The inspiration for the 'Scratching the Surface' exhibition was derived from my first experience viewing the encaustic works
by Jasper Johns at the Whitney Museum in New York. The show displayed 25 original encaustic works and was held at Gallery St. Thomas in 2004. I intended to give the viewer an introduction to all types of encaustic works.
Encaustic painting is an ancient, enchanting medium that was used predominantly by the Greeks and Egyptians. However, the medium has lost its popularity through time, most likely due to the challenging nature of the mediums itself. The origin of the word 'encaustic' is Greek and means to 'burn in', which refers to the process of fusing the paint. This medium dates back to the 5th century BC and was used to apply coatings of wax and resin to weatherproof ships. Encaustic is a beeswax based paint that is kept molten on a heated palette. It can be applied by brush or other tools to paper, wood panels, stretched canvas or other supports.
