Page 16 - Wax Fusion Spring 2022 Issue 6 WIP v19

Highway Beautification

Another such Eureka moment was
gazing at a ditch full of cast of
cigarette butts during a walk in

Tucson. I immediately saw the
finished piece in my head. What
was I thinking? I ran home,

retrieved a plastic bag and rubber
gloves, and picked
up 1500 cigarette
butts. I dipped
each one in wax

and smoked-
smudged-side up,
glued them in two

36 x three inch
basswood frames.
I made a highway
center piece using handmade
paper, painting the highways

dividing line down the middle with
white wax batik and dipped it in
brown dye. This particular Tucson

highway had received funding for
the Arizona Highway Beautification
Project, and thus my title: Highway
Beautification.

It was another one of my universal
statements about saving our

environment.

Highway Beautification
Encaustic, cigarette butts, handmade
paper, wax batik, dye, basswood
36 x 10 x 4 in

Also featured on the back cover.

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