Encaustic for Claire

I knew before I got too far on this piece that it was for my best friend Claire. The red, the smiling little girl, the playfulness....it had Dibble written all over it. 

Encaustic is a medium that is made up of beeswax and damar resin.  You can add pigment to it and use it like a paint or you can keep it clear and use it to seal collages and found objects to boards and paper. The later is what we did in the encaustic workshop with Judith Hoyt. I found myself much more engaged with the wax when it is used as a layer, not as a paint. 

I have ordered supplies and my friend Babs and I are going to set up an encaustic station in her studio. A heat gun, for fusing the layers of wax, and good ventilation are the most important necessities for this type of art-making....