Opal Sea . . . Original Encaustic painting, 5”x 7” on Birch wood panel, frame not included, Free Easel

While selecting pigments for this painting I held my grandmother’s opal pendant in my hand. The colors I chose, I realized, were the same ones I often used in my seascapes. Hence the name, Opal Sea. The depth and translucency in this piece is very evident as there are many layers of wax. Each color you see indicates a separate wax layer. This 5”x 7” encaustic painting is on a birch wood panel and comes with a free easel. The frame shown is a suggestion only.

An encaustic iron and heated smoothing tool were used on this painting along with many layers of wax to create this effect. Both implements are heated to 170-200 degrees. After initial layers of molten wax from a melting pot are applied and ironed to a sheen, a smaller, smoothing tool is used to create various effects using pigmented wax. After every application of wax the painting is heated by a flame torch to seal each layer to the previous one otherwise the wax layers could separate with changes in temperature. I use only solid wood panels or acid etched glass panels as the strata for my work, never stretched canvas. Encaustic art has survived for over 2000 years, longer than any other painting form and is still exhibited in museums around the world. If you care to learn more about the origins of encaustic art consider searching for Fayum Mummy Encaustic Art. If you have questions about this piece or any other please see my blog here on this site and always feel free to ask questions.