somerset workshop: experiments with encaustic

I believe it was the end of last year that I received an email from the editor of Someset Workshop asking if I would write a few articles on how I paint with encaustic and to create some new pieces for their next issue. Fast forward almost a year and I am excited to announce that the stepped out articles and paintings are now available to be read and seen in the current issue!

one of the spreads of my chapter
Somerset Workshop, vol 8

The interesting thing about writing and creating pieces for a stepped out article is that it’s much like the cooking shows on t.v. where the chef puts in a just-assembled casserole into the oven, and then opens another oven with a cooked casserole to show the next step in preparation of a meal. For each painting I had to actually create anywhere between 5-10 panels. Each panel showing a step, and then the subsequent step after. It was an interesting way for me to look at how I create my pieces as I’ve never had to think about it in that way before. When I’m painting I just kind of go with the flow. After a while you just kind of do things by instinct, much like riding a bicycle or playing the piano. But breaking it down into steps for the articles actually helped me prepare for teaching the workshops that I taught this year.

Once all the many panels were done and the articles were written and the extra paintings were made for the gallery section, I packed up the boxes and shipped everything out to California for the editor and photographers to take over. They shot the photos out there following my instructions. It’s funny for me to look at the photos because those aren’t my hands! ha! They really did a wonderful job with photographing the work, which believe me, anyone who has taken photos of encaustic work knows that that is no easy feat!

I want to share a few photos of my own tools and equipment that I have in my studio here in Chicago to give anyone who read the articles a glimpse into my encaustic setup.

First, say hello to my little friend, the Wagner Heat Gun:

When I first started experimenting with encaustic, I did use an embossing heat gun as I wasn’t ready to splurge and get the real deal. But once you use a real deal heat gun, you won’t go back. It gets HOT and fuses the encaustic paint much easier. Once you get a handle on using a heat gun, I suggest trying out a torch. Now, THAT, my friends, will ruin you for a heat gun. It’s faster to cover larger areas with a torch. I still am loyal to my heat gun though and use it routinely, but at times I will switch to a torch when I need tighter control of my fuse.

my Wagner heat gun and I have been through a lot together

In the article I wrote that I like to keep my encaustic medium separate from my encaustic paint, so as to avoid contamination. Also, I use a lot of medium during my painting process, so I like to have a big vat of melted medium handy. I use an electric skillet for this, which you can buy at a Target, or any home supply store.

melted encaustic medium in an electric skillet

I like to use wide hake brushes for my medium. I attached those bull clips to the end so that there is an edge for the brushes to rest on, otherwise you will constantly be fishing your brush out of hot wax. Not fun.

Above are samples of premade encaustic paint. I like to use R&F as that is what I learned with and I just like them. But there are other manufacturers as well, and the photo includes a tin from Enkausticos. In the article I talk about using oil bars and pigment sticks to rub into the surface of the painting. The R&F sticks are like buttah! So lovely to use. Many artists who work in encaustic make their own paint, but I highly recommend doing thorough research before doing so or learning how in a workshop or class. It is not difficult but you need to be aware of safety issues especially if you are working with dried pigments. Please, your health and safety should always come first.

I like to melt my premade bars of encaustic paint in tins on my hot palette.

And here are my two hot palettes. The black one on the left is an electric griddle that I bought at Target. These are nice because they aren’t expensive and they also have a built in thermometer. You always want to keep an eye on the temperature of wax for safety reasons. The palette on the right is an anondized aluminum palette that has a burner underneath. This is more expensive, but I find the heating to be more even than the griddle and the aluminum surface provides a nice surface to mix your paints on.

Writing the articles and creating the pieces for Somerset Workshop was an exciting experience for me and a wonderful opportunity to share what I have learned along my creative journey and how I have incorporated encaustic in my mixed media art. I hope it inspires others to try out encaustic, take a workshop, or even to just appreciate and understand the art of encaustic. There are so many ways to incorporate encaustic into one’s creative pratice, and this is just one of many! If anyone has any questions, please feel free to email me. I’m always happy to answer any questions and if I don’t have the answer, I will try to get it for you.

I made a page of encaustic painting Resources on my website for links to tools and supplies as well. Hope that helps!