Is a sanctuary a place, a feeling — or could it be a process? All three are represented in “Sanctuary,” a solo show of encaustic paintings by Waterbury artist Edith Beatty, currently on view at Axel’s Frame Shop & Gallery through July 5. Beatty has lived in Waterbury for 42 years and maintains a studio in town at MakerSphere. She has shown her work in New York City and elsewhere in New England but rarely in Vermont.
Beatty uses wax in several different ways, showcasing its versatility and highlighting its best qualities. Glossy, perfectly smooth surfaces hang alongside scumbled matte ones; layers of color reflect off warm, translucent whites.
Encaustic is labor- and time-intensive. Beatty often applies 20 to 30 layers of the medium, which is mostly beeswax with damar crystals (a natural tree resin) added to make it harder and stronger. Then she fuses the layers with heat, producing a surface with unique properties.
“You can look into the painting,” Beatty said, “and it looks like there’s depth and light in there.”
She sometimes pours wax over the surface, a technique used effectively in “Île de Rêve,” in which pools of dark brown and glittering metallic blue ink contrast with a creamy white wax background. A reference photo accompanying the work shows an island silhouetted against the sky, with gleaming water in the foreground. Both images convey the magic of an isolated landscape.
Beatty combines encaustic with fresco in several works on display, contrasting the smooth, waxy surface with a cracked plaster one. “On the Edge” shows off both techniques without much added color, letting the materials and textures, including the grain of the plywood panel, be fully themselves.
Cracks and crackling in the fresco surface, as well as its deckled edge, lend it the appearance of an ancient wall. As well they should: The artist creates the fresco using layers of plaster and grit, such as sand or coffee grounds, followed by pit lime and marble dust.
“It’s the same process that was used on the Sistine Chapel ceiling,” Beatty said. “It’s actually quite labor-intensive.”
Those cracks fill with color in works such as “In the Edge 2,” an 8-by-8-inch piece in which weathered fresco meets a smooth sea of velvety magenta. The abstract composition feels bodily and organic, with an electric edge.
The show also includes works in oil paint mixed with cold wax. Layers are a feature of this medium as well, but they’re matte rather than glossy, with added texture from scrapes and scratches.
“Sanctuary,” the largest work in the show at 5 by 4 feet, is a hurricane of deep teal, purple, moss green and white; mango yellow peeks through marks in the etched surface. Beatty said that after the past two summers’ Waterbury floods, she “went from having a very gentle hand in my art to gouging.”
Beatty described the show as a response to both current political chaos and climate change, saying it highlights the need for everyone to have some escape from both. She seeks hers through the meditative aspects of her art practice. “I’m finding that my studio is my sanctuary right now,” she said.
This article appears in Jun 11-17, 2025.
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