Monday, November 2, 2009

Encaustic Art=Bees Wax+Pigment...

Encaustic art is made by melting wax adding a pigment medium,(color) crushed or prepared and painting on one thin layer at a time. The result is a rich, vibrant, textural piece of art. Using a Heat gun to fuse and manipulate the many layers of brushed on beeswax, etching tools, along with oil pastels and ephemera to create the finished piece is a challenge, but wow is it cool and worth the extra effort.

I have been studying "Encaustic Painting" for almost a year. Books, other Artists and finished pieces in galleries have been my teachers. I was lucky to have been able to take a 3 hour tutorial with a superb artist, Helene Farrar. She answered all of my questions (poor girl I had many) and we created art. It was wonderful. She co-owns a gallery, Cerulean and has recently been asked to place her encaustic work in a high profile location. She was informed, efficient and showed me the ins and outs of Beeswax, materials, chemical reactions the + & - of the medium and we laughed alot. An amazing 3 hours and for me an art changing day.

My imagination is swirling with all of the possibilities. I now have a practical roadmap, know the approach I would like to take and have a vision of the first series of work I will create. It truly feels like a new frontier. I could not be more excited. Absolutely.

This featured piece (my first encaustic endeavor) is inspired by old Japanese brush art and incorporates Ephemra, Layers of Wax, Oil Pastels and much manipulation with the heat gun.
Fun, Fun, Fun...

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