Currently based in Olympia, Washington, American artist Debra Van Tuinen’s abstracted landscapes are an attempt to make the intangible tangible. Each delicate layer of oil and wax captures a fleeting moment or feeling, imbuing her paintings and prints with a spiritual and emotional experience of the land. Originally trained as a printmaker, Van Tuinen is known for her work with encaustic, an extremely durable medium—where pigment is suspended in wax—dating back to ancient Greece. Her career spans over twenty-five years and includes studies with Japanese masters, the Byam Shaw Arts Academy in London, and a MFA from the University of Washington.

"The process that Van Tuinen uses is both ancient and innovative, as she continues to refine her craft to express her vision. She credits her five months in Japan in 1977 with a leap forward in her technical skills. It was at this time that she began a transition from the processes of intaglio printmaking into painting, eventually creating an encaustic process that enables her to make the best use of this technically demanding yet sensual medium." – Doug Meyer

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