Karen Ross (b. 1972) is an encaustic and mixed media artist living in Deerfield, Illinois.

 

Encaustic painting involves a wax and resin medium that creates an exciting visual and tactile experience of texture and luminosity with a sensuous beeswax aroma.

 

Karen's ongoing experimentation with collage, image transfer and decoupage prepared her for working with the encaustic medium. Through exploration she has developed her signature techniques of layering, incising, and scraping to create further depth and texture.

 

Pigment from oil paint is used to color the wax, providing a rich palette to work on her preferred substrate of wood.

 

Karen's work ranges from vibrant to earthy and explores layered images and moods, often with words or text in which the viewer can find meaning.

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Karen is also a licensed psychotherapist, wife and mother to 5 children.