HOW DO YOU AVOID MELTING
PREVIOUS LAYERS WHEN FUSING?
This is a tricky technique. It's best to use a heat gun with
low, medium, and high settings, as well as a fan that runs at
different speeds. You can control the degree of melting by
varying the distance at which you hold the heat gun from
the surface. As soon as you see the wax gleam, move the
heat source to the next area. That gleam is all you need to
fuse two layers. If your heat source is too close or set too
high, you'll melt several previous layers and the colors will
mix to mud. Lightly touching a small travel iron on a me-
dium setting to the surface will often be enough for fusion.
LEFT: The Velvet Coat,
Ann Baldwin, 10" x 6"
(25.4 x 15.2 em), encaustic.
collage on cigar box.RIGHT: Love for Cheryl,
Ann Baldwin, 12" x 12"
(30.5 x 30.5 em), encaustic.
collage on birch panel.
Collection of Merrill Mack.HOW DO YOU ADD COLLAGE
TO WAX PAINTINGS?
You can, of course, begin by gluing images to your support.
Again, be careful not to let the acrylic medium penetrate
the paper. However, there's a better way Keep a 12" (30.5
cm) electric deep-fryer (with its own thermostat) one-third
full of melted medium. Using long, industrial tweezers,
dip the collage paper into the medium, and then quickly
transfer it to the support. If you're not quick enough, the
medium will dry and the collage won't stick. Afterward, run
an iron over the piece to fuse it to the layer below. In this
case, an iron works better than a heat gun, which can end
up causing the collage to float off in a pool of melted waxl
If you've stuck the collage in the wrong place, you can easily
remelt it and slide it around until you get it right.