Encaustic Comments (part 2)
I have been experimenting all week with my newest encaustic accoutrements and I have had such a good time!
Melting, stirring, dipping, dripping, brushing, scraping, marking, embedding, rubbing, gouging.
I have spent more time that was reasonably necessary smelling the beeswax and lifting still warm globules to mould with my fingers. Watching the bloom on the surface fade under the smoothing of my hand.
Fusing the layers of wax to each other with my heat gun was fine when I was working on the little boards but when I progressed to the first bigger piece, I realised that I definitely needed something more powerful.
I always knew I wanted a proper blow torch, although I think in my head I was confusing blow torch with flame thrower...
There is a huge array of flaming tools out there! As I wended my confused way through the ranks of blow torches I worried over temperature degrees, weights, burning attachments, safety features and costs. All kinds of wild scenarios flashed before my eyes of out of control fusing where my studio caught fire and I am left like some cartoonish figure with soot blackened face and scorched hair, blow torch still in hand!
Eventually I decided on a quite modest (though suitably hot) version with easily replaced gas canisters. It arrived in the post yesterday.
Tomorrow the burning begins...
Melting, stirring, dipping, dripping, brushing, scraping, marking, embedding, rubbing, gouging.
I have spent more time that was reasonably necessary smelling the beeswax and lifting still warm globules to mould with my fingers. Watching the bloom on the surface fade under the smoothing of my hand.
Fusing the layers of wax to each other with my heat gun was fine when I was working on the little boards but when I progressed to the first bigger piece, I realised that I definitely needed something more powerful.
I always knew I wanted a proper blow torch, although I think in my head I was confusing blow torch with flame thrower...
There is a huge array of flaming tools out there! As I wended my confused way through the ranks of blow torches I worried over temperature degrees, weights, burning attachments, safety features and costs. All kinds of wild scenarios flashed before my eyes of out of control fusing where my studio caught fire and I am left like some cartoonish figure with soot blackened face and scorched hair, blow torch still in hand!
Eventually I decided on a quite modest (though suitably hot) version with easily replaced gas canisters. It arrived in the post yesterday.
Tomorrow the burning begins...
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