Mixed Media Encaustic

Beginner & Intermediate Mixed Media Encaustic 

Join artist Mary Milelzcik for the Mixed Media Encaustic workshop on Saturday, July 20, 2019, from 10 am – 2 pm at Volcano Art Center Ni‘aulani Campus in Volcano Village. Encaustic is a mixture of beeswax, damar resin and pigment, which is applied to a solid absorbent surface. Each time a new layer is applied, it must be fused. The layers can be enhanced by carving with tools or drawing with pigment, oil sticks etc. Photographs can be transferred and other materials imbedded to create a variety of amazing results with depth.

Mixed Media Encaustic is a hands-on workshop, where you’ll learn safe studio practices, all the encaustic painting basics, and how to make your own medium.  Encaustic techniques along with wet and dry shellac burns will be demonstrated. After instruction and experimenting, you will have the opportunity to create two encaustic paintings to take home with you.

Mary will provide panels and handmade paper to use as substrates and an assortment marking tools and brushes, and interesting papers, photographs, minerals, fibers, and other natural and found materials for students to incorporate into their paintings. Students are encouraged to bring other items they’d like to use. Advanced students can consult with the instructor in advance regarding specific projects. The class fee is $60/$55 for VAC members plus a $25 supply fee.

Mary Milelzcik has a B.A. degree from Sonoma State University’s School of Expressive Arts, a radical two-year upper division interdisciplinary experimental program that existed for several years in the 70’s. This transformative educational experience set the path for an interesting career as a mixed media artist and photographer; as the Curator at Highways Performance Space and Gallery in Santa Monica CA; and teaching experimental mixed media art and printmaking. Photography is an important tool in her creative and documentary projects as well as for capturing images to use as a base for mixed media encaustic paintings and prints.  She also gathers pigments and organic materials to incorporate into her work. Her artwork has been shown internationally. In her spare time, she provides strategic consultation and grant writing for small to medium sized nonprofits in Hawaii and California. She has a studio in Pahoa and specializes in mixed media art and printmaking. She experiments with local minerals and plants in her encaustic paintings.