Deborah Yasinsky

I began my career as a textile/surface designer.  This training has informed my mind's eye.  I see the world at times through the lens of pattern and extreme focus.  My work focuses on textures, patterns and scenes found in the natural and human made environments.  The bark of a tree, texture on a rock or the patterning in a leaf all inspire my art.  Most recently, I have been exploring these themes through the immediacy of photography, often in extreme focus.  I also have been working with encaustics which is painting that involves hot wax and pigmented wax worked with various brushes, heat tools and tools for texturing the surface.  Sometimes I collage newsprint, gold leaf and other papers into the work.  Many of my encaustic pieces are highly textured and washed with ink that enters the grooves and then wiped away from the top layer of wax.  I have been exploring pulp painting and papermaking.  The process of creating paper and painting with pulp joins together the medium and the finished product.  Painting with pulp is a rich tactile experience.  In my works on paper I have been exploring patterning, shades or gradations with ink washes of black and grays sometimes juxtaposed with gold leaf.  I am drawn to exploring patterning and repetition, and to imagery that resonates the qualities of fabric.