Encaustic


Encaustic is an ancient painting medium.  The Egyptians and the ancient Romans used beeswax based paints and the work has lasted for centuries.  The encaustic technique involves suspending pigments in a hot wax medium and applying to a rigid support. I enjoy exploring all of the creative possibilities of this technique and I'm having a lot of fun with it!  As with my mixed media/collage work, I find that this medium is very receptive to layering. I enjoy embedding thin papers, and layer with both opaque and translucent hot wax. I make my own medium (a combination of beeswax and damar resin) and I mix my own colors, using raw and manufactured pure pigments suspended in the melted medium. A favorite find: at a yard sale I found a very old can of 'bronzing powder.' After looking it up I find that it is actually powdered mica. It adds a wonderful shimmer to some of the wax layers.
Below are a few examples of my encaustic work.
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Kom Till Mig, 12 x 4, Encaustic, Mixed Media
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Fractured Earth I, 20 x 16, Encaustic
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SkyBirds VII
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December Dawn, , 12 x 4, Encaustic, Mixed Media
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Fractured Earth V, 20 x 16, Encaustic/ Mixed Media
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Falling Apart II, October Colors. Collection of the Museum of Encaustic Art
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Chasing the Sun II, 30 x 30, Encaustic/Mixed Media
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Searching for Stardust, 30 x 30, Encaustic/Mixed Media
PictureChasing the Sun I, 12 x 36, Encaustic/Mixed Media
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Beached I, 6x6
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Beached 2, 6x6
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Beached 3, 6x6
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Beached 4, 6x6
Picture"Broken Hallelujah" 30 x 40 Encaustic/Mixed Media
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Afton Stund Har Silver i Haret, 12 x 36, Encaustic (Private Collection)
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"Almost Landscape #2" 10 x 10, Encaustic, Sold
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"Almost Landscape #1" 10 x 10, Encaustic, Sold
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Daybreak in Cook Forest, 30 x 40, Encaustic
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"Boldt Grafitti" 16 x 20, Encaustic
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"No Diving" from the Searching for Hope series, 20 x 24, Encaustic
Willows, 11 x 14 each, Encaustic with gravestone rubbings
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"Early Spring at Bent Run, 30" x 40" Encaustic
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Heron in the Snowstorm
11 x 14, Encaustic
(private collection)
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Taos Pueblo 1
11 x 14
Encaustic
(private collection)
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Along the Clarion, 36 x 12, Encaustic
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Cathedral  1
14 x 11
Encaustic, Sold
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"Chickadees in Snowstorm" 16x20, Encaustic (private collection)
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Searching For Hope, 20 x 16, encaustic (private collection)
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"Bright Orange Maples Under a Grey Sky"
11x14
Encaustic