I had a fun day yesterday 'playing' with encaustic. Fiona and I ventured 'down the hill', half an hour away, to the seaside tourist mecca of Caloundra [usually best avoided if you are a quiet life, mountains and nature lover, and non consumer like me]. We were late because I didn't count on peak hour traffic at 8.30am. Don't know if I have EVER done the peak hour thing to Caloundra before.
Anyway, a lovely mum and daughter duo, Lyn Reading and Shell Maximous were teaching the essentials of encaustic 'painting' at the fabulous Caloundra Arts and Crafts Centre - [yes, Fiona and I had serious Art Centre envy as our 'Maleny Arts Factory' is no closer to happening]. Lyn and Shell have done many hours of research on the net, many hours trialling various materials, spent oodles of dollars on supplies and equipment and warmly and enthusiastically shared all they had learnt with their bunch of willing students.
It was a joy for me to be a student, to spend a day with Fiona, and to venture out of my warm, cosy comfort zone which is Maleny and my own studio.
Here are some of the results - all play of course - none close to finished art works.
I love the soft and subtle surface created with the wax and the blending of layers that happens when the wax melts through.
Most of these samples are using bits and pieces of 'collage on paper' I took with me. Some with Japanese text, some with modelling paste, some with canvas/teabag/stitching, and most have a smearing of black acrylic paint pre applied and some have bits of tea from emptied teabags embedded. The gold is REAL gold leaf supplied by the ladies and heated to bubbling point with a heat gun.
You can click on the images to see more detail.
I am still not totally convinced how 'stable' the wax is - ie if left in the car at 50 degrees, will the wax melt? Not much of an issue in most scenarios, but if I am to sell works with an encaustic finish, I need to be 100% certain that customers won't be left with puddles of wax in unwanted places. The next step is to buy some damar varnish [I have the bees wax] then make up my own solution. I will leave one of my samples in the hot sun and see what happens.
I had a quick look on the net last night, and thanks to Lorraine Glessner of 'oh what a world, what a world' blog site, I found Louise Strawbridge - LOVE her work - check it out, even if you are not into encaustic. She is also a lover of used teabags amongst other fabulous 'wabi sabi' stuff.
It sounds like fun! Louise Strawbridge's mended eggs is a fabulous piece! What were the fumes like using encaustic?
ReplyDeleteHi Leslie - no fumes really - we heated the wax in small salmon tins placed in the base of electric frypans [no water] - only when we had the temp a bit high did we get fumes. Same with ironing the wax to melt - irons were set on low. Apparently beeswax [85%] and damar crystals ground up [15%] is the best non toxic proportion. Damar gives the encaustic strength and hardness. Too much will make it crack - thus tricky proportions. Paraffin wax is apparently the toxic one. May be possible to use beeswax plus shellac - must try it. xoxoxox
ReplyDeleteyou must have had such a fun day, they look lovely and MORE for you to explore!!
ReplyDeleteMake sure you get the damar crystals not the varnish which is a different beast entirely.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the hint, Te - i didn't know if there was a possibility of any cross over - now I know.....NO
ReplyDeleteWow, I love the effect on these! Seems there is always some new material or technique to learn that can expand the creative arsenal at your disposal! And I disagree, some of these really could stand as finished works! Thanks for the show and tell. Best to you.
ReplyDeletehave read several encaustic books and began working with encaustic collage, then took a class where we painted w/encaustic paints. love it. Your came out beautifully
ReplyDeleteBeautiful work. Encaustic can open up an entirely new world to an artist. I moved on to cold wax after much fun with beeswax/hot. I had had work in my car for a long time and nothing happens. Like you state, it depends on the mix. I do use shellac on some works and they dry very hard and resistant to scratch and heat.
ReplyDeleteThese are lovely pieces and I'd love to be able to do an ecaustic workshop...one of these days. I do work quite a bit with beeswax however, just dipping the paper in melted beeswax I keep in an electric wok. I have had the unfortunate experience of leaving a box of pieces I planned to photograph in the car all day while I was at work...in the summer, in Florida, where it is VERY hot and humid. I did come out to find a puddle of wax in that box. I separated all the pieces and they ended up slightly changed but not ruined, thank goodness. It must be that the damar crystals keep it from melting so readily, I don't know. But, just a word of caution, beeswax will melt in the intense heat of the sun, so be careful! You are off to a great start...the pieces you've made are delightful!
ReplyDeleteoh love the pieces you created but you are right, I have done a lot of encaustic and it will melt in the heat!
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the ideas and hints. I have bought the damar crystals and am about to make an encaustic solution [after grinding the crystals in my spare 'Mouli']. Thought I'd add some shoe polish for earthy colour? what do others think? That's a bummer about melting wax in the car. How do you reconcile this with works that are sold?
ReplyDeleteThis is something I would love to try and did wonder about the wax melting in our South African heat. I love the 5th image! Not bad for an experiment.
ReplyDeleteIt will melt in the heat of a car but most people dont store there art there. Inside a house as long as it is not in full sun it should be fine. I make my encaustic medium up a little at a time I have small tins that I sit in the electric frypan, add a teaspoon of damar and let that melt then fill 3/4 with beeswax and stir. I keep it in the tins that way when I want some I just put the whole thing in the frypan to heat. I have several books, did you know Daniella Wolfe is doing a workshop next year through Fibrearts? and there are some great videos on encaustic here. http://www.interweavestore.com/Mixed-Media/DVD-Video/Encaustic-Collage.html
ReplyDeleteHi everyone, I teach encaustic art at various venues around Australia. I am teaching on sept 3rd,2011 at North Sydney Community centre. November at Primrose Paper arts in cremorne,Also at Biloela Artist group, QLD in July. I run private workshops from my home studio in Mount Colah, Sydney. But if you want me to come and teach your art group, let me know. This is a fabulous medium with so many different possibilties. I have been working with wax for a while now and it is so addictive.
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