Encaustic paintings by contemporary artist Sara Richardson

“Pull Tape Days”

Exciting times in the studio lately. I am working on one of the final stages before an encaustic painting is completed. In this case…three paintings will be finished, not just one. This stage requires quite a bit of patience and a calm steady hand which means I can’t go into the studio on days like this feeling anything other than relaxed. Sort of like I need to be in a zen / persnickety / hard work frame of mind.

To start, I carefully heat and peel the tape around the edges of the encaustic painting – at times using a small sculpture tool to lift the tape if it’s stubbornly stuck to places. Then, I gently alternate between heating, reworking and smoothing the edges so they look clean and somewhat crisp. I’ll post final photos of the encaustic paintings as soon as I begin to touch up the sides with black paint. These paintings will next need to cure for two weeks before they are listed.

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