In love with wax

Do you know that feeling when you discover something new and from the first second it feels like home? Well, that's what just happened to me when I tried encaustic painting for the very first time two weeks ago.

© 2015 Laly Mille - mixed media & encaustic

I had been wanting to try wax for the past 2 years, I was in love with the dreamy look and soft texture of the medium, drooling over the artwork I dicovered on the web (see my wax board on Pinterest)... I didn't dare for a long time but now... I'm hooked! Love at first sight (first brushstroke really)... Participating in Kellee Conrad’s 100 artworks challenge gave me the little push I needed, and I'm so thankful!

For now I have only started working with encaustic medium combined with other mixed media techniques (pencil, inks, oil paint, a bit of collage...) and it has already opened up such a world of possibility! I can't even imagine what's going to happen when I try mixing some encaustic paints...

One of the things I most enjoy is working with a natural medium (encaustic medium is made of beeswax and tree sap), plus it smells divine... I also love that I get to play and mix my own medium, it's quite magical really: crushing the beautiful Damar crystals, melting the wax, watching the cloudy effect when it becomes solid again, the whole process feels somewhat like alchemy...

I'm not going to give you technical details (EDIT: yes I will! Free videos, tips and supplies are now available HERE) but today I just want to share a few snapshots of my first pieces.

Remember the little abstract drawings on watercolor paper that I showed you in my previous post?

Here is what they look like after 2 coats of wax:

And after working on that surface, scratching, painting, staining and fusing, scratching, painting and fusing some more...

So here is #1/100, my very first encaustic painting!

And #2/100:

I have 9 pieces in progress in this series and will share the rest here soon so stay tuned! (if you haven't already, you can now subscribe to new blog posts by email HERE).

NB: All pieces are 8" x 8" on MDF wood panels and are available for purchase (they still need to dry for a few days though!). Shoot me an email or PM me on Facebook if you'd like to know more. * EDIT: SOLD! *