Local Luminaries: Patricia Seggebruch

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Encaustic artist Patricia Seggebruch in her home artist space. Photo by Melissa T. Hall

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Encaustic artist Patricia Seggebruch in her home artist space. Photo by Melissa T. Hall

The first thing you’ll likely notice when you visit Lexington artist Patricia Baldwin Seggebruch’s home studio is the unique nature of the house itself: an iconic, Victorian stone house in historic north Lexington that strongly resembles a castle, complete with stained glass and turret.

Once inside her studio, which inhabits the charming third floor of the rambling structure, the next thing you’ll likely notice is the smell, familiar and comforting: the faint, sweet fragrance of bee’s wax. Seggebruch’s chosen art medium – encaustic, which involves heating pigmented beeswax and applying it to a surface – is evident throughout the studio, with beeswax, brushes, melting tins and other materials, as well as several pieces in progress, lining every surface. This is an artist who never stops.

Seggebruch’s home studio is an iconic, Victorian stone house in historic north Lexington. Photo by Melissa T. Hall

Seggebruch said the medium beguiled her the first time she tried it.

“It was life changing – I was hooked,” she said of the experience. “It offered me my most authentic, creative soul expression as well as a means of reaching out and inspiring others.”

A California native who moved to Lexington four years ago, Seggebruch has devoted her talents to the encaustic art form for the past 15 years – not only as a (seemingly insatiable) artist but as an apostle of the medium. Teaching encaustic workshops and creating other interactive artist experiences centering on the form have been a central part of Seggebruch’s professional career in the various venues she has called home, from Seattle to Australia, and it’s a passion she is continuing here in Lexington.

Seggebruch and her husband, John, bought their home – lovingly dubbed the “EncaustiCastle” – in 2015, in what she describes as a “love-at-first-sight fever dream.” After moving in, they began work right away to not only make the house a home but also to execute the artist’s dream of having a space for creating her own art and also for other artists from all over the country to gather.

“I like the model of artist community and workspace,” Seggebruch says. “So much can come out of working and learning together.”

Four years into the “EncasutiCastle” project and now, with the purchase of the house next door and the completion of a large garage with dedicated studio space, the property has evolved into a creative compound of sorts, where artists live, work and learn encaustic. A recognized expert on the medium currently working on her fifth book on the subject, Seggebruch also hosts EncaustiCamps throughout year. Artists wishing to explore the encaustic medium are invited to come and stay for a week in several guest rooms set aside for visitors. During the “camps,” participants also utilize studio spaces designed to allow artists to immerse themselves in the art form in a communal setting. Additional long-term studio spaces are also available for local artists to rent, and the EncaustiCastle features a thriving Airbnb business for additional Lexington visitors who would like to stay in a unique and historic castle, surrounded by art.

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