In April 2019 the three of us; Eleanor, Lexi, and me, did a little road trip to Seaside Oregon. I generally don't get many of opportunities on these road trips to make photos for myself, but on occasion I'll snap something that interests me.

We made a stop in Olympia, Washington to visit the Trader Joe's Market. Trader Joe's is always a highlight for us as there isn't anything like it in Canada, so we always make a stop. After filling out basket with some TJ favourites, (the chocolate covered espresso beans are my go-to), we picked up some salads and wraps for a picnic lunch somewhere down the road.

As we drove on the rain began to fall, light at first, then heavier. We pressed on for a whopping 35 miles before deciding that Lexi needed a bio break, and we needed lunch. We pulled off the road at the tiny little town of Brady, Washington. We found a place to park in front of the 'Olympic View Grange' building. We had no idea what 'Grange' meant, but there was a big parking lot and no one else around. We found out later that it's basically a community hall.

The building seemed to be quite old. There was no paint on it, just bare wood braving the elements. I took Lexi for a walk around the building a few times. I was looking at the texture of the wood, the roughness of the unkempt vegetation at the rear of the building and the monochromatic tones accentuated by the flat light of the grey rainy day.

I had to take some photos. I put Lexi back in the van with Eleanor, grabbed my camera and said, "be right back!'

I snapped about 20 photos around the building, then we finished lunch and continued on our way to Seaside. I never really thought about those photos again... until I started thinking about photo encaustic work.

It took a little while to find these photos again, but when I did, I knew this one in particular would be perfect for the process. Again, there is something about adding texture on top of the image that seems to bring it alive. This is my second photo encaustic piece. As I continue to learn I want to bring in more colour and textures. Stay tuned for more adventures in encaustics!

First step, mounting the photo to the panel

Details

Finished piece