Winter is a lovely time to dabble in encaustics, as there are always elements of heat involved. Melting wax on a hot griddle and fusing the layers with a hot air gun aren’t often things you want to do in summer’s heat, but they warm up me and the studio nicely in the colder months.
I don’t have a lot of experience using encaustics, but I do enjoy experimenting with the process of blending colours and more currently, embedding objects into the wax. These are two small pieces 6” x 6” on encaustic board where embedding is used. In the first, I’ve used a print of one of my paintings under layers of transparent wax. The fish and their circle is an original coloured pencil piece that I’ve only now made available for sale. The circle and its eternal, yet opposing directions reminds me of life and with that life, its origins, represented by the embedded ‘eggs’ on the lower half of the piece. In reality they are pink peppercorns.
The second piece ‘Eye of the Forest’ was inspired by the wooden layer of bark that I found discarded by some felled trees, the remnant of a knot where a branch arose. The patterning and placement flowed from there, as I wanted it to fit into a natural, yet somewhat dream like place.
Look for more encaustic from me this year, as time allows. I fully intend to test this medium and push its limits. Next step: burning surfaces, but not til I can get a clear day and a dry patch of driveway!
6 comments:
Jeanette, very creative work! I am really interested in encaustics, but I always hesitate to try it because of lack of proper ventilation. In fact, I may try it outside in the summertime ( in spite of the heat:-). I am looking forward to seeing more of your encaustic work. You are always an inspiration.
love the second one :D the texture of the bark goes really well with the textures of the wax. when i look at the bark, i see a face, very interesting :)
I love what you're doing with the wax, Jeanette. Using those pink peppercorns was brilliant and I like the addition of the print.
I like what you are doing with these, the wood looks like it's floating on a river reflecting the sky. It's one of those I'm not sure which way up I am, I could be looking down or up from the bottom of the water and I love that ambiguity. Really interesting stuff.
Both of these are beautifully done. So often, encaustic work just looks dull and smeared to me - you've kept a clean look and good colors while still using the wax to good effect.
Christiane, thank you. I don't have proper ventilation and I don't find the fumes a bother to be honest. My pieces are small and heat/fuse time aren't long, so I don't think its so much of an issue.
Jen, that bark looks so different in life. I love that aspect of encaustic in that you can see many things in each piece.
Thanks Billie. Its really interesting and amazing what I can find in the kitchen cupboard that works in the studio too. :)
Lisa, you're right, you can look at it from any angle and see something different. I love how the wax colours flow into each other and become organic.
Thanks Rhonda. There's so much for me to learn in this technique, but I'm having a good time trying it all out.
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