FAQ's

How do you "paint" with wax?

     First I use a special low heat iron that has no steam holes and operates at a lower temperture than a household iron. I melt colored beeswax on to the heat surface of the iron and use the iron as my "paintbrush". Nearly 75% of my work at this time is done just with the iron by using the flat, edges and point of the iron to get different effects. I also have a low heat stylus that looks like a soldering iron but works like a fountain pen. The wax is drawn up into a narrow channel and I can control the thickness of lines by the speed that I move the stylus. Of course this is really an over-simplification of the process because different colors react differently to heat i.e. some become a lot more liquid than others.

Click Here to See Demonstration

Will it melt?

     Encaustic Wax Paintings should be accorded the same respect as any fine art - do not hang it in direct sunlight as direct sunlight is much more intense than the temperature indicates. It is recommended to mount the painting in a frame with glass and a mat to prevent the wax from touching the glass. Beeswax has an approximate melting point of 140° but will get a little "soft" at about 125-130° . If nothing makes contact with the wax while it is "soft" no damage will occur - unless the temperture exceeds the melting point and then all bets are off. However, I have carried a painting around in the front seat of my car for all of May and June in St Louis. On very hot days when the inside of the car was over 120 or the painting was in direct sunligh, if I touched the wax, I smeared it - if I didn't touch it, the painting was fine as soon as it cooled off.

Is this a new form of art?

Painting with wax is one of the earliest form of painting. Some of the first cave drawings were created by using beeswax colored with pigments from flowers.

The ancient egyptians used colored beeswax to paint the images on many of the sarcophaguses.

In ancient Greek and Roman times Encaustic Wax painting was so popular that artists of the time actually refered to their artwork as "waxings" the same as we currently refer to "oils" and "watercolors". Also during this time period it was common to decorate statues by painting on them with wax.

Will it fade?

     Encaustic Wax was actually used by the ancient egyptians to decorate the coffins they used for the mummies. They have had excellant conditions for preservation and are still look good to this day. As with any piece of fine art - it should not be hung in direct sunlight or very close to a high heat source.

Will it scratch?

     Yes! Wax is a soft surface and I always recommend to mount and frame it behind glass.

What is a Giclee?

     A giclee is a high quality printing process that requires a special, very high dollar printer. They can be done on paper or more often on canvas and are generally done from .tiff files. The giclee process allows me to offer reproductions on canvas or paper of any painting I have a digital image of, in just about any size. At this time I can go up to 20" x 30" and they run about $125 framed. The canvas is streatched and treated - all you need to do is hang them where you want them. Email for details.

What made you decide to paint with wax?

     My friend and fellow encaustic wax painter, Alexah Strongheart, originally bought an encaustic wax painting from an artist down in Florida. I was amazed at the color, texture and 3d effect of the wax. I did some research on encaustic painting and decided to try it out. I spent a small fortune getting the supplies and did a lot of trial and error while trying to teach myself how to do this. Once I started becoming comfortable with it, I encouraged Alexah to try her hand at it. After her first try she was like "No way - this is just too hard", but since it was winter and she couldn't work on her found object art, she gave it another try. Then it became a challenge - I was creating some fun stuff so she went back to work and after several months of creating brown globs, she figured it out. We have been working together every since. She tends to do more towards flowers and water while I tend to do more fantasy and landscapes. We feel that our work compliments each others work more than competes with it, we do almost all of our shows together. So if you don't find anything on my site that you like - check out her site. Actually check out her site even if you do find things you like here. If you see work by both of us that you wish to purchase, email either one of us and let us know. We would be happy to offer you combined billing and shipping on your order.

Do you have more work for sale that is not on your website?

YES! At last count I have over 300 paintings for sale and there are just not enough hours in the day for me to be able to put all of them up for sale on the website. So I try to just put a couple of the main different kinds I do up on the website to give you a feel for my work. The best way to see my work is to come to a show.

Do you accept commissions?

Yes. Just email me with the details of what you are looking for and I will let you know if I can do it and if so, how much it will cost.

I am interested in getting started selling my own work via Arts & Carfts shows, can you help?

Yes! Take a look at my links page here for a listing of resources that I use.