Sandra was born in Chicago, Illinois. She has been interested in art throughout her life, experimenting with many different mediums. Over the years she favored working with colored pencils. In 2001 she was introduced to encaustic wax and the ancient history of this art form. She fell in love with the luminosity, brilliance movement of the wax. For the past five years, Sandra has concentrated on developing her own wax pigments and application techniques. She refrains from the use of brushes, using only heated tools to manipulate the wax. “Creating the wax is a process I’ve never been able to interact with in any other medium”. Throughout the years, Sandra studied with her lifelong friend, Frances Elizabeth Mayo, an accomplished artist in several mediums. It was Frances that introduced Sandra to encaustic wax. Sandra and Frances were instantly captivated by the intense color and it’s flexibility in application. The two collaborated, showed and successfully sold their work in Biloxi, MS. Sandra feels devoted to educating others about this seldom heard of, ancient art form. She makes herself available for workshops to encourage others to get involved with this elusive, mesmerizing medium.
In 2005 hurricane Katrina devastated Biloxi, MS, Sandra’s home, affecting everyone she knew. Luckily, she had been painting in Florida. All of her encaustic supplies survived the storm. Unfortunately, the rest of her ‘life’ was totally consumed by the storm. “When all you have left is what you know in your heart you should have been doing all along, you can’t help but take a chance and believe it to be your destiny”. Doing just that, she has made choices that allow her to devote herself full time to her work. She feels blessed to be painting full time and very grateful for the creativity that survived both the inner and outer devastation of living through a disaster the magnitude of Katrina. She feels people suffered unnecessarily, after Katrina’s landfall. Sandra is writing a book to help make people aware of the magnitude the Mississippi coast was hit with. “Currently there are not many tools available to people who live through a disaster. I hope to compile a book that will not only help to prepare, but encourage those who inevitably face future disasters, a reason to rebuild what they feel is too overwhelming to accomplish”.
Sandra’s studio “On the Other Side”, a reference to the landscapes she paints that seem to “be from somewhere else” is located just outside of old Bisbee. She invites those interested in encaustic wax to make an appointment to visit.
Sandra is a member of the Huachuca Art Association.
Sandra Lee
Bisbee, AZ 85603
520.432.3610