WHAT IS ENCAuSTIC?

Encaustic is a wax-based painting medium that originated with the ancient Greeks over 3,000 years ago. Encaustic is a Greek word meaning “to burn in” (enkaustikos). Greeks used encaustic to caulk ship hulls from leaking and used it to decorate warships.

The most famous encaustic art are the Fayum mummy funeral portraits from the 2nd Century.

Beeswax, damar resin (a crystallized tree sap from Asia), are melted together to create encaustic. Damar resin is a clarifying and hardening agent. Pigment is used to add color to the encaustic wax medium.

Encaustic medium is applied using a brush or artist tool onto a hard substrate. Throughout the painting process a torch or heat gun is used to fuse each layer of wax together.

Encaustic is archival and has literally stood the test of time.

Ship Chalking - Reiner Noom

OA Public Domain The Met

Fayum Mummy Portraits

2nd Century

Woman - Louve, Paris

Man - Egyptian Museum of Berlin

Woman in Red - The Met

A.D. 90 - 210

Encaustic on Limewood and Gold Leaf

OA Public Domain The Met

Caring for your

encaustic art

As with any Fine Art, care should be given to any encaustic painting. Encaustic is sensitive to extreme temperatures. Exposing your artwork to freezing cold or temperatures above 150 degree Fahrenheit should be avoided. An encaustic painting takes 1 - 3 years to cure. A bloom/cloudy affect may appear. Using a soft cloth to buff your art will remove this bloom as it hardens over time, leaving a glossy surface.