Victoria Wetsch
StudioWetsch.com
Currently, I work with a variety of techniques and mediums. In particular, “hot wax painting” known as Encaustic is one method among my favorites. Encaustic is an ancient Egyptian medium that establishes the foundation for my original works of art. I formulate my oil-based medium with specific proportions of purified beeswax and natural fossilized resin. Each unique artwork is created with a variety of suspended textures, images and color pigments which are fused into many translucent layers. The final painting cures and hardens into an ever-enduring work of art while preserving a stratum of visual depth. For the viewer, my encaustic paintings display a story of unique images with lustrous and sculptural interest. It is with inspiration and intuition that I find direction and purpose in creating these one of a kind works of art. Here in my Montana studio, my dedication to the arts continues with my focus on the process of creation and its endless possibilities.
As an artist and designer, I have traveled across Montana and regional states to exhibit, compete, and demonstrate my art techniques. The culmination of my education and experience imparted within me a love for creating art. At the start of my career, after graduating from Bassist College of Design in Portland, I was employed as an architectural store planner and commercial interior designer with leading upscale retailers in Oregon and Washington. During the course of my design experience, I developed a visual display company in Portland that eventually expanded to include a full-service floral business where I earned design awards in Oregon competitions. After receiving my second degree in Fine Arts and History from the University of Northern Colorado, I established myself as an artist in my hometown and launched the Billings Gallery of Fine Art where many local and regional artists displayed and sold their works until the gallery was eventually sold.
My art works have been juried into national and international competitions, awarded and exhibited at galleries throughout the western and midwestern regions, including several national museums. It was an honor to be awarded a Professional Development Grant from the Montana Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts for my Pastel Monotype works. Also, my art works have been juried into the Missoula Art Museum, the Waterworks Art Museum in Miles City and the Yellowstone Art Museum's annual auction and consignment gallery. The Encaustic Art Institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico chose certain of my works for their permanent collection and a variety of my art works have shown throughout the state of Nebraska with the ANAC Exhibition as well as being juried into the annual Colorado International Rosicrucian Art Exhibition.
I've lived much of my life in Montana, my roots are here and I raised my family in this region. I am always amazed that I actually live and create in a place where I am just steps from so much natural beauty that surrounds me. My whole purpose in creating art is to capture the arrangements I see in nature and with imagination, transport myself through a spectrum of a visual adventure.
