Waxing lyrical

I’ve wanted to try encaustic art for ages and today I got that chance. Poilin McGowan, who is a talented artist, has recently opened the Open Door Gallery and Studio in Rathcormac alongside fellow artist Tanis Gordon Smith.

Poilin had a beginners encaustic art class so I jumped at the chance to have a go and I absolutely loved it. Encaustic art is wax art, you melt the wax and make pictures…I’m sure there is a more technical term for it but you know me.

What I loved about this was the element of surprise, because I’m a beginner I had no clue of what the finished result was going to look like. Poilin makes it look so easy and I really like her way of teaching, she’s very calm which makes everyone else calm.

After Poilin gave us a demo off we went to our work stations, we had our own areas complete with an encaustic iron, what looked like a soldering iron with various attachments and a heat gun.

I churned out a lot of pictures, I realised I didn’t put enough wax on the first few but I got better as the morning went on. There was something very relaxing about being in the shadow of Benbulben, looking at the rain hitting the pavement outside, and watching the wax morph into something interesting.

We were all so engrossed in the class that we didn’t even stop for a break. It’s easily one of the most enjoyable classes I’ve been too and of course now I really want an encaustic kit!