Dietlind Vander Schaaf is a Maine encaustic painter whose luminous, layered surfaces invite a kind of looking that slows the viewer down. Working with beeswax, damar resin, and gold leaf, Dietlind Vander Schaaf builds compositions layer by patient layer — fusing, carving, and polishing until each panel finds its balance between structure and drift.
Shaped by decades of teaching, yoga practice, and a deep engagement with color and process, her work has earned recognition from the Maine Arts Commission, the International Encaustic Artists, and the Hemera Foundation's Tending Space Artist Fellowship. Represented by Portland Art Gallery, Dietlind Vander Schaaf creates encaustic paintings that feel as much like inner landscapes as they do exterior ones.
What does it mean to build a surface that holds both order and looseness — and how does a lifetime of teaching shape the way an artist sees?