Category: Encaustic

This is a piece I started last spring before my summer hiatus. When I came back to it a few weeks ago, the leaves had gone white and were brittle and dry. I just broke the pieces off, really, and left the leaf bits that were still stuck. 

The flowers themselves you can hardly see. They weren’t very big to begin with, but there they are. I haven’t really done anything new to them.

However, these are fresh orange leaves. I didn’t iron or press them or anything. They just sat on the table for a day so they weren’t quite as . . .  juicy. I waxed them down and pressed every bit of air out of them, even cracking them or ripping them so they’d lay flat. We know that these leaves will go white over time.

I’ve doctored them, though. They have some green oil paint on the wax, and a lot of india ink, which is my new favorite thing. So, we’ll check back in a few months and see how it’s aged.

The hot weather here is over, and it’s time to revisit the encaustic studio.

First of all, let’s check in on these two pieces that used ironed flowers. Remember them? The hibiscus is almost six months old, and the yellow bell is seven months. This is how they look today.

Not bad!

Both have retained their color better than a non-ironed piece. After six months, any other organic encaustic I’ve made has faded to white. The leaves in the bottom right of the hibiscus show this. I didn’t press them, only picked and added them at the end. All the green from them is gone.

I feel vindicated and on the right track with this process! After months away from the studio, the start up is hard, but let’s get in there.

One other note to the experiment: Flowers with deep color seem to fare better than pale flowers. Winter in the desert is our blooming season. I hope to post many more pieces as I ramp up. Stay tuned.