Before I devoted my life to Upcycled Sewing, i was an Encaustic Painter. If you’re not familiar with the Encaustic medium, it’s a hot beeswax medium that is applied as hot molten pigmented wax.
The process begins with raw beeswax. I render the wax with heat, separate out the honey and save the wax in blocks. Then I add Demar resin to make Encaustic medium. This is the base medium to which powdered pigment is added to create the encaustic paint.
The tools include crock pots, a pancake griddle and a handheld torch. The hot molten encaustic paint is applied to a wood substrate with a brush, then fused with the torch. Colors can be layers, segmented and scratched into. Objects can be imbedded into the wax. The possibilities are endlesss.
Yes, it’s art created with fire… what could be better?
This medium helped me get over my fear of my artistic failure. It’s a sensuous tactile medium, that smells wonderful and begs to be layered. I wrote about it in an article called My Illicit Affair with Hot Wax.
I learned multiple techniques from artists Bill Harsh who introduced Arts Benicia to Encaustic and Lissa Rankin, author of Encaustic Art: The Complete Guide to Creating Fine Art with Wax.Â
Anyway, I’ve been itching to play with hot wax again. I’ll be doing a demo with a ‘play station’ for folks to try it out at the February Vallejo Art Walk.
If there is enough interest, I’d like to start a monthly Encaustic Painting Group in Vallejo.
Vallejo Art Walk
February 13, 2015, 5pm-10pm
Integri-Tea, 717 Marin Street, Vallejo
Cinder Garden Designs 