What is Encaustic?
Encaustic is a term from the Greek word “enkaustikos”, meaning to inust, that is to “burn in”; thus encaustic is marked by the use of heat to melt and fuse layers of beeswax. Encaustic consists of natural bees wax and dammar resin (crystallized tree sap). The medium can be used alone for its transparency or glue like adhesive qualities or used in combination with pigments. The medium is melted and applied with a brush or any tool the artist wishes to create from. Each layer is then reheated to fuse it to the previous layer. Luminous is an adjective used quite frequently to describe the quality of encaustic painting, one also can feel a sense of memory as the lit up layers underneath are visible to the viewer. Organic is also a term used because of the very natural and life like supple nature of the wax. The exact origins of encaustic are unknown, though the Greeks may have learned to use wax for utilitarian purposes, such as caulking and painting ships from the Egyptians, only to pass it down to the Romans. There are no known existing examples of early Egyptian or ancient Greek or Roman encaustic art, only those works called the Fayum portraits exist, and the earliest of these dates from the first century. In Pliny the Elder’s Natural History, the author devotes Book 35 to art, and specifically focuses on encaustic. We do not know who first invented the art of painting with wax colors and burning in the painting, Pliny’s writings describe three separate methods of using encaustic. The 20^th. Century saw a rebirth of encaustic on a major scale. the most recognizable in the artwork of Jasper Johns in the 1950’s. Johns’ process combined layer after layer of paint, wax medium, newspaper and collage items to create a sensation evoking a personal history. The paintings done in encaustic are extremely archival, but as with any fine art, care should be given to them. There should be no fear of melting in normal conditions, the wax and the resin will not melt unless exposed to temperatures over 150 degrees. Some encaustic paintings will bloom over time, becoming cloudy, take a soft cloth and rub the surface gently. The surface will retain its gloss as the wax medium continues to cure and harden for up to 1- 3 years.