Lightbulbs and a plate: The hotbox

The rain has washed away the smoke and has made for comfy days in the studio.

I’ve spent the last few days pulling encaustic monotypes on the hotbox. If you haven’t been to one of my open studio demos or taken a workshop with me, you might not know what a hotbox is or what it does.

Here is a photo from one of my workshops. Inside the circle on the left is the hotbox. It looks like a little suitcase. Designed by artist Paula Roland, the hotbox is a rectangular box with 4 lightbulbs inside and an aluminum plate which sits on top and acts as a heating surface. When the plate gets hot enough, I apply encaustic pigment on the surface and can manipulate the composition with tools and more paint.

Once I’m satisfied with the initial design, I place Japanese or printmaking paper on top and let it absorb the encaustic design. I do this multiple times and work both the back and front of the paper. I can continue to work other materials such as; spray paint, collage, or india ink, into the composition.

Paper encourages me to work with freedom. Try this, test that. Throw it away or toss it in the scrap heap for future collages.

It is forgiving and begs for investigation of the quiet conversations where one color bleeds into another.