Welcome to Nadia Davidson's Molten Imaginings
My set up for painting in encaustic wax. The tools I use are the painting iron on the right. The stylus pen on the left and the mini hotplate for melting wax in dishes in the centre of the image.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
Me doing a demo of my encaustic wax process at a Christmas event. Photo by Michelle Brooks-Furnell
I also frame and mount all my paintings myself
All the tools of the trade, neatly stored in my box.
Did you know that I also paint in acrylics, gouache and watercolour?
At first, Molten Imaginings only referred to my encaustic wax paintings, however, I realise now, that the idea applies to all my artwork, and has been there right from the start.
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A fluid state of metamorphosis and transition exists throughout my body of work, right from my earliest drawings of fantastic liminal creatures, mythical dragons and other such entities which are witnessed only in twilight times – times between one reality and another.
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This idea is mostly realised through juxtaposition. The real and the fantastic, or surreal; the natural and the man-made; the angular and the formless…
Collage and digital techniques are also useful in realising this.
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Enjoy!
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