Encaustic Arts Magazine Winter 2011 | Page 27

Rough cut 22-25 gauge steel I take some snips and just grab random scrap pieces of metal and cut them to an assortment of shapes. This is my palette of steel in conjunction with some another found objects or remnants form other fabrication projects. Hammered out flat I hammer out the steel and make most of them as flat as possible. Tack welding the 3 dimensional sketch I grab random pieces and just start welding them. Usually I begin with a spine or centering object. I normally work with a spine like that of mammal or animal it seems to be the organizing framework. Refining the edges Encaustic burning This is where I stop sketching and start refining the form. I grind/ sand, and re-weld to finalize the form and make it as clean as possible. In the final stages I burn wax into the metal with Map Gas. Map Gas gets much hotter than butane. Sometimes the art will catch on fire. Techne` Fall 27 www.EAINM.com