A local Biggar woman who has spent her entire life looking at, and admiring, Saskatchewan’s landscapes, was recently awarded the People’s Choice Award at the 2019 Adjudicated Art Show.

Joyce Wirachowsky was the fan favourite among the spectators who took part in the show, presented by the Biggar and District Arts Council and the Biggar Museum and Gallery, which ran through the month of May.

In her first ever art show, Wirachowsky submitted five pieces using encaustic wax, which is beeswax with resin, to capture the true essence of Saskatchewan’s landscapes.

Although she has always enjoyed doing various arts and crafts, Wirachowsky has only been working with encaustic wax for the past two years.

After the passing of her husband, Lawrence, Wirachowsky decided to sign up for an online course to learn about alcohol ink art and it also happened to incorporate using encaustic wax.

“I took an alcohol ink course online and she specialized in alcohol ink but also uses encaustic wax to add dimension to her pieces. So I did buy the equipment you need to do encaustic wax and I started working with it and doing some research online and thought, hey, I really like this.”

Before the six-week course, Wirachowsky had never heard of encaustic wax but said she really enjoys how she can start working with the wax, not knowing what it is she is going to create, and the wax will begin to take shape and the art piece will start to present itself.

Being a farm-wife and hired hand for a large portion of her life, Wirachowsky said she is used to looking up to the sky to see what the clouds are doing, subsequently, that is how she now starts her art pieces.

“I really like doing clouds and the sky. When I am doing one of my pieces, I don’t start from the ground up, I start with the skyline and whether there’s going to be thunderstorms or clouds or sunshine and go from there.”

Wirachowsky now lives within the Town of Biggar, but for the majority of her life, she lived on a farm west of Biggar with her husband before his passing. Today, she wraps herself in nostalgia by having her art studio set up on her grandmothers homestead.

She shares her artwork with those who follow her Facebook page, Second Wind Art, as well as, her friends and family, including her grandson, Alex, who she joked, says she is sixty-five-ish.

 

Aside from landscapes, she shared her other encaustic wax favourite, is creating beautiful roses. Here is a gallery of some of her work.