Methods
Although I do also paint with oils and acrylic, my main method of painting is encaustic art. This is one of the oldesr art forms, using molten wax and dry oil pigments mixed with other media.
The Faiyum mummy portraits, dating from the 1st century BC - 3rd century AD are the best known surviving examples of this technique. I paint with brushes and work into the painting with palette knives, The final painting is heat sealed and needs no aftercare other than a very occasional light dusting with a soft cotton cloth.
This encaustic method of painting gives as durable a result as oil painting and doesn't melt in sunlight or in a warm room! - however- encaustic paintings like to be treated with the same respect as oil or watercolour paintings and ought not to be placed in strong sunlight.
The range of textural and visual possibilities of encaustic art makes it a most versatile and exciting method with which to work. Its immediacy (the paint dries immediately it touches the surface of the board) helps bring vitality and energy to the finished painting.
For further information on encaustic art please click here.
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I was first a teacher of French, then a marketing executive carrying out research in Europe for small companies in Northern Ireland, then a lecturer in Marketing, then a mother and finally, after many different part -time classes in pottery