A Painter at Last

There wasn’t any time for art when she was in high school. There wasn’t any time left for her art while in college or graduate school, nor was there much time while she was raising her children or pursuing a career in IT at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

At last, now there is time for art. At the young age of 60, Liz Hosier finally began pursuing her first love in a second career as a full-time artist.

“I said, ‘When I retire that’s what I’m going to do, I’m going to paint,’” says Hosier who holds a degree in mathematics and an MBA.

Hosier has been a serious painter since her 20s and began taking advanced art classes in the 1990s, doing a few shows here and there when she had time. After retiring from UNCW in 2008, Hosier traveled to Italy. A two-week workshop at La Romita, a monastery north of Rome converted into an art school, shaped her style and her focus.

“I couldn’t figure out what kind of painter I wanted to be, so I went to Italy and came back an abstract painter,” Hosier says.

Hosier’s abstract landscapes using encaustics and cold wax techniques can be found at Pink Dog Creative in Asheville’s River Arts District, as well as Gallery Citrine on South 2nd Street in Wilmington.

“Liz is an incredible talent. People love the depth of the colors, the organic shapes, and the texture of her work,” says Gallery Citrine owner Donna Launey.

Hosier lived in Wilmington for many years and now resides in Weaverville in the North Carolina mountains. Her paintings display the beauty of nature. With such titles as Daydreaming, A Walk Along the River, Desert Marsh and Spring Time in Central Park, each has a story to tell. 

“When someone looks at a piece, I hope it evokes something from that person’s own experience or imagination,” Hosier says. “My husband and I do a lot of hiking. We did the Camino [de Santiago] in Spain; a lot of my pieces have been reflections of how I felt on those trips.”

A Beauty from Within is of a brook bursting with vibrant colors. Summer Contemplation came from admiring the bright, bold hues of Hosier’s flower garden that suddenly bloomed in Weaverville over the summer.

“Lots of color that just found its way onto my palette,” she says. “One piece I did had the feel of being in Scotland with all of the fog.”

Hosier combines pigment with texture through encaustics and cold wax methods. Encaustics is done by heating wax on a griddle up to 200 degrees, which requires proper ventilation. Hosier installed an exhaust system in her garage studio, allowing her to create encaustics year-round. Some of Hosier’s encaustics feature a pigmented shellac. Finding new ways to mix mediums never gets old, she says.

“I really want to keep exploring the many things you can do with encaustics,” she says.

The cold wax technique mixes wax with oil and pigment.

“I immediately was drawn to the process and knew that was what I wanted to do,” Hosier says.

A cold wax 30-by-30 painting of a sunset Hosier painted in Wilmington recently sold at Weaverville’s Art Safari, an annual self-guided tour.

Hosier teaches oil and cold wax at ArtPlay in Asheville and Gallery Citrine in Wilmington.

“Her workshops are always well attended and enjoyed. Her work is extremely unique and draws attention,” Launey says. Hosier also taught at Cameron Art Museum and served on the Wilmington Arts Association.