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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

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Weave of Life encaustic panel with reclaimed blue carpet tile border and vivid green crackled leaf photo interior. Nancy Fritz.
Featured Post

What If Every Panel Could Tell Its Own Story? | Weave of Life

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
Huxtable, Nancy Fritz's senior studio dog, sleeping peacefully on a paw print blanket on the floor of the new shared studio space at Studio Vwazen in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Art supplies and studio equipment are visible in the background.

There comes a point in every growing project when the project starts making decisions for you. For the past several months, Weave of Life has been growing in our apartment living room. My encaustic painting table in one corner, the Glowforge on a folding table by the window, materials stacked along every wall, and Huxtable, my old grumpy studio dog, holding down the one small couch. It worked. The panels kept coming. But somewhere along the way, Charlie and I stopped being able to move...

about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Close-up of a fragile honeycomb resting on a teal encaustic panel, showing the delicate hexagonal wax structure of the comb against the smooth painted surface below. The honeycomb was left behind by a bee colony removed from Nancy Fritz's former home and

We were days away from closing on our old house when we found out there were unexpected tenants moving in. Bees had built a home in the space between the balcony floor and the porch ceiling. A colony, fully committed, completely unbothered by our closing date. We were lucky. Within a few days, a beekeeper was able to remove and relocate the hive safely. The bees found a new home. We closed on schedule. And they left something behind: The honeycomb came out intact — fragile and intricate. I...

about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Beautiful panel — the texture of the reclaimed material on the border against the smooth encaustic interior is striking. Alt text (blog/accessibility): "Close-up of a leaf-shaped Weave of Life encaustic panel by Nancy Fritz, featuring a periwinkle blue wa

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...

2 months ago • 1 min read
A large square framed panel displaying the Seed of Life geometric pattern, composed of dozens of individual encaustic panels in varied colors and textures. Each panel features unique layered wax surfaces in deep reds, blues, greens, golds, and earth tones

This Work Won't Exist After September Weave of Life - Seed of Life 2 On June 22nd, Weave of Life — Seed of Life 2 opens at the Indy Art Center in Indianapolis as part of Art From the Heartland, a group exhibition running through September 13th. This is the first time this particular arrangement of panels has been shown in a formal exhibition setting. And it will be the last time it exists in this form. Here's what I mean by that. Weave of Life is a long-term, modular installation — hundreds...

3 months ago • 1 min read
A fan-shaped encaustic panel with a dark teal border. Inside, bold black lines cross over warm beige wax embedded with bright marks in pink, purple, yellow, green, and orange — made by a community participant at the AmplifyHER event in Fort Wayne, Indiana

What a Stranger Left Behind In early May, I was part of AmplifyHER — a celebration of women vendors, arts, and community here in Fort Wayne. I brought a table, some colored pencils, markers, and an invitation. The invitation was simple: take a moment to create. I offered two options. Pre-cut paper shapes from the Weave of Life project — if you wanted to draw or write something and see it join the growing canvas right there, in real time. Or uncut paper — if you wanted to make something that...

3 months ago • 1 min read
Messy living room studio.

The Living Room Studio There is a particular kind of creative life that doesn’t wait for ideal conditions. Right now, our living room is doing a lot of work. It holds two computer desks — one for me, one for my spouse Charlie. My encaustic painting table. A table for the Glowforge. Along the edges and tucked under everything: laser materials, painting supplies, Fritz Studio merchandise, and the general organized chaos of running two creative businesses out of one small space. And at the end...

4 months ago • 1 min read

This past week was full of conversations, ideas, resources, and inspiration — so much so that I’m still processing everything I learned. As artists, it can sometimes feel like we are building quietly in our own corners of the world, so it was energizing to spend time surrounded by creatives from across Indiana. I got the opportunity to share the Weave of Life project with other artists, mentors, and program leaders. Being able to speak about the vision behind the project helped me further...

4 months ago • 1 min read