Waxy Beginnings

Melting beeswax to make encaustic medium.

Finished cakes of encaustic medium that contain a mixture of beeswax and damar resin.

Over the weekend I finally had some time to begin my new venture with encaustic painting. I have been wanting to explore this medium for a long time. After reading several books, reading technical information on the Internet and watching a bunch of youtube videos, I felt ready to tackle this. I was surprised at how everything came together so easily. As I am not one to follow recipes while cooking on the stove top, it was a bit of a challenge to follow an exact recipe for making encaustic wax medium. But alas! I did conquer my resistance and here are a few photos of the process. It is not very glamorous, however, I hope my new artworks created in the medium will show the depth and subtle beauty of the wax.

Here's What's Cookin'

This is the inside of my workhorse kiln. I use this large kiln to do all of my glaze firing in. It has a computer controller too. I recently had a lot of repairs done after owning it for 15 + years, so this was the first firing since then. Oh happy day!

Are We There Yet?

I don't know exactly why I decided to start a blog, but mostly it was at the constant urging of artist friends.  My goal is to share with you, the reader, a bit about my creative life and inspirations. Often I am asked "Where do you get all of your ideas?"  The answer is easy and complicated. But, my most honest answer is: From everything around me.

For me, ideas and creative thought are the same as breathing. I don't have to spend time contemplating them. They just reveal themselves constantly and randomly like tossing a handful of glitter in the air.

As an artist I never feel like I have reached my destination. The creative road is full of twists, turns, and choices. Come and share the ride with me as I explore this ever changing landscape.