Encaustic Painting

Is a technique of painting with pigments mixed with hot wax and is believed to have been perfected in the 4th Century B.C.

Encaustic means 'to burn in'. Pliny's Natural History (before AD 79) gives an account of its use, and it was used in Antiquity with success for painting small vivid portraits for Mummy cases. Many examples of these have survived from Fayoum, an oasis near the Nile and date from the 1st Century AD.
During the great period of economic instability that followed, Encaustic became a lost art.

Methods of Encaustic painting varied but, the essence of the technique was to fuse the colours to the surface by applying heat. It fell into disuse around the 8th Century AD because it was impractical. However, today, manufacturers produce ready coloured sticks of beeswax and we now have electrical tools which were not available in past times.

I produce Encaustic paintings and cards by using hot irons onto which the coloured beeswax is melted. By careful application, using the tip, edges, and flat of the iron I can produce either landscapes or fantasy images with great success.

The range of the palette is almost equal to any medium, and the modern qualities of the waxes and pigments mean that I can revive this Ancient and lost art form and bring it into the 21st Century where it can once again take its rightful place in Art history.

Examples may be viewed on the Gallery page.