Making Encaustic Paint

 

Damar Resin

 

Pure Beeswax Pellets

 

Using a scale to weigh the wax and resin

 

One part resin...

 

to eight part beeswax

 

Melt wax/resin on electric griddle set at 200º F.

 

Melted and mixed, but for the impurities from the resin

 

The impurities removed from the wax/resin mixture

Add oil paint

Mixed and cooling

 

Finished product ready to sliced of, melted and used

Inman Park Festival in Atlanta

This weekend I'll be at the Inman Park Festival in Atlanta. The parade alone, Saturday at 2:00, would be worth the trip. Fun, fun, fun!

The Masters Brush Cleaner and Preserver

I found the most fantastic brush cleaner by chance at Utrecht while I was standing at the register. It was there as an impulse buy and I impulsively bought it. It not only cleans and preserves paintbrushes, but will recondition that brush that you left out overnight. Then I got thinking, if it can clean dried paint off a brush, maybe it will take fried paint of clothing. Yup, it did, though with a little bit of scrubbing.  Check it out: The Masters Brush Cleaner and Preserver

Skyline [$75]

Red, always my favorite painting color. Unfortunately, it's not always easy to photograph. That said, I think this turned out to be true to the original.  It's completely palette knifed and has a lot of texture, especially at the horizon.  It's 12 x 12 x 1.5 and because of the gallery-depth canvas would not need framing.

I finished this encaustic weeks ago, but something about it wasn't quite right.  One good thing about encaustics is that, because it's wax, any time you want to change it, all you need is your heat gun.  So, today I decided to work with the clouds and I'm definitely glad that I did.  While there's always that fear that you'll mess up something that you really like, this was not the case here.

I added bold brushstrokes of white and then used the heat gun to carefully fuse wax and white pigment to the layers of wax beneath. All the while, diffusing the white and letting the blue show through to give them the airy look I was going for.  Anytime you liquify an area, you have to blend the surface in with the surrounding wax.  This got a little tricky when I was near the horizon, but a soft touch, something I'm not known for, made it work.

Here is the second sculpture that I received in a trade. Trading art at a show is a delicate situation. I've often been asked to swap before, but didn't want to.  In this case, I initiated the trade and was pleased that Lloyd Hughes, the metalsmith, was all for it. Below is what I bartered for these sculptures.  To me, it was the best kind of trade, a win-win.

This is one of the two sculptures that I swapped for at Artsapalooza in Atlanta.  They're both by Lloyd Hughes, a talented metalsmith from Lexington, Kentucky.  I'll post the other one tomorrow.

Monday, April 14, 2014
The past weekend was spent in Atlanta at the Artzapalooza show in Sandy Springs, GA. I was next to some favorite artists, Janet MacGregor Dunn, Chris Strawbridge and Suzan Buchner. I met some fantastic new artists too: Jennie Henley and Loyd Hughes. In fact, I traded a painting. "Saguaro" for 2 of Lloyd's copper wind sculptures, one of which is already set up and spinning away. I'll have to wait until it stops raining and I will post some pictures.

Speaking of pictures. Pictured nelow is one of my favorites, "Fleurs Sauvages." which was bought by a very charming lady from South Carolina, I believe.

Today will be a day to get some rest  and start getting some paintings ready for the show at Inman Park in Atlanta.  One of my most fun shows of the year.

April 11, 2014

Here's one of yesterday's last-minute chores before leaving in the morning for Artsapalooza in Sandy Springs.  I'll be seeing old friends there (artists also in the show) and I'll be staying with other friends, so I'm looking forward to a weekend of fun

4/6/14 Returning from Savannah

Yesterday, the Art Show on the River was fun, as always.  I also some sold art and had fun with the buyers.  I was surrounded by fun artists, including Nicole and Aunt Deb, who I know from Chattanooga.  Coincidentally, some other folks I knew were going to be down that way and they dropped in.

4/3/14

Setting up for a show is a tremendous amount of work, but because of the show's schedule, I can put it off until tomorrow.  Meanwhile, i can make the most of tonight and enjoy Savannah.  Will post more photos later.

Savannah 4/3/14

While setting up for a show is a tremendous amount of work, if you get there a day early with friends, you can worry about it tomorrow.  So here are some initials photos of Savannah.

4/1/14
It was a beautiful day in north Georgia...almost a bit too warm to be using a heat gun and standing over an electric griddle full of hot wax.  I'm thinking of building an "encaustic shed," which would provide shade.  It would have to have good exhaust fans and lots of light.  I wouldn't mind being able to use it in the winter too.  More on this later.

"Storm"
12 x 12 x 1.5
Encaustic on wood panel

These colors are a departure from the bold reds and/or blues that I usually use.  Believe it or not, it took quite an effort to stay away from those brighter colors.

Tomorrow, a friend is coming to the house and we're going play with encaustics as well oil sticks and alcohol inks that she'll be bringing.  I already have the deck set up with different work stations and I'm looking forward to a productive day.  I plan to record some of the things we'll be doing, so check back.

3/31/14
This will be a busy week for art, but unfortunately very little painting.  I'll be spending a lot of time getting the van ready for the trip down to Savannah.  I had a wonderful time at last year's show.  I was right in front of the DJ and a non-stop weekend of listening, I was euphoric.  Here's one reason why:  Twistin' on River Street

This year I'll be taking my encaustics and I'm anxious to see how they're received.  They went over well at Michael's Fine Art Gallery, a local show in Dalton, GA.  Not the encaustics, of course, but I'll have many paintings less than $100.00, in hopes that they'll appeal to the revelers who didn't really come to buy art, but will see that as an affordable splurge.

Here's one that will be there:                   Clouding Up [$145]

14 x 14 x 1.5

Encaustic on wood panel

If you're interested in seeing what is involved in making this painting, take a look at yesterday's blog entry.

-Paul

03/30/14
Encaustic painting is my latest interest.  It's a very labor-intensive process and for me, everything is handmade.  A start with 6' or 8' 2x4s and 4'x8' sheets of birch plywood.  After everything is cut to size, I use glue and C clamps to assemble the various sized surfaces on which to paint.  Because I turn the 2x4s sideways, the panels look like a regular gallery-wrapped canvas.

The encaustic paint is made from melting 100% pure beeswax with damar resin (8:1 ratio).  When the combination is melted and mixed, I add oil pigment.  During the painting process I also use charcoal and dry pigment sprinkled onto the molten wax to enhance the highlights and give the look of texture..

Over the next few days I'll be posting additional examples of these works.

Creek [$145]

12x12x1.5

encaustic on wood