Encaustic is a special paint made from molten beeswax, tree resin, and ground up colored pigments. The Ancient Greeks developed this medium thousands of years ago and used it to paint murals, funeral portraits, and ships. Encaustic today is used for creative expression through paintings, photography, sculpture, and mixed media.

All methods of encaustic have the same basic requirements: heat. The encaustic medium must be in a liquid state when applied in thin layers to a surface, and each new layer must be further heated, or "fused", to the surface below it. There are myriad ways to apply, fuse and interact with encaustic paint. 

For my process, I use an electric pancake griddle to melt the encaustic medium (wax and resin without colored pigment added) and encaustic paint. I apply the molten paint and medium with paintbrushes, carve into the wax with pottery tools, and fuse in between layers with a blow torch. I like to experiment with recycled and salvaged materials to see how the wax interacts with and changes them, creating something unique and fresh out of what was once discarded.