Encaustic Paint

I know that I've waxed poetic about encaustic wax before (he he, get it?), but I had never tried encaustic paint before, in spite of having the intention, and the actual little paint blocks, for quite some time.  Last weekend I decided to dive in and try it, and it was a lot of fun.  I've been thinking about it for so long that I was kind of overwhelmed by all the possible things I could do ( actually, I spend too much of my "studio" time in that state), but finally managed to settle down to something.  Making the Dragonfly was really fun - I know you can't tell from head on, but it's about 1/4" high.  You press a cookie cutter into the wax layers til there's a tight seal, then pour melted wax in, it only takes a few minutes to dry, and then you pull the cookie cutter off.  I've done that before, but much more satifying with colored wax!  And brushing colored wax over the circle stencil was really fun too.

 I think that all the mixed media goodness we love - layering papers, image transfers, and incorporating 3D objects is just that much more fun with wax.  If you've been tempted, don't wait as long as I did - you don't have to have much equipment, I hardly have any.   And I'd be happy to help if you have any questions...