Melt Studio and Gallery

New gallery space opens at Loch Sloy

Encaustic artist Susan Wallis has opened a new gallery and studio space at Loch Sloy in Picton, at the site formerly occupied by Maison Depoivre. She had been looking for a gallery space last year when she became aware this facility was available. It was actually far too large a space for Wallis to hang her paintings and display her other artwork, so she decided to make it a collaborative venture and ask other artists join her. “We want to promote the arts, and certainly during COVID it has been very difficult for many artists,” she said. “And I know that when I ask artists to do something they are elated, they would say it was like a light at the end of the tunnel, that it was so positive to be asked to partake, because they needed something.” She has invited a number of artists to display their works at her current show titled Conversations with Nature, including ceramist Andrea Piller, wood turner Andreas Krätschmer, and mixed media artist Nina-Marie Lister.

Encaustic artist Susan Wallis stands in the new gallery space at Loch Sloy in Picton.

Wallis typically works with encaustic paintings, where the medium is hot wax infused with colourful pigments. “I loved the quick drawing of acrylic paint, but was disappointed with the lack of lustre and depth of colour, but oil painting takes too long to dry. So encaustic works like the perfect medium for me, because the oil is encased in the wax, and I do a hot wax form of encaustic painting, so it dries to the touch almost immediately,” said Wallis. “The wax lends them this depth. When you encase the oil pigment inside the wax it reflects and refracts and absorbs the light totally differently than acrylic painting. I like the idea of sculpting with it too, so that gives me much more room to play with the medium and try different things. A lot of times a mistake ends up being ‘Oh, that looks interesting. Let’s follow that.’” Encaustic paintings have been found dating back to the era of Pharaohs in ancient Egypt, and the colours are still brilliant. Those long-ago artisans used beeswax and natural pigments, and beeswax is still used today, but Wallis uses a microcrystalline petroleum-based wax that gives a much more durable finish. She is inspired by scenes of the natural world, so her encaustic paintings are primarily landscapes showing lakes, trees, forests, mountains and sky.

The new gallery space has meant that Wallis has now taken on the role of curator as well. “I enjoy curating. It’s not something I’ve ever done, so this is really a treat. And Vanessa [Rieger], my daughter, who has a lot of gallery experience, has forced me to think about the mandate for this space, so we decided to offer some of the rooms to artists on a sliding scale basis, to rent and show their work,” said Wallis. “So Mary Ann Grainger is our first show in what we call the Focus gallery. Another medium that doesn’t have a lot of exposure because it’s not really ‘sellable’ in the way a painting is, is the installation media AV art. So Vanessa had a project she had done in 2019, so it was ready to go, so that would be the first show, and after that we’d encourage people to apply with the project they want.” Also assisting in the gallery over the summer months is Tori Senetchko, as part of the Canada Summer Jobs Program.

Another collaborative project that Wallis is offering is PAUSE, which is partially funded by a grant from the Federal Economic Development Agency. This is a form of experiential tourism that the County is promoting to provide an alternative experience to the beaches and wineries. “This is really exciting. This will engage people in protecting the environment, and reflecting on it, and taking care of it. I came up with this idea of encouraging people to take a pause, and I’m working with Tamara Segal of Hawthorn Herbals and Bay Woodyard of Honey Pie Hives and Herbals, and twice a month they will do separate nature walks that will last for about 45 minutes to an hour, and they will be meditative and educational walks, talking about plants and the folklore behind them, and the medicinal purposes,” said Wallis. “And from that walk we will come back to my studio, and maybe we will have collected things, and using the medium of encaustic as a collage we’re going to produce 12 by 12 paintings that they can take home and hang on their walls, and hopefully during their daily lives, they will remember to pause.” For more information about the gallery, please visit meltstudiogallery. com. Click on the Workshops tab to learn about PAUSE.