Behind the Scenes of My Large-Scale Encaustic Hacks
The Thrill and the Tension: Why I Can’t Resist Large-Scale Encaustic Art
There is a moment right before I begin a massive new encaustic piece where the studio feels entirely different. The sheer scale of giant wood panels waiting for me is both intoxicating and intimidating.
For me, large-scale work has always carried a magnetic pull. While smaller panels offer a beautiful, intimate containment, they simply cannot hold the volume of what I want to say. My largest artworks hold my biggest stories. They demand your attention, ultimately transforming from mere paintings into true statement pieces.
But creating art at this scale—especially with a medium as temperamental, heavy, and immediate as molten beeswax—is an extreme sport. It is a dance between total freedom and intense logistical complexity. And honestly? That is exactly why I love it. The challenge is what motivates me.
Love the Freedom of Vast Spaces
What I love most about working large is the profound sense of space and freedom. When you have feet of surface area instead of inches, your physical relationship to the art shifts. You aren't just moving your wrist; you are using your whole body.
Large panels allow for sweeping, uninhibited gestures with the torch and complex, deep layering where elements can breathe. It is a liberating, boundary-free feeling that forces me to put my entire heart into the work.
The Flat-Surface Trap: Seeing the Bigger Picture
Every artist who works large faces hurdles, but encaustic presents a highly specific, brutal challenge. Because molten wax runs, drips, and behaves unpredictably when tilted, large encaustic work must be created entirely flat.
This creates a massive optical problem. When you are standing directly over a massive panel, you are viewing the composition in extreme perspective. To make matters tougher, physically lifting a massive wood panel layered with pounds of heavy wax is incredibly difficult and risky. You can't just pick it up every five minutes to see how it looks vertically.
My Studio Hacks: From Flat Tables to the Plywood Wall
Because I often work across multiple large panels to create a single massive statement piece, I had to get creative to conquer this flat-surface trap. My process relies on two key studio hacks:
The Multi-Table Strategy: I use multiple small, modular tables pressed together. By perfectly leveling and aligning these tables, I can arrange my large panels side-by-side. This setup allows me to work across the seams with precision, ensuring "pixel-matching" accuracy at the edges so the final piece looks perfectly seamless.
The Plywood Wall Hack: To finally view the bigger picture vertically without destroying my studio walls, I clad my studio wall in heavy plywood. This is a total game-changer. Whenever a new artwork is ready for a vertical critique, I can effortlessly drive screws directly into the plywood anywhere I need them. It allows me to mount, step back, and evaluate all the panels together instantly, no matter their size configuration.
Why the Struggle is Fuel
Working this way requires a massive amount of mental stamina and physical problem-solving. It tests my patience, my back, and my artistic resolve.
But this friction is exactly where the magic happens. Every statement piece I finish carries the weight of that struggle and the triumph over the physical limitations of the medium. The fluid nature of the wax makes it challenging to work on the fine art pieces. For me, the heavy lifting—both literal and figurative—is never a deterrent. It is the fuel that brings my biggest stories to life.
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