Encaustic Workshop with Ken Bourassa

Wow, I surpassed all expectations for today's painting challenge! I spent a very productive day at an encaustic (painting with beeswax and hardener) workshop with master encaustic painter Ken Bourassa. I had so many ideas and had to work quickly and through lunch to get some of them down. This medium is very different to work with as the paint hardens on the brush right away. It has to be heated and ironed to seal it which of course can melt the wax right down to the board (I'm good at that). The first painting actually has paint, material, paper and gold flecks embedded into it.

"Autumn Changes"
12" x 8" Encaustic on board

There is actually more tree than this picture shows. When I get a chance I will take another photo. There is also gold fleck on the tree and sun that doesn't show up.

"Come Along For The Ride"
Encaustic 8" x 12" on board

This one inspired me as our friends Laurianne and Chris just signed up for the 2 day MS bike ride. They invited their friends to join them. I put the biker high on the hill to represent the distance they have to do.

"Flooded Bike Path"

12" x 8" Encaustic on board

My brain was working in very different directions today. When Calgary was flooded last year we went on a bike ride only to find the bike path completely washed away...I guess that view has stayed with me.

"Experiment Not Finished"

8" x 12" Encaustic on board

This one is not finished and has a variety of layers that the camera does not capture. I plan on carving more into it when I have time...just ran out of day.

"Which Button?"

12" x 8" Encaustic on board

I love this one! It has 5 homemade beads going down on the top right and 3 going up from the bottom left. These bead were made in honor of the 10 years (last September) my ladies hiking group have been hiking together. Sue and I had made dog tags and beads for each year each hiker had been able to go on our yearly hike to use as a pull tab on their back pack. The beautiful and fun colours made me think of them! :)

"Stormy Okanagan Lake" - Encaustic painting #2

"Stormy Okanagan Lake"

12" x 16" Encaustic painting on board

click on painting to see a larger view

This is the second painting I did in the FCA Encaustic workshop with Ken Bourassa. I grew up in Kelowna B.C. and boating was a family pastime. The Okanagan Lake can become stormy very quickly and the waves get very large which made for a lot of fun playing in the water, but down right scary in the boat. We would try to get near the shore quickly as the waves would come over the front of the boat and up the windshield. The hills are very dry in the summer and I always loved the "dry & wet" contrast of that beautiful area.

"Natures Force" - Encaustic painting #1

"Nature's Force"

16" x 12"  Encaustic painting on board

click on painting for a larger view

This was my first attempt at encaustic painting. I took a 2 day FCA workship with Ken Bourassa instructing.

Beeswax is mixed with a hardener and melted together with slow heat. A thin clear mixture is applied to the board. It is very strange using a brush and having the mixture harden on the brush before you can get it on the board! It is then ironed into the board to melt the wax mixture into all spaces of the board. It hardens into a milky colour. Next the beeswax mixture is added to pigment in small tin foil dishes and you use brushes to paint it on your picture. Between each layer it has to be sealed with a heat gun (or blow torch!). I prefered using a heat gun and had fun with moving some of the layers with it.

This painting was inspired by the ariel photographs our son has taken while working in the Arctic as a pilot for Kenn Borek Air. The yellow is the sun's reflection on the snow caps with the blue iceberg peaking through and the darker ground below.

click on painting for a larger view

This is a closer look at part of the painting to get an idea of some of the colours. It has beautiful bronze highlights with touches of gold.