Thursday 31 January 2008

Encaustic art

Received my kit today and just had to start playing!
Ever done or come across encaustic art? Well, I hadn't until I was reading an article the other day.
Apparently, the process dates back to around 400BC when naturally found beeswax was mixed with pigments and used as a painting medium. Long before oil paints were developed and introduced, encaustic techniques requiring a heat source to render the wax paint liquid were being used to creat artworks.

A simple method first used by the ancient Greeks and Romans was to heat a palette over charcoal fire in order to create an environment suitable for holding the colours in a liquid state. The mixtures consisted of pigment blended with beeswax and resins.

Now adays with modern technology all you need is a basic iron and the pigmented wax. The was is melted on the iron and placed through various techniques on to painting card. As soon as the heat source is removed the wax hardens, never loses its colour and can be softly polished to a sheen. Creativity is endless!

Here is my first attempt.... I named this series Sydney Opera House 1-4.




5 comments:

Alis Clair said...

Thank you for the history lesson, that was really interesting. I had come across encaustic art but never known where it came from.

I love your Opera House cards - very atmospheric.

Jean Levert Hood said...

These are so nice!! They really bring the Opera House to mind!

Val said...

Thank you for visiting my blog. Seeing yours makes me know I have a lot of work to do. Your blog is awesome. Thank you for sharing!

Felicia said...

Very pretty. Love the different colors and textures :)

Sage and Daisy said...

I've never seen this type of art. Very beautiful!

Sale Corner!

Occasionally I will show items that are for sale from me direct which can be paid for using Paypal. Always check to see shipping charges which will need to be added to the item amount!

For regular prices check out my Etsy shop, as well as my sister shop on Etsy which also sells encaustic art http://onawhimsey.etsy.com

Some paintings can be bought directly from my website http://onawhimsey.com

Some samples of my present & past work to give you inspiration for that special gift!

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