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Follow on Google News | Florida Artist Goes Green- Using Beeswax and a Blowtorch to create ArtFt. Lauderdale, Florida (August 01, 2011) – Local artist AJ Grossman is reviving the use of encaustic painting as part of her effort to go green. Encaustic is made out of beeswax and is becoming a popular medium.
By: AJ Grossman AJ started searching for alternative mediums and started making collage with beeswax. “Once I started with the beeswax, I was hooked and then I did research and found information on encaustic wax and the process” says AJ from her home studio. Encaustic is a technique that is over 3,000 years old. Encaustic means “to burn in”. The wax must be melted, brushed onto a panel and then fused with heat. The Greeks used beeswax mixed with pigment to seal the outside of their ships. It was also used in the Fayim paintings of mummies. Then in the 60’s, Jasper Johns, started to experiment with it. AJ packed her bags and went out to Santa Fe, NM to find artists who worked in encaustic and to learn as much as possible. “When I started 5 years ago, no one heard about it, and I had to go out to Santa Fe to find a workshop, I can’t even find supplies here in South Florida, so I have to make my own”. Her studio is filled with hot plates, crock pots and propane torches. “It is a labor intensive process, and I can print monotypes, make sculpture, carve into it and also paint with it. When I tell people that I make eco-friendly art, they expect a painting of nature, or a tree and not abstracts”. Encaustic wax is made of beeswax, damar resin and pigment. It needs to be heated to a minimum temperature of 180 degrees. Once melted it is applied to panels with a brush, the same as paint, and then a heat gun or propane torch to fuse the wax. Once cooled the medium will harden and can be buffed to a high shine. The unused encaustic is stored in metal tins and can be melted again for the next use. AJ says she will never go back to using acrylic paints, but does use oil paints with her wax. “The wax has very specific principals and you cannot use canvas or plastics as the wax must be able to absorb into something, and withstand heat.” AJ Grossman started as a fashion illustrator in New York, and then transitioned into fashion design and art direction for several national fashion houses. She now resides in Hollywood, Florida with her husband and 2 dogs. You can see more of her work at www.ajgrossman.com. She also teaches workshops in encaustic techniques. End
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