Personal Artwork
|
Hobby Art - as a Hobby activity Encaustic Art offers several encouraging
qualities.
1. It is a creative outlet for unskilled beginners enabling even the most
unbelieving of people to discover with some fascination, that they can
produce something of artistic value.
2. Quick effective artwork is ideal for greetings cards which then share
the enthusiasm of the active individual with their friends and family
- even sales are not unusual
3. Encaustic art is one of the most relaxing activities around in the world
of hobby. The "mode of artistic experience" offers a welcome release from
the pressures of our 21st century lives. |
Leisure Art
Images painted with wax can be purely imagined or, if preferred, drawn in
much the same manner as an oil or acrylic artwork would be. The Stylus gives
excellent control and allows placement of the waxes just as a brush or pen
would. This unusual medium always creates interest when shown in Art club
exhibitions and often wins prizes for innovative work.
|
Creative Artwork
Creative artwork is one of the most fascinating activities we, as human
beings can pursue. It revolves around the directive of "just start and follow
the opportunities that emerge". Encaustic art, using the flowing yet instantly
finished qualities of the wax, enables a carefree approach probably unequalled
by any other medium. It is a great way to discover and source ideas.
|
Fine Art
Fine artists don't need to be told what to do, they just need to understand
what the particular medium is capable of and how to approach controlling
the medium. As a medium of vibrant colour and exploration, encaustic is
hard to parallel. |
Creative Art Therapy
|
Day centres
Anyone of any age and ability can become involved with encaustic art at
almost any skill level. This means that despite personal concerns over "I
can't paint", etc. absolutely everyone can actually "create". For those
to whom this has always been an illusive quality the experience can be truly
rewarding. |
Special Needs of all Ages
Imaging having very little skill, less concentration and a total lack of
patience. For some people this is reality.
Now imagine finding something that takes seconds and yet looks great, in
fact good enough to sell as greetings cards. This is often how encaustic
art performs in the area of special needs activity - NO AGE BARRIERS, NO
SEX BARRIERS, NO SKILL BARRIERS. |
Partially Sighted
Can partially sighted people paint?
Well, with the use of encaustic art the answer is a resounding YES! The
waxes are not only colours. They are also textured surfaces and smells.
This is an exciting medium for people with little sight because suddenly
they can relate to a medium and artwork from a totally new perspective.
With a little guidance results can be more than just rewarding.
|
Geriatrics
Old people are often lively in mind but have less physical control than
they once did. Creative wax art can be a real joy for them. It restores
a sense of achievement and usefulness. They can be helped to make cards
to send to friends and relatives. This is good for the spirit.
|
Hospices
People who know they are dying are often avoided by most of us because it
is awkward to face death openly, especially for the ones not dying. Encaustic
art offers something very special to these people - voyages of imagination
and wonder. This can be very uplifting and rewarding.
|
Prisons
Lots of time?
Then what about engendering some self respect and initiating a sense of
artistic value. Encaustic artwork can be a positive step in this area. Theft
and destruction can be tempered with creativity and production. Many many
inmates have enjoyed an excursion into the realms of creative imagination.
|
Activity Groups
|
Cubs
A group of young boys needs careful supervision and some safety instruction
before discovery of the wonders of encaustic art can be their prize. But
you can be sure it is an activity they will not forget (nor wish to).
|
Brownies
Supervision is the keyword in any situation where a group of younger children
are in a situation where heated tools are being used. However, we have never
yet had word of any serious situations arising. Children need to understand
the danger of heat - after all, the iron is no hotter than the top of a
toaster and is cooler than most hot glue guns which are frequently used
in schools. |
Girl Guides
Projects for creative flair and small group co-operation can be incorporated
into any encaustic art session with slightly older and more responsible
children. Encouraging pride and a sense of worthwhile achievement through
production of greetings cards or images is all to the good.
|
Scouts
Older boys like technology and danger. The idea of working with molten wax
seems to cover both, although in actuality the process has proved to be
extremely safe. Encourage projects which offer an end purpose rather than
just allowing them to "mess about". |
Youth Clubs & Centres
When there are disorganized groups of teenagers, care is required in the
way encaustic art is offered. It is best to set up a small work area where
a group of 2 to 4 individuals share a session. "Horse play" is a factor
of this age and stupid "tricks" with a heated iron (even a low temperature
one) could lead to minor injury. Creative encaustic can be very rewarding
and extremely engrossing for this age group but just one joker can spoil
it all so be mindful of pranks. |
Young Farmer's Clubs
A talk or demonstration is often the best way to get these enthusiastic
groups involved. This can be "spiced up" by letting one or two of the members
"have a go" in front of all their mates. |
Social Clubs & Centres for all Ages
Anyone and everyone, young and old mixed, can enjoy the engrossing activity
of exploring the imagination, the colours and the fascinating shapes magically
produced by the interaction of wax and iron. Again, greetings canards can
be a very saleable product for open days personal Christmas cards.
|
Women's Institute Groups (WI)
An evening demonstration can easily lead to a morning or day workshop with
a group of these enthusiastic and energetic ladies. Many women find they
have time to devote to creative development once the children are at school
or grown-up. |
Camp Activities
What a great thing to do on wet days. It may take a few minutes to get the
children interested but once they are.... its a job to get them to stop'
|
Hostels
Sometimes people are just passing through or drifting along. In these situations
encaustic can be just the thing to inject a bit of self achievement and
personal respect. It doesn't take much to get anyone motivated once they
realize that success is achievable and that it is OK to be successful.
As Nelson Mandela inferred - we are more afraid of success than failure.
|
Church Groups
Organised groups with a common direction and similar set of values can always
gain an enjoyable and interesting experience from a session of encaustic
art. Images can be "flavoured" by using graphics and texts that relate to
the group beliefs. Its a lot of fun! |
Education
|
Junior / Primary
Even small children have been exposed to the excitement of wax creativity,
bearing in mind the careful supervision and one-to-one interaction between
teacher and infant. Of course, some small children will not be suited to
this activity, but generally a parent will know the abilities of their child
and a teacher will understand the safety priorities to be upheld.
|
An Ability Leveller
What a great feeling it is to be neither better nor worse than any other.
The first time anyone uses encaustic art, putting wax on iron and iron on
card, they will be in chaos. At this point all are equal and even those
people who feel less able or untalented can see that they are doing fine.
Those who already paint well may initially find encaustic art frustrating,
largely because they are unable to sufficiently control and dominate the
medium. Of course, this is actually the very nature of creativity - discovery
through the emergence of / rather than pre-conceiving and then executing
a piece. |
Creative Sourcing
How do you source or think of something totally new?
The easiest way is to just get started and then play.
As you play something will emerge and before you know it an idea has been
initiated.
Many people use encaustic as a method of sourcing for later translation
into a painting in another medium. Imagine creating 30 full colour doodles
in just as many minutes! Well encaustic enables such experimental profusion
and to cap it all, the artwork explorations are completely finished in seconds
(NO DRYING TIME TO SPEAK OF). |
Developing Artistic Imagination
Imagination is the key to creative activity. Encaustic Art can throw hundreds
of images and opportunities for development at your mind in just a few minutes
playing around. What better therapy for a creative outcome? Play around,
experiment with different techniques different tools, mixed media, different
surfaces, in fact, the list is pretty much endless, so just get on with
it.... |
