ARTIST INTERVIEW: MARY LYNN AND RENNIE McPHERSON

Here’s a first for us, a duo studio! Say “hey” to Embrace Creatives artist partners Mary Lynn and Rennie McPherson, Minnesota-based artists who work together to produce dreamy landscape and wildlife imagery using traditional and infrared photography with encaustic paintings. Rennie is the photographer and Mary Lynn uses images from Rennie’s camera to create the finished works on canvas. Their work is shown in New York and most recently through a gallery in Paris, France.

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A LOOK INSIDE THE ARTIST’S STUDIO.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU TO MAKE ART?

Bringing nature and a sense of peace and tranquility to the environment in which our art will be shown. In the non-stop, go-go world of today, we want the viewer to have a space in their environment that encourages them to STOP, BREATHE, and RELAX.

WHO OR WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR STYLE?

Our work is influenced by Asian artists Ando Hiroshige and Katsushika Hokusai in terms of the focus on nature blending with life. We are both heavily influenced by the impressionists in terms of color palette.

We feel that by merging photography and encaustic,
we produce an almost lifelike image. There is also
a motion to encaustic that is difficult to achieve
with other mediums.

DO YOU CREATE SPONTANEOUSLY OR ARE YOU A PLANNER?

BOTH! At times, we have a plan for a specific board and a specific tree. Other times, the piece just comes to us, as is the case with the Joshua Tree Forest series. We had gone out to do some BW photography and ended up making a series!

PLEASE LIST RECENT PUBLICATIONS YOUR WORK HAS BEEN FEATURED IN

Art Business News April 19, 2025.

IF SOMEONE CAME TO YOU BOTH WITH A DREAM PROJECT, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

EITHER an entire room of trees OR a large installation of our aquatic work.

CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENT STAGES OF YOUR PROCESS?

The first stage begins with the photography. A photo is placed into photo shop so that all the extraneous information is removed (background, etc). The work is then separated into sections and printed on tissue paper. Watercolor is applied to the board and then layers of the wax/resin mix. The layers of tissue paper are then place onto the board and ironed in. More wax is applied. Oil and pastel are added along with more wax

WHY DOES YOUR WORK STAND APART FROM OTHER WORKS CREATED USING SIMILAR MEDIA?

Many artists will paint with encaustic paint. By merging photography and encaustic, we produce an almost lifelike image. There is also a motion to encaustic that is difficult to achieve with other mediums.

DESCRIBE A GREAT STUDIO DAY 🙂

We EACH have our own studios. A GREAT studio day for Mary Lynn is when the sun is shining through the window, over the head of the Buddha. All of the tissue paper pieces fit together perfectly and the ironing goes smoothly (so to speak). A great studio day for Rennie is when she can leave the double door to the she shed open (because it is not below zero) and the router does not chew up the ellipse and circular boards she is
making for the art work.

TELL US SOMETHING FUN ABOUT YOURSELVES

Mary Lynn is a Tour de France FANATIC who loves to do Century Rides (100 miles in one day). Rennie is a former opera major who because a neuropsychologist and a bagpiper! ZA, the art room dog, is a native of California but loves running in the snow.

ANYTHING WE MISSED THAT YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE?

The word “encaustic” comes from the Greek word “enkaustikos,” which means “to burn in.” The process of creating encaustic art involves melting beeswax and mixing it with damar resin to create a medium. Pigmentscan then be added to this mixture to create a colored wax paint.To create an encaustic painting, the artist firstprepares a wooden panel or other surface by applying several layers of the wax medium, each layer being heated and fused to the previous layer with a heat gun or blowtorch. The artist can then use a variety of tools, such as brushes, knives, and heated stylus, to create texture and manipulate the wax layers. The wax can be left natural, scraped, or polished to create different effects.

Encaustic art has been used for thousands of years, with examples dating back to ancient Greece and Egypt. It experienced a resurgence in the 20th century, with artists such as Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg incorporating it into their work. Encaustic art is valued for its durability, luminosity, and unique texture, as well as its ability to be reworked and layered. The wax is hard and will not melt (unless your house goes above 170 degrees in which case you have more pressing problems).

For more information on these artists, their artwork or to schedule a Meet & Greet, contact Andrea.

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