Original artwork description:

This small encaustic looks like an image captured by the Hubble Deep Space Observatory: a dispersal of stars across an eruption of gases, or an exploding supernova, and indeed some of the same forces that shaped such deep space images shaped my encaustic paint: thermal energy and air currents. Painting, as one does, "hot" (the melted beeswax is at about 200 degrees F), and each layer fused to the next (with an heat gun and propane torch), the liquid paint cooling to a solid, I don't feel that I'm painting as much as I'm recreating images of the "real" thing. There is a large element of chance in such a work, although I've created the scattering of stars across this galaxy by adding powdered pigment to the encaustic medium, then scattering them with the air from the torch or heat gun. The finished painting is hard, permanent and has a shine to the surface. Painting on cradled hardboard, it is presently framed in a silver canvas floater frame (wood) that adds 1-inch to the overall dimensions.

Materials used:

encaustic paint, powdered pigment, oil stick on cradled panel

Tags: