Painting Statement

Jo Moniz developed her style as a reaction to creative urges to add color and texture to sketched geometric forms. This line work style was refined by years of work as an architect and instructor of design drawing. Her bright organic yet geometric style, utilizing primarily encaustic medium, combines a highly liquid and textured surface with strong color and graphite line work.

I paint in mixed media, primarily using encaustic. Hot beeswax and dammar resin mix to become a sensual vehicle for pigment. I begin with graphite, which is etched into birch panels. Next, watercolor shapes are stained into the board followed by hot encaustic wax deposited onto the base painting
with a brush. I then work through the layers of pigment to reveal work history using a blade to scratch into the surface. The piece is fused with a heat gun every time a new layer is added, creating blurred edges where color is allowed to blend. I also etch into the medium and deposit graphite or encaustic paint into the straight or curved lines to create visual separations of color and to add detail. Layering with varying degrees of translucency creates a depth to my painting that is unique to the medium of encaustic.

Color relationships and proportions are a primary interest and are studied and changed throughout the painting process. I use the tools of the architectural profession; triangles, circle templates and rulers, as well as freehand lines, to incise my paintings with geometric shapes and hard edges.

Paintings by Jo Moniz • All Paintings • All Artists