Encaustic Teabag Wall Piece

Materials:

6" x 6" x 3/4" plywood
lead flashing
tack nails
encaustic medium (purchased as a mixture of beeswax and dammar)
white encaustic paint
sheet lead
copper sheeting
used and dried teabags
pigment sticks
wax paper
paper towels
picture hanger
table saw
power sander
encaustic brushes
hammer
needle nose pliers
heat gun
electric griddle
tacking iron
small metal container
spoon
scissors
cookie sheet
container of water
ruler
razor blade
masking tape

Steps:

1. Cut 6" x 6" squares of plywood on a table saw.

2. Sand the edges with a power sander.

• Apply three layers of encaustic medium to the wood surface by heating the wood with a heat gun and spreading each layer of the medium with a paintbrush (figure A).
• After each layer, heat with a heat gun.
• Work in a grid fashion, applying the first layer horizontally, the second layer vertically and the third layer horizontally.

5. Cut the sheet lead for the edge of the frame with a scissors.

• Use needle nose pliers to hold the tacks, hammer the tacks through the lead and into the plywood (figure C).
• If necessary, build a holder from two pieces of scrap wood screwed the width of the thickness of the plywood to a wood base.
• The plywood square will rest on the edge between the scrap pieces of wood to leave hands free to hammer the tacks along the edges (figure D).

7. Apply encaustic medium to both sides of the teabag (figure E). Let it cool.

8. Collage the teabags onto the surface of the prepared plywood square. Fuse the teabag to the surface with a tacking iron (figure F).

9. Apply colored encaustic, lead and copper onto the teabag surface in desired pattern. Protect areas of the collage with masking tape (figure G). Burnish collage materials with a spoon over wax paper.

10. Rub the encaustic teabag surface with a pigment stick (figure H), thinned with vegetable oil, wipe with paper towel.

11. Attach a picture hanger to the back of the encaustic teabag wall piece to display.

Website: www.kbernard.com