ENCAUSTIC COLLOGRAPHS

I use melted encaustic wax, a combination of bees wax and damar varnish, to create Collograph plates. What makes this process unusual is the fact that the wax image on the plate is built up gradually using brushes, scrapping, stenciling and stamping. In most printmaking processes you are removing parts of your plate to create the image. Here the process is additive and I like that. The built up wax surface can be printed is printed with ink and can actually be printed without ink to create an embossing.