Assembled and Waiting, Encaustic on panel, 18” x 12” |
Encaustic painting is a broad term applied to a myriad of techniques combining wax and pigments with a small amount of resin or other waxes added for hardness. Carol Odell uses a medium of beeswax and carnauba wax in two ways. Firstly, she uses it by itself as a finish surface to works on paper created with other media. Secondly, she uses it in combination with oil paint to create a painting medium that behaves like wax . Either way the medium must be heated to a minimum of 1400 in order to flow and hardens almost instantly as the wax cools. After applying additional layers of color, the surface of the painting must be heated by means of heat guns, small torches, heat lamps , etc. to bind the layer to the support of the previous layer of wax. A wax painting may also be manipulated by scoring, etching or using sgraffito , a technique of revealing a contrasting under layer by scratching through the top layer. The wax itself has an organic richness and warmth which may be enhanced by rubbing with a soft cloth to bring up a soft gloss on the surface.
This medium holds interest for Carol Odell because of its difference from oil painting or monotype. The immediacy of the medium allows the artist to work continuously on a single piece and the physicality of layers adds greater surface dimension and texture to the compositions.
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