Actually Painting with Encaustic

Encaustic painting still seems to be fascinating and drawing more and more people into trying their hand at painting with hot wax, resin and color.

In my mind, it almost seems like a cult and there are teachers all over the world offering classes in encaustic. It is fun for everyone. Lots of participants in classes just want the experience of using heat to see the colors move and make a more or less shiny surface.

I have taught hundreds of students in my encaustic workshops and after the first day of getting used to the heat source and seeing what happens when the colors move by themselves, I guide them into thinking about composition and negative space. I claim that my students often make more accomplished paintings than some "teachers". http://ezshwan.blogspot.com/2018/09/none-of-my-students-make-same-painting.html

My house mate, Cynthia Hamilton has mastered the encaustic technique. Her paintings are abstract, with the most beautiful surfaces I have even seen. Cynthia has also worked in this medium for 20 years. She is my daughter, but I did not teach her. We started at the same time; I was in Ashland OR. and she was in Brooklyn NY. She first saw the encaustic technique in Italy and I discovered it in Portland OR at a gallery.

We do not share a studio, so her finished paintings are a happy surprise to me.
Below are some of her newest encaustic paintings. I wish you could see the touch the glass-like surface. I love to pet her paintings. It is a sensual experience.