Combining bees wax, damar varnish and powdered pigments, encaustic painting is wild and unruly. The medium is heated on a griddle like surface and applied using spatulas, scoops, paddles and the occasional brush. Colors take center stage producing a complex layering of opaque and fluid elements. Each layer of wax is “sealed” with a blow torch, a step that can lead to yet another change for the unruly materials. The subjects that I choose to explore in encaustic all demand their freedom which is to say it is impossible to be overly controlled. The resulting imagery is spontaneous and playful.
art and process 