Encaustic

Encaustic originates from Ancient Greek and means literally to “burn in”. There are records and actual surviving paintings from as far back as 100-300 AD, and Roman scholar Pliny the Elder even described it in his early writings.

It is a process art combining heated wax medium and various forms of pigment - oil, powder, inks, stain and many other materials are good neighbors with wax. It is a slow process of layers, fusing each one with a torch, carefully waiting for the wax to glisten before moving to the next step. Endless resources can be encased in the wax, adding to the medium’s textural surface. The warmth of the wax, its soft scent, the compliant aspects of its nature and willingness to be in partnership with the artist make it a semi-sculptural painting medium.