WAX WORKS

Deerfield artist Karen Ross debuts first solo exhibit while blending art and psychotherapy through encaustic expression.

The torch hisses. A low hum from the ventilation system hangs in the air. So does music—R&B, sometimes hip-hop.

Up above a three-car garage in her sprawling studio in Deerfield, Karen Ross works in layers—of sound, of scent, of molten wax and meaning.

Beeswax melts. Resin binds. Heat fuses. It’s messy. It’s methodical. It’s all hers. And now, for the first time, it’s fully on display.

Ross’ debut solo exhibit, Wax Poetic: Encaustic Art by Karen Ross, is running through June 30 at The Gallery in Lake Forest. The show, co-curated by Vickie Marasco, features roughly 40 pieces and marks a milestone for a self-taught artist who once wondered if anyone beyond friends or family would ever buy her work.

They did. A stranger did, in fact, back in 2009. She hasn’t stopped since.

“I’m a self-taught artist,” Ross says. “I grew up surrounded by a lot of art, but this, I found on my own.”

She discovered it, fittingly, by accident.

Encaustic art—an ancient technique dating back to Greek and Roman times—uses heated beeswax mixed with pigment, applied to a surface (Ross uses wood panels) and fused with heat after each layer. The word itself comes from the Greek enkaustikos, meaning “to burn in.”

Ross came upon it in 2008 after clicking through a YouTube suggestion while searching for something her acrylic work couldn’t quite deliver. Texture. Depth. Vibrancy.

“I instantly fell in love with the art form,” she says. “I was mesmerized by its dimensions, layers, and vibrance.”

What followed was experimentation—then validation. At The Art Center Highland Park, an early supporter, one of her first encaustic pieces sold.

“I thought maybe it was a ‘mercy’ purchase,” she says of speculating someone near and dear had parted ways with their money only to boost her confidence. “When I found out a stranger had bought it, I was thrilled.”

Encouragement came at home, too. Her husband, Jay Shmikler, whom she married in 2019, pushed her to think bigger—literally—after Karen got more involved with the North Shore arts community.

“You need to go bigger,” he told her.

So, she did, creating works as large as 4-by-5 feet while raising a blended family of five children, now ranging from 17 to 23.

But Ross’ work isn’t only about scale or surface. It’s also about connection—internal and external. That’s where Art Impact Project (AIP) comes in.

Founded by Marasco in 2014, AIP brings creative expression to people who might not otherwise have an outlet—students, veterans, individuals in juvenile detention centers. The goal is emotional wellness through art.

Ross, a licensed clinical social worker who previously practiced full-time in Chicago, found a natural fit.

“It’s a great marriage between art and psychotherapy—both of my passions,” she says.

Participants don’t need artistic experience. That’s the point.

“It’s meditative and fun, and it’s about you,” Ross says.

That philosophy took on added weight after AIP worked with survivors of the 2022 July 4 parade shooting in Highland Park—a community Ross knows well, artistically and personally.

Art, in those moments, isn’t decoration. It’s processing. It doubles as a healing release. It’s language when words fall short.

Ross brings that same openness to her own work. Her pieces are often abstract, layered with color, pattern, and fragments of text. Interpretation is fluid, often delightfully. And encouraged.

“I get a lot of different interpretations,” she says. “People say, ‘I see this; I see that.’ Sometimes my response is, ‘Oh, that’s interesting. I didn’t try to paint what you’re seeing, but thank you for sharing.'”

She smiles at that. There’s no single answer. No fixed meaning. Just feeling.

One of her word-based pieces reads: I’m perfect. Imperfect.

“Two different concepts separated by only an apostrophe,” she says.

A buyer placed it in her home gym.

“While working out, she always accepts who she is,” Ross adds.

That’s the kind of impact Ross strives for—quiet, personal, lasting.

“I hope my art gives people joy,” she says. “I hope that it lingers and gives people all the feels, especially calmness.”

Back in her studio, the process continues. Wax melts. Ink settles. Heat seals.

“Wax likes to drink ink,” the artist/wordsmith says.

Panels become patchworks—sometimes a dozen pieces working as one. Some works lean minimalist, others maximalist. All of them carry movement, a sense that something is always shifting just beneath the surface.

Much like the idea that threads through her breakthrough exhibit in Lake Forest.

Emergence.

“Coming into view,” Ross says. “It’s a concept that aligns the coming of spring with the actual process of creating encaustic art.”

The Gallery is located at 202 E. Wisconsin Ave. in Lake Forest. For more information, visit thegallerylf.com.