Artist

Monique Wales is an American printmaker and encaustic painter based in California’s Sierra Nevada foothills. Her work celebrates the complexity and beauty of the natural world, often depicting birds, plants, and scenic vistas near her home. Through her work, she seeks to convey the peacefulness and wonder she feels in nature.

 

Her prints and etchings are included in private and museum collections across North America, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Europe. Monique is a Member of the California Society of Printmakers, an Associate Member of the Society of Animal Artists, and a Member with Distinction of American Women Artists. She has received numerous honors, including the Ironbridge Fine Arts Printmaker Prize at the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (NOPE 2019) and inclusion in Birds in Art exhibitions in 2023, 2024, and 2025.

 

Monique is currently represented by:

 

An artist’s packet is available upon request for gallery inquiries.

Nature Lover

Monique is a Certified California Naturalist with a passion for land stewardship. When not making art, she is likely out on a dog walk or busy restoring the 12+ acres surrounding her home and studio.

About the art

What is an encaustic painting?

Encaustic painting is a fine art technique that uses heated beeswax mixed with colored pigments. The melted wax is applied to a surface—usually wood or panel—and then shaped, layered, or fused with heat to create rich textures, depth, and luminosity. This method enables layering, carving, and blending in ways that impart a unique, tactile quality to the finished piece.

Monique’s encaustic paintings are available for local pick-up only.

What is printmaking?

Printmaking is an old-world fine art process in which designs are carved into the surface of a block, inked, and transferred onto paper. In reductive relief printmaking, each layer is carefully carved away, to build the color, texture, and detail of the resulting image.

Due to the nature of this medium, Monique’s prints (which include up to 36 layers) are a labor of love and an exercise in patience.