Bridget Benton
Bridget Benton
Bridget Benton has a been a working and teaching mixed media artist for over 20 years. She has always been drawn to mediums that allow her to work intuitively and build up layers of meaning and imagery. In 2006, she began working with encaustic and found not only her “perfect medium” but also a generous community of artists. In 2010, after being invited to teach encaustic at the annual Nature Printing Society workshop, Bridget began to incorporate more and more nature print and nature-focused monotype into her encaustic paintings. Bridget served for several years as the President of the Portland Chapter of the International Encaustic Artists as well as volunteering as the education coordinator for the Nature Printing Society’s Annual Workshop.
In 2019, Benton was honored to receive an International Encaustic Artists Project Grant for research into large format image transfer and photo reproduction techniques. Her current work combines wax, photography, plant prints, and found materials to explore themes of transformation, connection, belonging, and memory. The symbolic narratives that emerge invite viewers to sink in and find their own stories. In this same vein, Bridget structures her workshops so that students are supported in finding their own unique voice as well as learning techniques.
Bridget has a B.A. in Studio Arts and an M.S. in Creative Studies, and is as passionate about the “how” and “why” of human creativity as she is about making art. Her book on creative process The Creative Conversation: ArtMaking as Playful Prayer was awarded the Nautilus Book Awards Gold Medal in the Creative Process Category in 2012 as well as a Silver Medal in the Self-Help Category that same year. Her interest in spirituality, archetypes, and the subconscious ultimately led her to continue her studies and pursue certification as a Shadow Work™ Facilitator, which she completed in 2018.
Bridget is currently based in Asheville, NC, where she is the lead encaustic instructor at 310 Art in the historic River Arts District. Passionate about exploring the world, Bridget has recently walked the Camino in Spain, participated in a month-long art residency in Ireland, and will be hosting a retreat in Italy in the summer of 2025.
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You can view Bridget’s work at:
Class Details
Into the 3rd Dimension: 5 Techniques for Attaching Dimensional Objects in Encaustic
Encaustic medium has adhesive qualities – but it’s not glue! In this video, we’ll go beyond the “just add more wax” method of attaching dimensional objects to the surface of your painting. I’ll share 5 ways that I integrate dimensional objects into my work that create stable, sturdy, long-lasting structures.
Drawing Out Your Inner Critic
We all have that part of ourselves, the Inner Critic, that interferes with our creative life. Whether it’s telling you that your work isn’t good enough, that your wasting your time making art, or that you’re not a Real Artist™, that voice can stop us in our tracks. And it can be sneaky – showing up as procrastination or not being able to decide what direction to take in our work. The Inner Critic is loud, but it also likes to hide.
In this video, I’ll share some insight into the role of the Inner Critic (it might surprise you!). I’ll also some ideas for of bringing the Critic into the light, looking it in the eye, and calming it down enough that you can go be your amazing creative self!
