Art mediums are continuously revolving. New mediums come in and old ones go out, but they never stay out forever. ENCAUSTIC art, like any piece, must be treated correctly to maintain its look.
Keith Kavanaugh, from the Kansas City area, is bringing popularity back to an old and very unique form of art — encaustic or hot wax painting, primarily with bee’s wax.
Kavanaugh gave an encaustic art workshop Tuesday at the Bowlus Fine Arts center for Amy Shannon’s art class.
“It is a rare medium, but it is more popular now than it has ever been,” Kavanaugh said. “There used to be only one book on it, now there are probably half a dozen, which is still not a lot.”
Encaustic art can be traced back to 800 B.C. and went out of favor when tempura and oil painting came along.
“Greeks would put wax on the hulls of their boats and there would be colorful designs alongside,” Kavanaugh said. “It’s not much of a stretch to take that and do it on (canvas sized) panels. It came from ship building.”
He originally majored in music at Berkley College of Music in Boston.
“There was an art history professor that was really inspiring,” Kavanaugh said.
Kavanaugh then delved into all types of art mediums, including graphic design, which he still does some of.
Kavanaugh became interested in encaustic art when he came across a Jasper Johns painting, 1950s artist who worked predominantly in encaustic art, at a museum in Boston.
“About 10 years ago I dropped acrylic (art) and focused primarily on wax,” Kavanuagh said.
He now how has a studio in Kansas City, Mo.
ACCORDING to Kavanaugh, bee’s wax is used because it has the right amount of plasticity. He uses skillets and hot plates to melt the wax.
Many types of waxes can be used when painting but Kavanaugh said he found using bee’s wax with a little carnauba wax, a tougher wax of the leaves of the palm copernicia prunifera, makes for a fluid but firmer surface.
Bricks of wax can be found in any color that oil or acrylic comes in.
Though Kavanaugh mostly paints landscapes, he has also done collages. Wax lends itself well to collages because papers and objects can be imbedded.
When making encaustic art a heat gun is needed to keep the wax flowing.
To imbed an object hot wax must be laid down on the panel and then a layer of hot wax needs to be swiped over the top of the object. Once the object and wax have been placed, a heat gun is used to fuse the wax together.
Wax can be sculpted, scratched, splattered and brushed to create texture.
Kavanaugh said the process allows for an artist to find new and unique ways to create art with different shapes, textures, colors and looks.
Tools laying around the house, string, spoons, stencils, knives, all can become tools or part of the art.
Encaustic art owners need not worry about their hanging art work melting on a hot day.
The wax melts at 150 degrees.
“If your painting is melting, you have bigger problems because your house is on fire,” Kavanaugh said. “If you leave it out in the trunk of your car on a hot day it will be a puddle.”
For more information on Kavanaugh visit his website at www.keithkavanaugh.com.
Artist brings back early art medium
