Dear Readers,
Welcome, I am proud to announce the kick-off of our first on-line
by-yearly Encaustic Magazine, the Spring Issue. In this issue you will see
we have a featured cover artist, Francisco Benitez, a veteran encaustic
artist who lives, creates and teaches in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is
one of the workshop instructors at The Encaustic Art Institute in Santa
Fe. In addition, Francisco gives us a fascinating and thorough scholarly
history of encaustic art, and shares more examples of his extraordinary
portrait art.
Inside this issue you will find “Close-ups” of four accomplished artists
who work with encaustic. Kim Bernard is a founding member of New
England Wax who works in North Berwick, ME. She shares her exploration
of movement through a question and answer interview. Howard
Doug Mehrens
Hersh is an artist who lives and works in San Francisco. He shares how
after 25 years of creating artwork, he approaches his art practice. Paula Roland is a well known teacher and
artist from Santa Fe, NM. She is an award-winning artist known for popularizing the process of monotypes.
Through interviewing, we learn about her themes of work – past, present and future. Nancy Natale lives and
works in western Massachusetts. She shares her particular process in developing her series of mixed medium
work called Running Stitch. Each of these featured artists brings something new to encaustic work and to
the encaustic movement.
Elsewhere in this first issue of Encaustic Arts, you can get technique tips from the artists at Wax Works West,
a school for the encaustic arts outside Santa Cruz, CA, and learn about their ingenious encaustic “sample
books.” You can also learn about the buzzzzz in an article about bees wax.
From the Institute
I began the The Encaustic Art Institute, a non-profit organization, three years ago with the intention to
expand and expound on the medium of wax. We now have over 100 members from all over the country, with
every stripe of artist using wax exclusively or assimilating it with their own mediums. Our gallery holds one
of the largest and most diverse examples of encaustic art in the country. We also just added 3 bee hives to our
Institute to create a little more buzzzzz.
Just as The Encaustic Art Institute is YOUR Institute, we want Encaustic Arts magazine to be YOUR magazine.
This magazine is for all artists who work with encaustic wax and for those who wish to start with this magical
medium. The resurgence of interest in this ancient medium has been gaining momentum quickly, and is
becoming an international phenomenon. Encaustic organizations are springing up all over the country. Art
collectors both large and small are taking notice of the medium and the diverse ways it is lending itself to
both traditional and contemporary expression. We hope you join us in being a part of the movement. Send
us your suggestions for features and other content. Do you have a favorite tool, or a special technique you’ve
discovered or developed from working with encaustic? Maybe you have news about the artists who work in
encaustic in your area? We want to hear about it.
We hope you enjoy Encaustic Arts. Meanwhile, keep on waxing!
Douglas Mehrens
Founder and CEO
Encaustic Art Institute
Spring
4
www.EAINM.com