I usually use 10” x 10” cradled wood panels to demonstrate encaustic painting techniques for my students. In doing so, I use most of the materials in my teaching box and as many ways to work with wax as I can.

I incise, collage, build up texture with paper and other material, imbed objects, scrape, and fuse lightly or fuse a lot.

At the end of class, the pieces look terrible.

I remind my students that wax can be reworked, painted over or scraped away many times and let them know that I will take the panel back to the studio to rework and make it into something beautiful. 

All of these panels began that way.

Back in the studio I painted them all red, but that was way too bright for the Bloodlines collection I was working on. So I painted them all white. I added to texture that was already there by building up areas with wax, mulberry paper, sewing pattern pieces and other found material.

As I worked I thought about influences of family, students I have taught, and the effects of time on my work. I learned from the history and the process.