encaustic painting : technique of painting with pigments mixed with molten wax. It is a laborious
method, but it produces a very durable and stable surface, as wax resists moisture and does not yellow
with age. The name derives from a Greek word meaning ‘burnt in’ —a reference to the fact that the paint
was bonded to the support by passing a heated metal rod close to it, probably immediately after the
paint was applied. It was one of the principal painting techniques of the ancient world; the first great
practitioner is said to have been Pausias in the 4 th century BC, and the most remarkable surviving
examples are the mummy portraits from Faiyum, dating from the early centuries AD. Pliny (in the 1 st
century AD) describes two methods that were already ‘ancient’ in his day (one of them on ivory) and a
third newer method that had been devised since it became the practice to paint ships; he records that it
stood up to sun, salt, and winds. Encaustic was evidently also employed for colouring statues, but it was
not used for painting directly on walls, for which fresco was the standard technique. The older methods
described by Pliny were done with a knife or spatula; the newer technique with a brush. Signs of the
brush can be seen in some of the Faiyum portraits. Encaustic was the commonest painting technique in
the early centuries of the Christian era but it fell into disuse in the Middle Ages, to be replaced by tempera
and eventually oils. There have been various attempts to revive it (e.g. by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld,
who painted several scenes in encaustic in the Residenz at Munich in the 1830s). Jasper Johns has used
encaustic in his Flag and Target paintings, but the time consuming technique finds few exponents today,
even though electrical heating equipment makes it more manageable.
excerpted from Oxford Dictionary of Art 3 rd edition, 2004
EAI’s Mission: To promote public awareness, understanding, and appreciation of encaustic
art. Also, to offer space and programs for children, adults, and professional encaustic
artists, to exchange information and technique for working with wax, and to provide all
encaustic artists with a place to display and sell their art — in our EAI Member’s Gallery.
The Encaustic Art Institute (EAI) was founded by Douglas Mehrens and his wife Adrienne on
their property just south of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Douglas designed and built a 2500 sq. ft.
building for his studio and in 2005 dedicated it to the Institute. For the next ten years, the
Institute grew in membership to over 175 members nation-wide, with a current membership
of over 250 members. Member and national juried exhibitions were held each year, as well as
a continuous display of members’ work for sale to the public.
At the start of EAI’s founding, the most significant obstacle was the lack of awareness about
the medium — from the very word, “encaustic” to how to care for encaustic art. The focus
was to educate the public about the oldest art form dating back as early as the 4 th century
BC (see the encaustic history above). EAI set out to bring exposure to the medium through
adult and children’s workshops, as well as bringing encaustic into the public schools and
holding tours. Early on, the idea was to represent not just the encaustic medium, but to
include any artist working in cold wax or man-made wax. Thus “Encaustic/Wax” became
the branding along with “From Ancient Beeswax to the Modern Crayon.” As the public
began learning about the medium and the artists using it, encaustic gained momentum
and evolved into the fastest growing medium in the nation.