What is Encaustic?
The first question I usually get when people look at my work is "what is this made of ?" I get a second look when I explain that it is beeswax. ' Yes,' I paint with beeswax.
The painting medium is made from natural beeswax, damar resin and pigment.
Heat is used at every stage of the encaustic process. The medium sits in small tins on a heated griddle keeping the wax liquid and workable. The brushes are usually kept in the tins with the molten wax, ready for painting. I need to work quickly, as the wax starts to harden as soon as it leaves the heated surface. What makes the process encaustic, is that heat has to be applied to each layer of wax. This is known as fusing. Fusing, melts and binds the layers of wax to each other.
The medium is very textural and viewers are encouraged to touch the surface. The warmth of someone's hand will make the surface glow.