So… What Is Encaustic Art? (And Why I’m a Little Obsessed)

If you’ve ever wandered through an art show, stopped in front of a painting, and thought, “Why does this look like it’s glowing from within?”—there’s a good chance you were looking at encaustic art. Either that, or the artist had illegally smuggled a flashlight under their canvas (I don’t judge).

But for real: encaustic is one of the oldest, richest, most gorgeous art mediums out there—and it’s still wildly misunderstood. So today, I’m pulling back the curtain on what encaustic art actually is, where it comes from, and why it grabbed my artistic soul and refused to let go.

A Quick, Not-Boring History Lesson

Encaustic painting is ancient. And I don’t mean “my-kid-says-I’m-old” ancient. I mean actual ancient. We’re talking Greece, around the 5th century BCE. Back then, artists heated beeswax, added pigment and damar resin from trees, and fused it onto surfaces—often wood panels and boats.

One of the most famous examples is the Fayum mummy portraits from Egypt, where artists used encaustic to paint hauntingly lifelike faces on wooden panels placed over mummies. (Imagine creating art knowing it’s going to exist on someone’s face for eternity. No pressure.)

Fast forward a couple thousand years, and here we are—still melting beeswax, still painting with fire, still feeling like sorcerers creating glowing layers of light and color.

So What Exactly Is Encaustic?

At its core, encaustic is simple:

🔥 Heat + Beeswax + Damar Resisn + Pigment = Magic

You melt the wax and paint it on a surface while it’s warm. Then you fuse each layer with heat so everything blends and binds together. Yep, the torch is what got me! The result? A surface that feels almost alive—translucent, layered, textural, and luminous in a way no other medium can fully replicate.

If oil painting is the quiet, elegant cousin, encaustic is the bold, unpredictable friend who shows up at your house with a bottle of wine, a wild story, and zero regrets.

You don’t just paint with it—you interact with it. You push it, scrape it, carve it, embed things into it, polish it, and sometimes stare at it thinking, “I have no idea what you’re becoming, but I’m invested now.”

Why I Fell in Love With It

I work in a lot of mediums—oil, ceramics, abstraction, realism—but encaustic scratches an itch nothing else can reach. It lets me hold onto memory, texture, and emotion in such a physical, tactile way. There’s something deeply poetic about painting with a material that was once alive—beeswax—transformed through fire.

Encaustic feels like this perfect marriage of ancient ritual and modern expression. It invites chaos and control to sit next to each other. It lets me layer ideas as if I’m preserving moments inside amber.

And honestly? It’s just fun. It’s primal and intuitive and a little bit dangerous in the best “don’t-touch-that-it’s-hot” kind of way. Every time I create an encaustic piece, I’m reminded that art isn’t just something you see—it’s something you feel.

What Makes Encaustic Art So Unique?

A few reasons I think the world needs more encaustic:

• The luminosity is unreal. Light doesn’t just hit it; it travels through it.

• It’s unbelievably durable. Greeks used it on ships. Ships! There’s your durability test.

• Texture lovers—this one’s for you. Smooth, sculptural, carved, layered… it’s all fair game.

• It has presence. Encaustic pieces don’t just hang on a wall—they command a room.

• It holds history and story. Every layer becomes part of the narrative.

  
  

It’s one of those mediums where people step in close, tilt their heads, and ask, “How did you DO that?” And honestly? Half the time I don’t know. The wax had its own spiritual journey.

Why You Should Care (Besides the Fact That I Want You To)

Encaustic art is perfect for anyone who wants work that feels organic, emotional, and deeply textured. Whether you’re a collector, a curious creator, or just someone who likes to say impressive things at dinner parties, understanding encaustic gives you an entry point into a magical, ancient process.

Plus, next time you’re in a gallery, you can casually drop, “Ah yes, the translucence of layered beeswax is truly compelling,” and instantly sound 37% more cultured. You're welcome.

Wrapping It Up

Encaustic painting is one of my great artistic loves. It’s messy, intuitive, historical, luminous, unpredictable, and deeply expressive—kind of like life itself.

If you’ve never seen encaustic art in person, come visit me. I’ll happily show you a piece up close and let you fall in love with it the way I did—slowly, curiously, and all at once.

And if you leave with a new appreciation for bees, fire, art history, and emotional texture? Even better.