Welcome to Nadia Davidson's Molten Imaginings

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Demo of the encaustic wax process at a Christmas event. Photo by Michelle Brooks-Furnell

Encaustic Wax

My preferred medium is molten wax

The tools I use are the painting iron, he stylus pen tool and the mini hotplate for melting wax in dishes. I also frame and mount all my paintings myself

Encaustic wax painting is fun! I melt the wax blocks directly onto the hot iron to produce molten flows of colour which I apply straight onto the sealed card. this then dries, almost immediately, into very vibrant, yet translucent images. These can be reworked at any time with the simple application of the hot iron or stylus tool, which re-melts the wax, letting it flow into new forms and shapes. The wax can also be wiped off, while it is still hot, to produce hazy effects of sky or water.

Encaustic is a Greek word meaning “to heat or burn in” (enkaustikos), this refers to the way that the colour is applied to the painting surface.

Encaustic painting is an ancient technique, however the modern revival of it only came about due to the availability of hot electrical tools and particularly that of a hot iron, which is the main implement used to paint with. This is noticeable in some of the sweeping ‘strokes’ used the pictures.

Coloured wax is applied directly to specially heat-sealed card by using a ‘painting iron.’ Detail can be added by using the hot pen (with a nib to suck up the wax) known as a stylus.

The application of the wax is free-flowing and a very relaxing and meditative process. Remarkable effects can be produced by it. In fact, often, no two people will see a picture in the same way. All of my encaustic wax paintings are inspired by my local landscape of the Highlands of Scotland.

Artist Statement

The overarching theme of my art practice is the exploration of ‘otherworlds,’ utopian dreams and parallel dimensions through a variety of media, the roles they have as both imaginative escapism, and as prophecy or vision of the future, and their importance in the contemporary world.

My main source of inspiration comes from the natural landscape around me. I live by the sea in the Highlands of Scotland. This inspires me to create dramatic landscapes of seas and mountains in my encaustic work, more often than idyllic scenes. Encaustic is my preferred medium for landscapes.

The juxtaposition of natural landscapes with the man-made environment inspires much of my abstract and illustrative work. The seemingly chaotic natural forms, at microscopic level reveal rigid geometric forms, which inspired my series of crystal drawings on Photoshop. Digital media, I find, is best suited for creating abstract art. However, when it is drawn by hand, it can be more satisfying, as much of my abstract work now is.

SERVICES

As an artist the service I provide is personalized artwork in any form.

Primarily I paint in different media such as encaustic, acrylic, watercolour or gouache. I also draw in pencil, charcoal, chalk or in digital form. What I paint is entirely up to you.

Landscape With a Meaning