We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Debra Zumstein. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Debra below.

Hi Debra, thanks for joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

My work combines photography and wax to create botanical photo encaustics. Encaustic is an ancient painting technique from the Greek word to “burn in” that involves the act of painting with hot liquid bees wax and then fusing the layers of artistic work with heat. To create a workable stable medium the bees wax is melted with damar resin which stabilizes and hardens the wax when it cools. This new medium can then be used plain or with added pigments for extra color.

When I became a backyard beekeeper, I was introduced to encaustics as a way to use the extra beeswax on my landscape panoramic images. The idea stuck. This was the artistic medium that finally made sense. Let me take photography beyond a frame and mat. Utilized my painting skills. Allowed me to create collages with images and natural items. It pushed me to create with more layers and develop a richer image.

To advance my skills, I took workshops with local artists. Explored using different paper stocks. Played with color tinting the wax. Embedded objects from nature into the works. This process, over 10 years, has developing into my current work creating multi-layered botanical art pieces.

When I shifted my nature focus from panoramic landscapes to closeup botanical images my creative voice came through loud and clear.

For the last three years, I have been photographing images of seasonal plants and flowers mostly from my garden. They are photographed in a studio setting with careful attention to the studio lighting. Using Lightroom, I make any necessary lighting and color adjustments and then print the images onto a thin almost see through rice paper or calligraphy paper. The works are layered on a wood panel painted with encaustic gesso and wax. Several layers of hot wax medium are applied to the panel with a paint brush. Once the base coat is even and level, I start layering the photo images onto the wax. I prefer to use a heat gun to “melt” the image into the wax. This is followed with a couple more layers of hot wax medium to seal in the image. I repeat this many times with the individual images. Each layer is heated with the heat gun to fuse in the image and the wax.

Debra, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My love of nature and gardening was passed down through generations of gardeners on my mother’s side. Over time my personal garden collection has grown to include a variety of orchids, tillandsia, succulents, fruit trees, seasonal flowers, houseplants and native plants. With closeup lens and studio lighting, I capture the small details of the petals, focus in on insects, and explore the variety of colors in my backyard garden. The finished images are printed on rice paper allowing me to fuse the image onto the encaustic gesso board and layer multiple images within layers of wax.

My works have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in Texas, North Carolina and Georgia and are included in the permanent collection at St. Joseph’s Candler Hospital, Savannah, GA, as well as private collections in Switzerland, England, France and across the United States.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Being an artist takes time. It takes to time to learn the basic skills. It takes time to practice. It takes time to explore concepts and ideas. It takes time to find a rhythm within yourself for your creative voice.

Carving out that time is important but not always available. I feel very fortunate to have that time right now and I am trying to not take it for granted.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My work is an “art sketch” from nature. I admire the way every plant has an important role. How insects interact with the plants. And I enjoy watching the cycle of a season. What can be better than taking photos of nature’s beauty and immortalizing it on an art panel for others to enjoy. I hope that my works will inspire the viewer to pause and admire the small things in nature.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.debrazumstein.com
• Instagram: #vagabondphotodz
• Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/debra-zumstein-2b21106

Image Credits

Artwork by Debra Zumstein