Encaustic painting is done with melted pigmented beeswax applied in many coats on a compatible surface such as hardboard, wood or paper. The wax is worked and re-worked with a heat gun and various tools until the desired effect is achieved. If other materials are introduced, such as paper or plant material, etc., the painting then becomes mixed-media.
The artist, Joyce Van Horn, studied Encaustic Painting at the Ringling School of Art and Design with the well-known encaustic painter, Leslie Neuman. More study with Sandi Miot, in California brought her new visions. Enraptured with the medium, Van Horn explored the endless possibilities of encaustics and found her paintings pulled in new directions.
Encaustics carried Van Horn into the natural world where all events and beings and things have a cosmic reverberation. Nothing happens all on its own or unnoticed by the universe. Her paintings reflect this depth and breadth of cosmic action.
