Saturday, February 24, 12-5 pm. $100 for Art Gym Members / $130 Non-Members.

Encaustic monotypes are made by melting beeswax, pigment and resin on a heated aluminum plate, then laying down paper to absorb the design—or select aspects of it.

Additional layers of media can be added to create beautiful mixed media pieces.

The encaustic wax technique originated in the ancient Greco-Roman empire and was used as a means of preserving images of the deceased in Egyptian burial sites. The oldest surviving examples – Fayum mummy portraits – are from the 1st Century BC. The painting technique was lost for several millennia and was only rediscovered in the 1990s.

This modern approach to using encaustic medium is a form of printmaking, without using a printing press. Each monotype is one-of-a-kind and original. The beauty of this process is that there is minimal control over outcomes, so it becomes a dance of co-creation.

Join Kim for a day of exploration, inquiry and fun, and discover a new way of self-expression, or an addition to your current creative process.

Here’s what you’ll take away:

• A overview of the encaustic wax painting medium and how to use it

• A contemporary approach to the medium using paper as a substrate

• Five different techniques to get you started with encaustic monotypes

• An overview of options for including other media

• Takeaway 5 or more pieces of finished work

Kim Roberts is a Colorado-based contemporary artist. She lives in a high alpine valley surrounded by 14,000 foot peaks and herds of yak and elk. These wondrous natural features often play starring roles in her work. Trained as a mental health professional and meditation instructor, she taught wellness programs at luxury resorts and retreats around the world for many years. When painting proved to be her source of wellness, she shifted her focus to making art. Kim divides her time between Crestone and Denver.