Bridget Benton

Bridget Benton has always been drawn to mediums that support working intuitively and building layers - printmaking, photography and collage, fiber, and assemblage. In 2006, she began incorporating encaustic into her work, and found her “perfect medium.” 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 also uses large-scale image transfers of her photographs in her work, and in 2019, received a grant from the International Encaustic Artists to explore alternatives to toner copy image transfer.

These three elements - photography, nature print, and encaustic - form the foundation for most of her work. With a collage sensibility and a love of color, she uses unusual juxtapositions of objects, symbols, and materials to explore themes of home, connection, belonging and memory. While she most often works intuitively, meaning and stories emerge that are at once deeply personal and surprisingly universal.

Benton’s passion as a teacher is helping people discover and develop their own creative voice. Her workshops focus on techniques and processes that facilitate self-discovery and creative exploration. Her workshop-in-a-book, The Creative Conversation: ArtMaking as Playful Prayer, is a guide to creating flow in your creative work and building intuitive artmaking skills. In 2012, the book was awarded a Nautilus Book Award Gold Medal as the best book of the year on Creative Process. Bridget Benton holds a BA in Studio Art and an MS in Creative Studies.

Bridget currently lives in Asheville, NC with her husband, two step-daughters, and large coffee mug collection. She is a resident artist and the lead encaustic instructor at 310 Art in the historic River Arts District.

Website: www.310art.com / www.BridgetBentonArt.com

Instagram: @BridgetBentonArtist

Classes with Bridget Benton Carwyn

Natural Impressions: Botanical Prints & Encaustic

Bring your love of the natural world directly into your encaustic work! Bridget will demonstrate a number of ways to get print impressions from plants and other natural materials, including direct printing and using a gel plate for monotype. Next, Bridget will share the different ways that she incorporates these prints into her encaustic paintings- from collage and image transfer to making plant prints directly in the surface of the wax itself.