Yulia Mamontova, an artist

Encaustic is an inspiration in a heartbeat!

Dear friends, my name is Julia Mamontova. Encaustic has a special place in my creative biography. In 2015, I was at an exhibition in Los Angeles (USA) and saw paintings made in the encaustic technique and they made an incredible impression on me: from a distance they looked like oil painting, and nearby I was struck by an unusual texture, brightness and a pleasant smell of honey. I fell in love with this technique and immediately began to learn in practice this unusual encaustic direction and I studied with foreign masters. In 2019, I completed the refresher training course «Encaustic. Painting» at the Otis College of Art and Design (Los Angeles, USA) and now I am a member of International Encaustic Artists (IEA, Los Angeles, USA).

It may be a little corny and naive, but the main message that I want to convey through my encaustic works is to change the world for the better and help remember the unique forgotten old.

I want to share with you information about this non-traditional encaustic technique, about materials, capabilities and up-to-date information that is happening in Russia and abroad. In order not to burden you, I will post it in several blogs and author programs on the ArtVesti channel, see the first program.

It is a little bit sad that people have little knowledge of encaustic in Russia, the development and relevance of encaustic was noticed in the USSR in the 1930s-1985s. Currently, the encaustic technique is not widely used in Russia, in contrast to foreign countries where it is popular.

Encaustic is a way of painting with wax paints and not just with it! This is a unique artistic method, which is expressed in various forms of artistic expression: paintings, sculptures, panels, postcards, collages, installations, monumental painting, sculpture and other mixed techniques – all using wax. And it is accessible to everyone. And most importantly, it is tested by time – works of art can live 3,000 years, preserving their original appearance and color!

Encaustic has a rich and interesting history dating back to the 1st – 3rd centuries AD from Egypt and Ancient Greece. The secrets of painting, which is able to be preserved for centuries and not lose its brightness, were lostand they were restored in our country by the Soviet artist Vasily Khvostenko: in 1936, he did what no one else could do. He revealed the composition of encaustic paints, developed and introduced new methods of painting. Later on, his daughter Tatyana Khvostenko continued his work on introducing encaustic into the culture of painting, and in 1985 he published the book «Encaustic. Millennium Art.»Now it is freely available: artyx.ru

More significant studies and global activities on this topic have not been conducted.

Not so long ago, I was once again convinced of this during a master class on encaustic in the Vladimir region planet-today.ru. Nadezhda Krylova-Peshkova artistic director and teacher of the first category with 23 years of experience, said that she knows the history of encaustic, which appeared in ancient times, but in practice has never encountered it. «I have not heard that one of the artists in Russia worked in this technique. Very unusual and vivid pictures, which anyone can create. I think encaustic deserves no less attention and popularity than other types of painting», – this is the opinion of an experienced specialist.

I also agree that it is worth reviving encaustic in Russia and therefore I am working to ensure that the situation changes and that encaustic becomes popular again, as well as abroad. I am an altruist in the popularization of the «encaustic» technique in Russia and I open, in my opinion, the globally significant First International Online Exhibition-Competition #EncausticToday, which aims to show the relevance of the «encaustic» technique in contemporary art, to acquaint general population with the undeservedly forgotten achievement of art and popularize encaustic in a professional environment, especially since there are masters both in Russia and in the CIS countries. So far we are not very many, but it is precisely such unifying exhibitions that can give a powerful impetus to the development of encaustic and its spread in our country!

The format of the free online exhibition-competition #EncausticToday allows all interested 2D and 3D artists to take part, who, regardless of their experience, education in the field of art, can be anywhere in the world. Send your works where wax is contained as the main element of the work (encaustic, hot wax paints, cold wax, mix media and any other wax technique).

Various forms of artistic expression are welcomed: paintings, sculptures, panels, postcards, collages, installations, etc.

If you create works with wax, join us! The whole Russia will be glad to meet you. Participants will receive diplomas, and winners – Diplomas of the I, II, III degree and prizes from partners of the event, all the detailed information and registration for the exhibition-competition here: encaustic.gallery, also subscribe to instagram.

EXAMPLES OF ENCAUSTIC

If you are aadherent of classical painting, then you can imagine any genre made using the encaustic technique:

If you like abstraction, you can get anything in this my most beloved contemporary encaustic technique:

If the portrait is interesting, then it can be painted without problems in the encaustic technique, a bit later I will share secrets:

Or you can simply tell on the canvas what the soul loves using mixed encaustic techniques and collages:


Thank you for your attention, I wish you all happiness, health, prosperity and creative successes!

Look at my instagram page, I share the latest news there, not only on encaustic instagram.com