Wednesday, June 16, 2010


Encaustics, My Next Adventure...



Last weekend I attended the 4th Annual Encaustics Conference at the Monserrat College of Art in Beverly, MA. I have been experimenting lately with encaustics because I have been drawn to the simple process of painting with the natural medium of beeswax and tree sap/resin.

Beeswax smells and feels heavenly delicious to me. When I touch the warm wax, I have the same warm and cozy feeling as I do when I drink a warm cup of hot tea on a cold night. It soothes me like no other medium I have ever used before. Even though I am new to encaustics, somehow I feel like I have been using it my whole life.

(Judy Klich, Robin Van Hoozer and Ruth Ann Muirhead-Stephens)

I am not alone with my passion for beeswax. At the conference, I experienced something I never had happen to me before with a group of artists. Every artist that I met was warm, open and willing to share every secret, every gained experience with grace and generosity.

When I returned to Miami, I realized that not only did I learn a lot about encaustics, but I also learned what it feels like when a whole group of artists share, support, encourage and inspire each other openly and honestly.

A few days after the conference I happen to ask an artist in Miami about their technique. The artist said he couldn't tell me because he said it was his secret and couldn't share that information. I smiled and thought about what I had learned and about the best kept secret of all: helping others is the first step toward success.

4 comments:

  1. Nancy, I began following your blog recently because every Google Alert I had found you weekly. I kept clicking into your blog...well...now...you have another follower. =)

    I am working with encaustics in Homestead, Florida. I would LOVE to work with another artist with this media!!! I could not attend the workshop, but consoled myself with some online purchases and a couple of books about encaustics.

    The artist that will not share will not learn...HIS loss!

    I have some of my encaustics on my website. If you would like to see them, please follow my Google account.

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  2. Angeline-Marie: Thanks for following! Sorry you missed the encaustic conference. I really learned a lot and met fabulous artists working in encaustics.

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  3. Thank you for including me in your blog. You did a good job of capturing the essence of the conference. I really miss my new encaustic friends. I really want to start an IEA chapter in Nashville! Glad to have meet you!

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  4. Great to meet you too. Hopefully we can both make it next year. Thanks again for everything!

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