Artist William Geisler can wax on about his work for hours. He uses a technique called encaustic, in which the medium is heated beeswax. Geisler will display his art in a joint show with another local artist, John Peralta, at Wally Workman Gallery Sept. 9-30. We think it’s the bee’s knees.
200° F: Temperature of the melted beeswax.
If mistakes are made, the wax can be recycled.
Famous artists who used the encaustic technique include: Jasper Johns and Diego Rivera.
1 month: Time the artist spends on more complex pieces.
2,200: Approximate number of circles in Geisler’s painting “Aureole.”
100-300 AD: Encaustic art dates back to ancient Greece and was used for funeral portraits.
$4,800: The price tag for one of Geisler’s 4×4 pieces of art.
2 to 3: Estimated pounds of wax used in a standard 4×4 piece
Birch wood panels provide a stronger surface than canvas.
For “Aureole” (shown in photo), Geisler first conceptualized the tight pattern of circles in Adobe Illustrator. He then applied black wax to a 4-by-4 panel, followed by a layer of wax with cadmium red pigment. With a hot metal circle, he incised the wax to form the circles, exposing the black layer underneath. Next he applied blue, orange, and white waxes, along with strips of National Geographic maps dipped in wax to provide a collage element. “Part of what I love about the technique is that no matter how perfect I try to make the pattern, when I add the wax it has a mind of its own,” Geisler says. “As much as I like to control my work, I like that lack of control in the end. It’s what really makes the piece, in my opinion.”