Monday, October 4, 2010

encaustic experiments



I took a one-day encaustics workshop back in April at the Studio Place Arts in Barre, Vermont. I got OBSESSED with it, of course (everyone who tries encaustic seems to get obsessed). Eventually I set up a workspace in my studio devoted to encaustics, and have been experimenting a bit. A little bit, that is. Between collage-painting, teaching workshops, and still doing some freelance art, I haven't carved out nearly enough time for this, but little by little... baby steps. So today's project was to experiment with ways of getting a smooth surface and translucent colors. I set up a heat lamp (the one I used to brood baby chicks this summer) over my substrate (plywood laminated with hot-press watercolor paper) to heat it up before applying the beeswax and encaustic medium, and I kept it warm between applications. Way more experimenting to do with this heat lamp set-up, but I did want to share this one little result. For the forseable future, my encaustic "pieces" are all to be viewed as playgrounds. Experiments. Not even works in progress, just playing around to get a feel for the material and practice techniques. OK, I mentioned the chickens. Here is a picture of them on their first day at my house back in July.

5 comments:

  1. Well now, I've always hankered after encaustics, but decided the equipment was too pricey. Somewhere I still have the lamp used here for baby chicks; probably gathering dust somewhere in the barn ... (and I haven;t forgotten the journal prompts I promised you, Diana).

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  2. I love encaustics and dabble as well. Can't wait to see more play!

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  3. Cute chickens! I'd love to try encaustic one day, it sound... addictive!

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  4. They are so cute, those little chicks. I've tried the beeswax on my art here and there, but don't seem to stick with it. Don't want/need to invest in damar resin and the rest of the supplies.. However, when I've played with beeswax, I love embedding objects into it or stamping. I use a lot of acrylic paints but wax on top of acrylics are a no no.. so I tend to stay away from the wax. Can't wait to see more Jane.

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  5. i traded for a few encaustic ATCs and they are amazing! must be fun to try

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