This “hot medium” causes creative sizzle in Kim’s studio!
Encaustic is a versatile and challenging medium. It consists of oil pigments suspended in a base of wax and resin that are melted on a heated palette at over 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Kim prepares each painting surface with 2 layers of beeswax followed with three layers of encaustic medium. This prepares the ground and numerous layers of colour and texture follow. Each layer is fused with heat to bind the layers together. The word, encaustic, comes from the Greek word, enkaustikos meaning “to heat or to burn”.
The historical roots of the medium are intriguing. Encaustic painting dates back to the Ancient Greek civilization where it was used on the hulls of ships, paintings and sculptures dating back to the fourth and fifth centuries B.C. Perhaps some of the best known ancient encaustic works are the Fayum Portraits from the Greco-Roman Egyptian civilization that were set into mummy casings. Encaustic painting was resurrected as a medium in the 1950 and 1960’s by the famous New York artist, Jasper Johns. Since then, it has been gaining popularity as a modern medium with artists.
"Miner's Passage" Winner Asencio Heritage Art Award
Jurors:
Judy Daley, acting curator for the Art Gallery of Peel
Kim Ness, former director of the McMaster University Museum of Art
