Shary Bartlett

Shary Bartlett is an award-winning Canadian mixed-media artist based in Vancouver, Canada. She is internationally recognized for her paintings and sculptures made from molten beeswax – the ancient art of encaustic. Shary’s work is held in international public and private collections. Her art techniques are published in the books, Encaustic Art in the 21st Century, and Encaustic Revelation. She teaches workshops globally, nationally, and online and was a long-time fine arts instructor at Capilano University, Langara College, Red Deer College, and the internationally-acclaimed encaustic masterclass, Painting with Fire. Her encaustic wax pigments, created with Enkaustikos Paints, are sold internationally.

Artist Statement

Portraits of humankind, nature, and the world, my encaustic creations comprise numerous layers of materials and processes which depict cumulative and multi-faceted stories and evolution. A lover of nature, people, travel and culture, I am fascinated by the human experience and stirred by nature’s magnificence and tenacity. I use encaustic beeswax paint, mixed media, and photographs to interpret and recreate a sense of place, emotion and the environment, inviting the viewer to layer their own story, vision, and experience into my work. My art references memory, the passage of time, and the cycles of life. These many levels of meaning fuse between the textured layers of my work – metaphors for the complexities of the natural world, human spirit and our interdependence.