art is a calling, a passion, and a way of life,” Fike says. “I did not choose to be an artist, art chose me.” The artist’s current passion is painting with molten wax, a technique known as encaustic, which she now teaches to others through classes and workshops. 

HLB: What exactly is encaustic? 

TF: Encaustic is one of the world’s most ancient artistic mediums. It consists of beeswax, damar resin and powdered pigment, [and is] heated until liquid, quickly painted [with] and then cooled to a solid form. Other paints like oil, acrylic or watercolor have agents that are mixed with the paint to make it move, such as turpentine for oils or water for watercolor, [but] encaustic is very different, since fire or heat is the solvent used to move the paint. 

HLB: What initially drew you to the medium?

TF: The smell of warm wax, the heat from a torch and the sensual movement of the liquid wax is almost mesmerizing. It was love at first sight, or maybe love at first whiff! I’ve been an artist all my life and have worked with every medium I could get my hands on—clay, oils, watercolor, pen and ink, Prismacolor and cement, to name a few. If I were forced to pick only one medium to work with for the rest of my career, that medium would be encaustic, [which is] saying a lot. Encaustics are immediate yet workable forever, sensual yet strong, and ancient yet relevant today.

HLB: Do you enjoy introducing the form to beginners? 

TF: Introducing other artists, hobbyists or beginners to encaustic art is one of the most satisfying teaching experiences I can imagine; it’s so rewarding to watch my students light a torch and let the paint move and mix for the first time. As I watch their faces light up and hear their gasps of delight, it’s hard for me to hold back my enthusiasm. Every time I teach a class, I remember my first sniff of warm wax, and fall in love all over again.

HLB: What do your workshops entail? 

TF: My classes and workshops are as diverse as the medium itself—from a three-hour introductory class covering the basics, to a six-week-long workshop covering many varied techniques with a minimum of four completed paintings. Every now and then, I’ll mentor individual students with a real passion. Early next year, encaustic artist Suzanne Bell and I hope to host a weeklong “Art and Food Retreat” in the beautiful Sierras.

Article by Heather L. Becker // Photo by Dante Fontana © Style Media Group. Artwork photos courtesy of Theresa Fike.

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