Dora Stork

The my encaustic painting is made with self-made paint, which basically consists of pigments and beeswax. Does not contain oil or other paints.

The procedure itself dates back to antiquity and has been known for thousands of years. Only few artists around the world work with wax on its own.

Artworks made with encaustic are characterized by bright color and silky light. Thanks to the well-preserving properties of the wax, the colors do not fade over time and retain their liveliness.

Encaustics paintings, like paintings taken with oil, must be protected from water and physical influences. Do not place under glass when framing!

Over time, they become dusty or slightly oxidized by the wax. In this case, it is advisable to wipe with a slightly crumpled kitchen paper towel and the painting regain their original brilliant color and shine.

I saw a wax picture once. It was non-figurative and abstract. This style is not really my own, but enthralled its silky glow, brilliant colours and transparency. Full with enthusiasm, I looked up everything that could be known about it on the internet and in its literature. Well, I didn't find much about this ancient technique but it was a good start. Mostly I found information about fayum portraits and sarcophagus. Today, iron techniques are the most popular, therefore most of the modern resources are about it.

It was more than 15 years ago. Since then I've been studying the wax material, its mixing with pigments and so on. Finally, I created my own medium according to my precisely composed recipe what I’ve used to developed my wax painting technique. Because there was nobody who could teach me, I had to experiment the knowhow by my own.

I can already express what I want with wax as I wish. I really like this material because it’s very versatile. Sometimes it's hard and heavy like an oil picture. My pictures are often mistaken oil paintings. Other times it's easy and unrepeatable like a watercolour. The colours are full and radiant.

I like wax. I like that it dries quickly, doesn’t lose its colour, doesn’t crack. It’s not as vulnerable as we would expect. It’s almost immediatly solidified, so I have to work fast.

In addition to wax, I sometimes paint with acrylic, but wax is my eternal love.

The encaustic painting comes from the age of ancient.  Encausting meaning „to burn it”. Its the essence is that the molten beeswax is used as a binder for pigment. Used it at 80 degrees. The procedure is quite difficult because it has to be painted quickly because it’s almost immediatly solidigyed in seconds. It is best to apply to rigid materials for example the wood. Because then the painting will not refracted as on the canvas. Wax does not deteriorate, so these images are very durable and colours are not fading. Ready-made pictures do not require special treatment, enough wipe with dust-free soft cloth and protect away from radiant heat.

I also make my own paints from producer natur beeswax with palm wax and pigments.The wax I clean and clear the beeswax in several rounds. When it's pretty clean I'll mix with the other ingredients.