Encaustic-a new frontier

Something Sweet-an apple still life study in encaustic and oil pigments

This week the encaustic medium which I ordered from Evans Encaustic arrived. It was beautiful and blank..like a beautiful blank canvas waiting to be painted on. This medium cried out to be used, now. So on a sunny perfect day, I set up outside, a hot plate medium, oils , pallet knives and read Joanne Mattera's book "the Art of Encaustic Painting". At first I told myself that I would just prepare panel substrates with linen and wax or linen and PVA but the pull of the paint was too much and I didn't stop there. I played "hookie" from my current body of work and prepared myself to make a mess and fail and have fun all the while.

Encaustic painting is not easy. I do not have the perfect appliances to keep the wax medium at a constant temperature. I did not perfect fusing. I melted wax and blew it all around. I spilled wax. I did make a mess and I did have fun. But more importantly I realized I would be able to do it and get better at it. I think once you know your equipment , melting, mixing and fusing becomes second nature.

Now , why bother with all this when I can just paint? I like the feeling of constructing, building almost sculpting. It's physical and visceral. I can't really explain it ; there is something that just grabs me about the contrasts and the contradictory nature of the wax. To keep control one must have an easy touch. Like life situations, things which are fluid suddenly stop, harden and become immovable and then, just as quickly, they can become fluid and flow right out of your control and be gone. then there is the end result, the effect of encaustic paint which is both ethereal and solid at the same time. And when it's done it's done, no drying, no varnishing. It is what it is.