Hot wax and heat guns used at painting workshop

Peggy van Asch (left) is seen applying heat with a heat gun to melt the wax causing it to fuse and blend with colours during the process of encaustic wax painting.

Under lowering skies on a wet Saturday I scuttled from my car into Mary Sullivan's courtyard garden at her beachside home at Haumoana.

A miserable day; good for nothing much except playing about creatively with hot wax, a heat gun and splashes of colour.

The technique of encaustic wax painting was practised by Romano-Egyptian craftsmen back in the 4th century BC it but has not been a commonly used medium in recent times.

This beautifully translucent medium is growing in popularity as artists rediscover the technique that encompasses colour, collage, texture, fusing and blending with applied heat and allows the artist to present images in a layer of mystery.

There were six of us and we chatted over a coffee and hot scones in Sullivan's front room before we ducked out to the garage studio where we were introduced to the encaustic wax set up.

None of us had any knowledge of the technique we were about to be taught but we were very eager learners, fascinated by the unfamiliar medium.

The workshop was to teach technique; the beeswax and resin mix was melted in containers on heated trays, in a range of colours and on MDF tiles we brushed on the first layers of clear wax.

Of course, as practicing artists some of us couldn't help ourselves from immediately bringing our art-eye to the colours and forms being suggested by the materials as they began to move with the heat.

Sullivan had spent her final degree year at EIT's Ideas School researching the medium of encaustic wax painting - a solitary project given the tutors had had no experience with the medium, it was a blank canvas you might say.

This was a trial workshop for a group of friends so Sullivan could gain experience in the skills of training others using her own tools, materials and knowledge. She plans more workshops over the next months; her maximum numbers are six due to space limitations.

Her hot wax painting was selected for EAST 2016 and her recent encaustic work is at MUSE Gallery in Havelock North. Sullivan also paints abstract landscapes and seascapes in textured acrylics and a series of her paintings is being featured by VIVA Gallery, Napier from August 1.

For more information go to www.maryjessieart.co.nz or https://www.facebook.com/maryjessieart. You can phone her on 021280552.