OZNZ: Encaustic in Australia and New Zealand

This week’s blog features a guest post by Sue Baker and Sharon DeValentin, admin for the encaustic group OzNz formed to support artists in Australia and New Zealand.

Australia and New Zealand are relatively new to encaustic and many artists have been practicing the medium in isolation, unaware of who else was out there. About eight years back, Patricia Baldwin Seggebruch toured the regions facilitating workshops and started a small wave of "hooked" artists.

In 2021 a couple of Australian encaustic artists found each other via Instagram, and started chatting about ways to connect with others. It was from friendly little beginnings that Sue Baker (@suebakerartist) and Sharon De Valentin (@sharondevalentin) created an Instagram chat group, and an account to showcase encaustic work done by artists in Australian and New Zealand, while reaching out to our international encaustic community.

The group (now around 25 strong) shares their art practice, new work, ideas, resources and questions. Member Deanne Palmer says, "OzNz has created a great sense of community in this part of the world for artists who work with encaustic. The vibe is relaxed, inclusive, and enthusiastic in support and promotion of one another’s projects and passions."

In early 2022, they held an OzNz 3-colour challenge via Instagram. The group connects from time to time via Zoom, and they enjoyed having renowned Western Australian landscape encaustic artist Carly LeCerf (@carlylecerf) as a Zoom guest.

For many, the power of social media is its function to connect like-minded people, to celebrate their common and diverse backgrounds and interests. Member Paula Josling notes that "OZNZ encaustics is a new, delightful, and supportive group of artists determined to inspire, share and spread the word about encaustics to a new generation."

If you haven't already, you can follow their account on Instagram @oznzencaustic.