I am terribly excited this evening!!!! Today's mail really came through for me. Instead of the usual bills or junk mail, I received an actual package! With good stuff inside!
I have been studying and experimenting with encaustics for about three years now. Encaustic painting/collaging uses a medium of bees wax and damar resin as a base. From there you can add color to the wax and paint, add found objects/ephemera to the piece for more of a collage or mixed media look. You can etch, write, use photographs and more. The sky is the limit. Each artist has their own style and their own formula of what goes into a piece.
I have been mixing my own encaustic paints for some time. My process uses bees wax, damar resin and oil paint. I have been very happy with the results but wanted to branch out into some richer colors, something less translucent. In researching I found the best way to get rich color is to blend the wax/damar mixture with powdered pigment. There are some good, safe sources for powdered pigment but I'm not comfortable messing with them. You should wear gloves and mask at bare minimum as the powder is quite fine and not something you would want to spill. Definitely not something you would want to breathe in.
With four kids in the house and a studio in the basement, I decided it was best to purchase a product that was already made.
I searched high and low. After much consideration I chose to go with an artist who mixes her own medium versus a large manufacturer. She was reasonably priced and had a great selection. She was also a total pleasure to do business with. :) I put in my order and within a few days my shipment arrived!!!
Brand new encaustic medium to work with. It looks rich and colorful and promising. I can't wait to get my hotplate started so I can dip in!!!
Thank you Sonja!!!!
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