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Here at circa.versity, you’ll expand your knowledge of the artisan world by reading about the techniques used to create some of what you’ll find when you walk into circa. Tuition is free, so share it with your friends.
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Painting with Wax- The Art of Encaustic Painting
Encaustic painting, an art form that dates back as early as the fourth century BC, has recently seen a resurgence and is quickly gaining popularity. Although the medium itself was originally created by ancient Greek shipbuilders who used hot beeswax to fill cracks in their boat hulls, it did not take long for the addition of pigment to be added to the wax resulting in the ability to paint on the boats exteriors therein birthing the art we currently call encaustic painting. 
Encaustic paint medium is prepared by melting hot beeswax and dammer resin, a natural hardening agent. These two components are then combined and any tree residue from the resin is filtered out. You now have your basic medium to which pigment is added, resulting in the finished paint.
The painting process itself must be done on a flat surface and paint must be applied quickly and in small amounts due to the speed at which the wax cools. A hotplate or griddle is used as your paint’s palette in order that the paint remains in its liquid form. After each new layer of paint is applied, it must be reheated and fused with the layer below it through the use of a torch or heat gun. Multiple layers of paint are added until your final result is achieved.
Encaustic painting allows one to integrate other techniques such as collaging, photography, incising, scrapping, embedding objects, pencil drawings, oil painting, sculpture and other methods to achieve various textures and appearances. The possibilities are endless. We invite you to see the encaustic work of Melissa Riche in person at circa.
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Precision and Grace in Metal – The Art of Hand-Wrought Filigree Jewelry
It is an art form that pre-dates Moses and the Ark of the Covenant by more than six centuries, a marriage of metal and empty space twisted and wrought into a lacy adornment that is both elegant in its own right and an enhancement to the grace of those who wear it.
Handcrafted filigree jewelry has no known birthplace, no traceable provenance, no set of ironclad guidelines by which the craft is governed. Rather, its origins have been traced to Egypt, Norway, the Holy Land and the Indian subcontinent with each point of genesis adding its own unmistakable personality and identity.
Across centuries and continents, it has not been uncommon to see golden filigree gracing the throat of a Bengali maharani or airy swirls of silver bedecking the wrist of a czarina. Indeed, it is generally acknowledged that the zenith of artisan filigree jewelry occurred during the latter years of Nineteenth Century Russia, when the craftsmen of the legendary Faberge atelier were spinning silver and golden thread into gossamer masterworks for the royal court.
With the dawning of the Industrial Revolution, machinery made filigree style jewelry replicable, affordable and accessible to a broader population, and the number of artisans both capable and willing to undertake the painstaking attention to meticulous detailing necessary to curl and connect silver or gold into miracles grew smaller by the decade.
In recent years, however, a small number of American craftsmen have started a grassroots movement to revive the dying art of hand-wrought filigree jewelry. Because of the precision and grace needed to produce truly superlative work, the adherents to the demands of the craft remain few in number.
Among them is Lil McKinnon Hicks, whose work is a customer favorite at circa.
©2012, Lil McKinnon-Hicks.
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Handpainted Silk – Creating a Masterpiece That You Can Wear
“I am magnetized by color and inspired by silk, an amazingly soft, sensuous and durable fabric.” – Joy Light
Watch the video to learn about the techniques of handpainting silk by Joy Light Handpainted Silk.
Joy Hand Painted Silk Demonstration from Joy Light on Vimeo.
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The Giclée
What was considered fine art in the beginning? The creation of the world? Surely, one cannot look around and say “no” to that one. Over the centuries, art has evolved from pastes of ground up stones or plant extracts being used to paint scenes on cave walls to using highly specialized paint, tools and techniques to create much of what we see today. Over the past several years, art has continued to evolve as digitally-created art is becoming more prevalent all around us. Artists have begun to use bits and bytes to create and construct what inspires, stirs, or sometimes haunts them. The keyboard and mouse have become the sticks with animal hair attached to one end. Just as in painting with oils or watercolors, many hours are spent composing each piece; adjusting the lighting, adding shading, mixing custom colors and integrating minute details to create a masterpiece.
So how do you get these skillfully-created works onto your wall? Print it, of course, but not by any ordinary means. The term “Giclée” (zhee-clay) was coined in 1991 to describe a new type of printing that was created for fine art printmaking. The term is based on French words that mean “to squirt, spurt or spray”. The artists’ vision is rendered by spraying archival inks onto high-grade canvas to create long-lasting pieces of exceptional quality. Some artists choose to create editions of their work, while others vow to make each piece an original.
The pieces you see here are original, one-of-a-kind Giclées by Michael DeHaven. “The Silent Piano” on the right was done in collaboration with his wife, Olga Golanov, whose collages have been exhibited worldwide. Come into circa. look at them, study them and let them take you into their world.
Encaustic paint medium is prepared by melting hot beeswax and dammer resin, a natural hardening agent. These two components are then combined and any tree residue from the resin is filtered out. You now have your basic medium to which pigment is added, resulting in the finished paint.
The painting process itself must be done on a flat surface and paint must be applied quickly and in small amounts due to the speed at which the wax cools. A hotplate or griddle is used as your paint’s palette in order that the paint remains in its liquid form. After each new layer of paint is applied, it must be reheated and fused with the layer below it through the use of a torch or heat gun. Multiple layers of paint are added until your final result is achieved.
So how do you get these skillfully-created works onto your wall? Print it, of course, but not by any ordinary means. The term “Giclée” (zhee-clay) was coined in 1991 to describe a new type of printing that was created for fine art printmaking. The term is based on French words that mean “to squirt, spurt or spray”. The artists’ vision is rendered by spraying archival inks onto high-grade canvas to create long-lasting pieces of exceptional quality. Some artists choose to create editions of their work, while others vow to make each piece an original.
