Leah Merriman is a multi-media artist who may be the only encaustic painter in St. Louis — she paints with layers of wax. As she explains in the interview, it's a technique that dates back to antiquity (the word itself comes from the Greek enkaustikos; it was used in ancient Egypt for mummy portraits). Bauhaus artist Fritz Faiss revived encaustic painting in the 20th century, but it's still far from common. Leah often paints urban St. Louis landscapes: Art Hill, the Donut Drive-Thru on Chippewa, the riverfront, the bandstand in Tower Grove Park. In addition to encaustic, her body of work includes sculpture, prints, paintings and illustrations. She talks about apprenticing to sculptor Rudolph Torrini, staying in St. Louis, balancing art and motherhood, and how a trip to the Grand Canyon lead her to start doing encaustics.

Leah's website
http://stlwaxworks.com

Leah's Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/leahmerrimanart/

Green Door Art Gallery
https://www.greendoorartgallery.com/leah-merriman.html

"Familiar Layers: Encaustic Scenes of St. Louis, Part 1," at Third Degree Glass Factory
https://thirddegreeglassfactory.com/now-on-display-familiar-layers-encaustic-scenes-of-st-louis-part-1-by-leah-merriman/