Creating Dimensional Encaustic Paintings Flo Bartell For my rst ve years working in encaustic, I took pleasure in making the surface of my paintings smooth and bubble free. I loved the process and the seductive feel of my nished pieces. Eventually though, I needed texture and sculptural elements to tell my story. I had begun a series of paintings showing evidence of time passing and the complexity of accumulated years: walls peeling, layers revealed, rough textures. I experimented by embedding canvas and papers in wax. That worked fairly well in small paintings, but I couldn’t achieve the dimension and sculptural e ects I needed to make larger statements in my work Just at the right time, I discovered that Michelle Belto would be teaching a workshop in encaustic sculpture following the 2013 International Encaustic Artists retreat in Santa Fe, NM. I suspected that if I learned how to build sculpture, I could adapt the process to create dimensional elements in my paintings. Learning to use wire mesh with plaster gauze and encaustic was key. I excitedly returned to my studio to experiment with a hybrid sculpture/painting style. Since 2013, I have used that process in my art In my first painting after Michelle’s workshop, I formed a dimensional element with wire mesh, stapled that to a wood panel, and covered the mesh with plaster gauze.
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