Another backlit prototype

My initial experiments with waxed papers infused with wax over a heating plate, then sandwiched between two glass panes, have not been fully success flu. First, the front and back surfaces of the wax infused pieces on paper are in direct contact with the glass panels. If the piece is flat and has no texture, this might be fine, but, following the workshop in Victoria, I am again more drawn to altering the surface with texture: dripping, scraping, sctayching the wax applied with a hake paint brush, embedding leaves, drawing on it, applying fabric textures, rubbing diluted oil and spirit washes in the crevices, etc. This means the piece will have texture.

However, I do not tend to want to mount the pieces on a substrate. I seem to prefer exploiting the translucent quality of the wax infused washi paper, backlighting the pice using ambient light from nearby lamps and windows. This allows the piece to change as the natural and artificial light changes,  showing the front and the back.

In the test piece below, I have mounted the piece between the glass panes in such a way that the textures front is separated from the glass pane; only the back of the piece lightly touches the back panel. In this example, the light from the back plays with the wax droplets—an effect you wouldn't notice if the piece was mounted in a frame with a mat or mounted to a substrate. Note how vivid the colours are when the piece is displayed in this fashion, compared to the image in the previous post.

Advanced Encaustics workshop in Victoria

Earlier this week, I attended a 2-day Advanced encaustics workshop in Victoria led by Leah Macdonald. It was a nice follow-up to last year's Introduction to encaustics workshop. We worked with different types of papers (thin Japanese paper to thicker, more textured papers). Of course, I preferred the Japanese paper because of its thinness and translucency once infused with wax.

Wood Nymph, pigment ink & pencil on Fabriano cold press,
infused with yellow beeswax, oil paint, leaves,  9.5 x 13 in, 2014

Untitled, pigment ink on Asuka washi,
infused with yellow beeswax, handmade paper, oil paint, 10 x 14.5 in, 2014

We also did one piece on a wood substrate.

Alien Contact, pigment ink, Kozo washi & Hahnemuhle Rag on wood panel,
infused with beeswax, oil paint, leaf, 10 x 14 x ½ in, 2014

We also explored making a simple waxed book using discarded and test prints, fabrics, thread, etc.