profile

Weave of Life Project: In Progress

13 Panels a week

Published 2 months ago • 1 min read

There is a number that lives in my head right now.

13.

That's how many Weave of Life panels I need to make every week between now and September 12th, when I install approximately 300 panels at Monroe Community Church in Grand Rapids for ArtPrize 2026.

I'm doing the math in the living room.

Our house is being renovated, so Charlie and I are temporarily in an apartment. The encaustic painting table is next to the Glowforge, which is next to Charlie's desk and the couch. Materials are stacked along the walls. Huxtable, my studio dog, rotates between the couch and 2 dog beds in the appartment (not spoiled at all)

It's not the studio I imagined making this work in. But it's where the work is getting made.

13 panels a week sounds like a production goal. And it is. But it's also something else — a weekly act of commitment to a project that has been growing for years and is about to take its biggest public step yet.

Each panel starts with a substrate — reclaimed materials gathered from life and Zero Landfill Day events. Old invitations, newspapers, fabric samples, carpet tiles, things that tend to be discarded. Encaustic wax goes on in layers, built up and fused with heat. Some panels come together in an hour. Some take three days and a decision to start over.

The 80/20 rule I'm working by right now: 80% simpler panels that move quickly, 20% more complex pieces that carry more visual weight in the installation. That ratio is what makes 8.6 a week possible without burning out.

What keeps me going isn't the number. It's knowing what the panels become when they're together — an expanding Flower of Life pattern, each piece a part of something larger than itself.

300 of them, on the wall of a church in Grand Rapids, in September.

That's what 13 a week is for.

Weave of Life opens at ArtPrize 2026 at Monroe Community Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan — September 18 through October 3. The artists' welcome reception is September 16, 4–7pm. I hope to see you there.

To follow the project as it develops, subscribe below. To inquire about the work, reach out at nancy@nancyfritzart.com​

Weave of Life Project: In Progress

Nancy Fritz

Weave of Life is an evolving, living project—growing panel by panel, story by story. This space offers a glimpse into the process as it unfolds: from early material gathering and studio moments to community contributions and new installations. You’re invited to follow along as the work develops and to see how memory, nature, and community connection are woven together over time. Subscribe to get updates directly to your e-mail! For project details visit: https://www.nancyfritzart.com/weave-of-life

Read more from Weave of Life Project: In Progress
Weave of Life encaustic panel with reclaimed blue carpet tile border and vivid green crackled leaf photo interior. Nancy Fritz.

I've been thinking about what's missing. Not from the panels themselves, but from the experience of standing in front of one. You can see the encaustic wax, the reclaimed fabric, the botanical impression pressed into the surface. What you can't see is where the fabric came from, or when the panel was made, or the story behind where the material came from. That's the part I want to give you. Here's what I've been imagining: a small chip embedded in each panel, the kind you can tap or hold your...

4 days ago • 1 min read
Aquatint etching panel showing water from underneath — a college proof from fifteen years ago, now part of Weave of Life. Nancy Fritz.

I am a hoarder of materials. Not in a chaotic way. In the way that an artist who grew up feeling like nothing should go to waste keeps things carefully, in flat files and portfolios, for reasons that aren't always clear at the time. Just in case. Just because throwing them away felt wrong.These are from college art school. More than fifteen years ago. They're print proofs from an etching class, specifically from a piece I made called For the Greater Good. I made them on copper plates using a...

7 days ago • 1 min read
Custom laser-cut cardboard trays stacked and taped, ready to transport 310 Weave of Life panels to ArtPrize 2026.

Last week I crossed 400 panels. Just over 300 of them are going to Grand Rapids. I've been spending the last week creating packaging to get them there safely. Here's what I built: custom laser-cut trays sized to hold each panel snugly in place, with the panel shapes cut into the cardboard itself. Each tray gets a backer board, layer of glassine paper against the surface, then a sheet of foam padding, then cardboard on top. The whole tray gets taped closed and stacked into a larger box for...

9 days ago • 1 min read