9×9×.5

Photo encaustic and crystals on cradle board

Captured during one of my regular walks through the North Side of Pittsburgh, A Very Cold George features a black-and-white photograph of the George Washington equestrian sculpture in Allegheny Commons Park. Taken just after a fresh snowfall, the scene was remarkably quiet that day—a moment suspended in time. The park had recently undergone renovations, and this rest area quickly became one of my favorite places to pause and reflect.

Through the encaustic process, the photograph was layered with wax and then gently heated. In that moment of flame and fusion, the image burst slightly—fracturing and blooming in unexpected ways. That heat-distressed effect gives the piece a haunting, ethereal quality—like an old, timeworn photograph recovered from a dream. Crystals embedded into the surface shimmer like ice in the winter sun, anchoring the moment in both memory and material.