Painting Care

Caring For Your Painting

An encaustic painting created properly will mostly take care of itself, but there are a few things that are good to know.

Encaustic paintings do perfectly well in any home or office. However, EXTREME heat (anything over 200 degrees Fahrenheit or 90 degrees Celsius) may melt encaustic wax medium ... so don't leave your painting in your car on a hot July day with the windows up.

If created properly, the medium should have a mixture of natural Damar resin added to raise the melting temperature. Be sure to ask if Damar Resin has been mixed into the wax (not all encaustic artists do this ... but they should).

I would not hang any painting where it will be exposed to direct sun. All paintings will fade if direct sun is shinning on it for an extended period of time. Naturally, the room should have good natural light if possible.

Don't drop any painting. Any painting could get damaged if dropped.

There is a very simple solution... all you have to do is wipe it off lightly with a soft lint free cloth - a silk scarf is a perfect cloth for this. Depending on the painting surface, some soft buffing can also be done and is recommended. After buffing a few times, the painting will develop a beautiful high gloss finish that will last. You can wipe your painting about four times a year to help keep dust off of the surface.

This all helps to bring out the radiant shine and vibrancy of the colours that encaustic surfaces are known for.

No glass is needed on the painting. If used, you will not be able to see how light reacts on the surface of the painting and the beauty of the luminous layered wax that is unique to encaustic paintings.

Beeswax Encaustic is extremely archival, but take care not to scratch any painting. Some encaustic paintings found in the world's leading museums and galleries are thousands of years old.