Translucent material permits light to pass through, but diffuses it so objects on the other side are not clearly visible.

As Carrie Baxter describes her encaustic wax painting process, she says, “I apply encaustic paint, that includes beeswax, damar resin and pigments, to panels with brushes and heated tools to create fused layers. My layering technique often involves translucent and semi-translucent wax to create a luminous depth and, through a meticulous layering process that creates subtle, flowing shifts in color and tone, it allows individual layers to merge visually, resulting in an atmospheric quality that gives my work both depth and softness.”

An ancient artform, encaustic painting first began in Greece more than 2,000 years ago. Carrie’s unique technique of applying multiple layers of encaustic wax paint, enhanced with mica powder, shellac, paper, image transfers, and other media, allows each layer to visually merge and create rich and nuanced color combinations, intriguing textures and organic surface variations that can only be achieved through this medium.

“My process begins with the careful preparation and melting of paints,” she says. “I use a heated palette to melt individual tins of color until they reach a fully molten state, at which point I apply them to rigid substrates using natural hair brushes,” she said.

Each layer of wax paint is then fused with heat, either from a hand-held torch or a heat gun, ensuring it bonds seamlessly to the layer beneath. A hallmark of her style is the integration of drawing within the wax surface. Carrie embraces the natural versatility of encaustic by carving, scratching and manipulating the surface of the wax, using tools such as dental picks, straight pins, razor blades, and heated pens to build rich, tactile compositions. This makes her work recognizable by the surface texture, visual complexity and narrative.

In her Noblesville studio, Carrie creates original paintings in a wide range of sizes and price points to accommodate budgets or preferences and to provide ideal options for collectors at every level – small and large translucent pieces, framed and unframed, as well as reproduction prints and notecards.

A true Indiana Artisan, she often incorporates locally sourced beeswax to ground her work in the Indiana landscape, saying, “Themes of memory, environmental impact and shared existence with all living organisms shape the conceptual foundation of my work. Many of my translucent and semi-translucent wax pieces are inspired by the landscapes of Indiana, including places such as Brown County State Park, Turkey Run and the Indiana Dunes.”