ABOUT ENCAUSTIC

"Encaustic literally means 'to burn'.

Three thousand years ago a few enterprising Greek shipbuilders discovered a new use for the beeswax they used to caulk the hulls. By adding colour, and resin for hardness, they created a painting medium with unmatched depth and luminosity. Before long encaustic art could be found everywhere, from painted ships to depictions of everyday life on urns and even applied to statuary to render a lifelike glow.

A thousand years after the Greeks discovered it painters in Egypt resurrected the medium crafting exquisite portraits to decorate the mummies of their patrons.

Encaustic is the soul of forgiving. It is immediate and allows no time for pondering or second-guessing. It is elastic only for a few precious seconds between lifting it from a hot palette to cooling on a board. For all its urgency, wax is incredibly malleable. If you don’t like the way the work is progressing, you scrape it off and let it flow- instant transformation!"

- S.W.