The Art Blog

Since I first encountered encaustic over 25 years ago I have watched it grow from an obscure ancient painting method to a widely popular and recognized fine art medium.  With interest in encaustic continuing to expand,  I receive daily inquiries from other artists about my painting methods and  techniques...  especially the shellac burn technique that I have become known for in recent years. So I have created Learn to Burn Workshops designed around my specific way of working with encaustic with an emphasis on the shellac burn technique.  Detail from Carnival Vista - Encaustic w/mixed media - 24" x 48" -Alicia Tormey 2015 I offer live sessions in a group or private setting and will soon have an online course and Skype sessions available.  For a list of current classes please visit my workshop page at: Alicia Tormey Workshops   In the mean time...here are some very informative links on the subject of encaustic that you may find help...

Boston Globe art critic, Cate McQuaid, reviews Organica show. . . Read her article below... Wild, Dreamy Images At Chase Young Gallery, Alicia Tormey’s “Gaudium.”   Alicia Tormey makes pictures. Wild, intoxicating pictures with jewel tones, spatial complexity, abstract passages, and giddy motion, which are now on view at Chase Young Gallery . Looking at them is a less contemplative process than looking at work by Lipsky and Tollens. Likewise, they are rewarding in different ways. What Tormey has in common with those two painters is a commitment to technique. She mixes beeswax, ink, and shellac, and builds her images, in part, with a blowtorch. The ink, it appears, makes the picture; layers of wax add the illusion of distance. The heated shellac bubbles and threads, creating an organic overlay that crawls over the surface, and frames the color beneath like a stained glass window. The artist’s floral pieces, such as “Sublimus” and “Gaudium,”are hardly still li...