Encaustic painting has been a choice in
the studio for some time now. The process involves melting wax and
pigment (in our case, crayons) and painting with a special encaustic
brush (we have tried little paint brushes, Q-tips and have settled on
pipe cleaners). Students paint on railroad board donated from a
puzzle company. Some paintings are on a single board, others spill
over onto two or three or more boards, fitting together, coincidentally, like a puzzle.
Two artists working together recently
made a series of 5 paintings that fit together. They then mounted them the paintings onto a
board, and continued their painting on the back board, which created
a multilevel effect.
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| "Sun & Moon" |
Click to play!
Today a 6th grader made a creative
break through and started painting “UP.” Her process reminded me
of how a 3-D printer works – building up thin layers to create a
three dimensional object a little at a time.  |
| Painting or sculpture? |
When students can return time and again
to a process or medium or an idea, they gain greater and greater
facility with materials and techniques and enjoy the opportunity to
fine-tune ideas. Over time there is a deeper understanding of what
the medium can do and how to make it one's own. That is when
innovation can occur.
