Sunday, December 11, 2011

Encaustic Painting

"Couldn't you just use the same griddle we use for food?" asked my practical minded husband as I was unpacking my newly purchased griddle to use for encaustic painting. My encaustic starter kit had arrived a few days earlier and now with griddle and heat gun in hand, I was ready to try encaustic painting at home. Last October I'd had the privilege of taking an encaustic workshop with Serena Barton in Portland and immediately fell in love with this medium. Even though I was somewhat hesitant to try it out at home, in the back of my mind, I knew resistance was futile.

So here is my first home effort.


Before the first layer of wax, I painted a watercolor background, and stamped with hand carved stamps. The butterfly actually began as a stamped image which I then layered over with paint, followed by some incising marks and rubbed oil paint. I also used some oil paint stick and pastel. Though you aren't able to see it, there is also a layer of collaged tissue paper from an old dress pattern with some pastel drawing in the bottom part. I love the effect of wax over watercolor! It creates a beautiful depth and luminosity to the painting.

And here is another one I did the next day.


This one includes some collage elements and image transfer. The haiku (that might not be a real haiku) collaged into the painting reads:

No one travels
Along this road but I
This autumn evening

Hence the subdued tone of the work.

So now I know I can do encaustic at home with very little mess or trouble. I don't have a studio (yet) so I bought a big plastic tub that the griddle with paint tins fits into, along with the heat gun and other supplies. When not in use, it's easily stored away on a shelf in the garage. In February, I'll be taking a class in encaustic locally to learn more about this exciting medium. I can't wait!!

16 comments:

  1. I've never worked with encaustic. In fact, I have this fear that I'll either burn myself or burn the house down. I love the luminescence of the medium and really admire your work in it. Congratulations for giving it a whirl. I look forward to seeing more here on your blog. Faye

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lovely! How exciting that your first experiments at home with this were so successful! Love the haiku, too, adds another great dimension to you piece!

    Happy PPF!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lovely encaustic creations ~ and love your Haiku ~ ~ thanks, namaste, Carol (Share the Creative Journey) Happy PPF.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Gorgeous, gorgeous paintings!
    I am so in love with encaustic, too!!
    Such a fun process.

    Happy PPF!!
    Mary
    Mixed-Media Map Art

    ReplyDelete
  5. These are beautiful, the second one is really great with the haiku. You must be so excited about taking the class.

    ReplyDelete
  6. BOTH of them are beautiful.
    You must do more!
    Happy PPF!
    Sheri Cook/HappyHorseStudio

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love this it turned out beautifully
    Nicole/Beadwright

    ReplyDelete
  8. Success at first try, that's always a good thing. Love your piece, turned out beautiful. thanks for sharing! Happy Holidays.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I just got your beautiful handmade card today and rushed to see your blog! How interesting that we are doing some of the very same things! I have been dabbling in mixed media collage, and have even tried some encaustic! I love it, but decided it was too labor-intensive for the limited time I have to spend. Let's do some art together! Julie Hutchin

    ReplyDelete
  10. This technique seems very attractive to me, you can work with all the resources possible artistic and texture you get is very good.
    It hurts that I can not see the HAIKU!, I find no sense due to the poor translation. Abrazos

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Julie! we'll definitely have to get together. Serena Barton is in Portland and does classes in her studio. She's great.

    ReplyDelete
  12. These are quite wonderful! I've been dying to try encaustics! ~Happy Paint Party Friday! #40 Robin Panzer Art Studio 33

    ReplyDelete
  13. These paintings are beautiful! I really love the style!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Encaustics always look like so much fun to do. I love the depth you get with them. I know it is hard to capture that in a photo so I'm sure these are even prettier in real life. I really like the one with the bird a lot. Have fun with your new toys!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Debbie, these take my breath away! I'm so glad you have kept going with encaustic. I'll be so pleased to post these on my blog!

    ReplyDelete