I start with an emotion or thought in mind, focusing on it as I make quick, uninhibited marks on a surface that I will turn into a stencil. I usually work in quiet solitude during this time. After the marks are made, I begin the cutting process. The resulting stencil will be used below the application of the encaustic medium. I like being alone with my thoughts at this period of the process, capturing the moment a thought or feeling manifests and is yours alone, as yet unshared. Putting the stencil on the sized panel resembles accepting the thought or feeling. Covering it with layers of encaustic wax is synonymous with not sharing while the thought or feeling percolates. It gets covered by layers and layers, but it is still inside and is part of you.

The final step is pulling up the stencil to reveal that original emotion underneath the external layers for others and maybe the whole world to see.