Earlier this year, one of my former students from the late 90’s, resurfaced. I’m so delighted! Her name is Mari Purdie. She’s a lovely person and so dedicated to her art and teaching art. She wanted to learn encaustic so she could add another medium to her repertoire. So, we got started and spent a full day working with this new art form.

We talked about setting up a safe encaustic studio and economical ways to get started including resources for materials. Here Mari is preparing her board with a clay-based gesso to accept the wax (acrylic based gesso doesn’t really work).

We spent quite a bit of time exploring how different heat sources affect the wax. Here Mari is using a tacking iron to fuse the wax to the previous layer.

The whole day was dedicated to painting, exploring, scraping and fusing. This piece is an encaustic collage she made of an old painting. We cut up the painting, mounted the art to a board and then waxed the sides and top of the painting.

Here is another encaustic collage piece. This is a beautiful way to make new art without having to throw away a piece that isn’t working well.

When I first started working with Mari in 1998, we studied abstract painting in acrylics. She’s always been drawn to the lines and vibrant colors of Joan Miró and Alexander Calder. I just love the gesture and color she’s used and the innovative solution she came up with for the borders of the painting. This piece is painted on a cabinet door from Mr. Plywood (I love that place!) and the edges were a challenge. At the end, she swept a beautiful, light green à la Howard Hodgkin to frame the piece.

Yumm! I’m doing more Private Intensives with Mari and other students. Come join me!