Last weekend I had a fabulous art experience. I attended a mixed media encaustic retreat with Christina Lovisa. Christina rented a private lodge at a Spa in Chelsea, Quebec close to Ottawa, Ontario. It was a wonderful way to start the New Year! I have taken a number of mixed media art workshops with Christina… Read more How to make an Art Retreat or Workshop great!
Clay tools work well for scraping, incising, and gouging into encaustic wax. This post has been in draft for awhile, I was finally spurred on to finish it when this week someone on Facebook asked, “What’s the most used tool you recommend investing in? I am new to this and wondering what type sculpting tools… Read more Essential Tools for Scraping & Incising into encaustic wax
Q&A with Elizabeth Schowachert In this post, artist Elizabeth Schowachert answers questions that I put to her about mounting encaustic monotypes to panels. About Elizabeth Schowachert Elizabeth Schowachert is an abstract artist who works primarily with encaustic. She also specialize in crafting silicone tools for the Roland HOTbox, high quality sumi-e style horse hair brushes and… Read more Mounting an Encaustic Monotype to a Panel
The framing tips below will help you present your artwork in a way that collectors and galleries will appreciate. Tip 1: Use Floater Frames when framing encaustic paintings I often frame encaustic paintings in floater frames. Gallery depth panels don’t need to be framed but regular depth panels, to my mind, look better framed. Floater frames allow you to… Read more 7 Tips for framing paintings
The artwork pricing challenge When you’re starting to sell your artwork, it can be really hard to know what to charge. There is no hard and fast rule but having a pricing formula will help you set a consistent price. How to calculate a pricing formula Many artists use a square inch formula, others use… Read more How to Price Art | Free Artwork Pricing Table Download
Do you provide collectors with encaustic care instructions? I’m sure that we have all had questions about how wax will stand up to heat and humidity. There will always be people who presume that encaustic is more fragile than other fine art mediums. It is good to reassure them with the knowledge that some ancient encaustic… Read more Encaustic Care Instructions | Free Download
Disclosure: Kama Pigments sent me free encaustic paints to review for this post. Commercially available encaustic paints I usually make my own encaustic medium, I haven’t very often used ready-made encaustic paints. But, I must say, the highly-pigmented encaustic paints I received from Kama Pigments are luscious! I also love that Kama Pigments is a Canadian company. 🇨🇦… Read more Encaustic Paints by Kama Pigments
Disclosure: Diamond Core Tools sent me two free tools to review. Artists painting with encaustic use clay tools for scraping, incising and carving into the wax. Thanks to this Instagram video from Cathy Nichols I discovered Zebratools by Diamond Core Tools! Diamond Core Tools is a manufacturer of high-quality tools for ceramic artists. I am so happy to introduce… Read more Encaustic Carving & Incising Tools
Is encaustic toxic? With adequate ventilation and a working temperature that is under 200°F, encaustic is a safe medium to work with. It is important to use a thermometer to keep a check on your temperature. Encaustic fumes, when released at a safe temperature, are not considered dangerous. Yet, all wax mediums, when heated, do… Read more Venting your Encaustic Studio
Cold wax painting does not use the encaustic painting process Encaustic is the name for both a wax painting medium and a painting process that uses heat to apply and fuse the medium. Encaustic painting uses heat at every stage of the painting process. The name encaustic literally means “to burn”. Cold wax medium is… Read more Cold Wax is not encaustic
Disclosure: Paula Roland sent me a free copy of her DVD to review for this post. Encaustic Monotypes | Paula Roland’s instructional DVD Encaustic Monotypes Painterly Prints with Heat and Wax is a beautiful instructional DVD by Paula Roland. In 2011 I took an encaustic monotype printmaking workshop in Toronto, this DVD was the refresher course… Read more Encaustic Monotypes Painterly Prints with Heat and Wax | Paula Roland
What are Wax Emulsion Water-Soluble Paints? Water-soluble wax paints are tube paints comprised of pigments in a wax binder. Although the manufacturers are branding them as encaustic paints they are better described as wax emulsion tube paint that can be an interesting complement to encaustic. Wax emulsion tube paints allow encaustic artists to experience a more… Read more Using Ceracolors with Encaustic | Water-Soluble Wax Emulsion Tube Paint