BARBARA HUDIN -
ENCAUSTIC PAINTING

BARBARA HUDIN
I began experimenting with the encaustic painting technique in the early 1990's, while a painting and printmaking major at the "Art Museum School" or "Pacific NW College of Art" in Portland, Oregon. At this time, the technique was still pretty much an historical footnote and artists had to make paint with the raw materials. I learned how to make traditional paint mediums and varnish at an early age - from my father, a commercial artist, so that this process was not difficult for me to learn. While encaustic painting is now experiencing a revival and is currently taught in most art schools and universities, I continue to make my own paint and collect and grind many of the pigments used in the paint. Raw pigments (e.g. yellow ocher, burnt sienna) can be found throughout Central and Eastern Oregon, along road cuts, also, many of my pigments have been collected in the area of Broken Top (reds, earth greens, and blacks)."

Barbara's work is in private collections on the East Coast, throughout the Pacific NW, and California. She is a member of ALT, a group of professional artists experimenting with alternative methods for creating art.

Encaustic Technique: Encaustic painting is one of the oldest existing art forms on earth and one of the most durable. The technique was invented over 4,000 years ago by the Greeks in order to seal the hulls of their ships. The paint was traditionally made by heating tree resin with bees wax. Dry pigments were then stirred into the molten paint medium and the heated mix was painted onto a rigid panel with bristle brushes. The paint cools and sets instantly and was again fused with iron tools or spatulas, kept hot in a charcoal fire. This process was repeated for each layer of paint. Many exquisite mummy portraits were painted by the Greeks and Romans utilizing this technique and are on view at the Louvre in Paris.

"While charcoal fires are no longer needed, my process is still very similar. I often collect pigments and hand grind them with a glass muller. They are then mixed with molten dammar resin and bees wax, and other waxes to create a more durable surface. I use a propane torch and an electric tacking iron to fuse the layers of the paint onto a birch or oak panel. This fusing process creates an extremely hard, lacquer-like surface that is impervious to moisture and light. The paint cures and strengthens over time. Encaustic paintings, however, should not be exposed to direct sunlight or sources of high heat."

Link to Barbara Hudin Website>