View from the top - Kalbarri

When visiting Kalbarri in Western Australia the first thing that strikes you is the colours.
Looking down from the Cliff tops with the waves churning bright white and the crisp blue ocean and the orange red cliffs. I could stand and stare for hours.
Using Encaustic as a medium allows me to build up various layers and colours which attempts to mimic the movement and depth of this beautiful landscape.
Encaustic is an ancient painting method using a blend of hot beeswax and resin painted onto a wooden board.
This image is provided without a wire on the back to allow you to choose the orientation that best suits your room.
The medium used to create this artwork is called Encaustic, meaning “to burn in or fuse”. This is an ancient painting medium first practiced by Greek artists as far back as the 5th century B.C. The picture is built up using layers of Encaustic medium fused with heat between each layer.

Taking care of your Encaustic artwork.
As the main ingredient in encaustic art is beeswax it is susceptible to temperature changes. Adding resin to the beeswax elevates the melting temperature to 65C.
This means that as long as you don’t expose your artwork to extreme heat or cold (which can crack the wax) it will last for hundreds of years. Don’t display it in direct sun as this can cause the wax to heat up and move over time.
Over time the wax will pick up dust in the air which will dull it. You can buff the picture with a soft cloth to restore the shine when this occurs.

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South African born Melissa has always had a love of nature and capturing this in a variety of ways. Over the past 20 years she has dabbled in all sorts of artistic mediums from Oil paint, Photography, Sketching, Water colour, Alcohol ink and various sculpting mediums.

Becoming an Apiarist a few years ago prompted an exploration of the ancient art of Encaustic painting. In using hot beeswax as a base medium, she found a way to combine structure and randomness by incorporating various layers of sketching, painting and sculpting into one piece.
Living in the Perth Hills provides Melissa with endless subjects and inspiration for botanical art. “I find Native flora in particular fascinating, ugly and gnarly on the surface at times with such delicate beauty and robust determination to survive, somewhat reflecting us humans.”