The Process

Driftwood Lamps & Sculptures

The Search
The hunt for quality driftwood led me to the North Carolina seashore where ​I was able to select individual pieces of cypress driftwood that a boat captain had collected during his charters. Each has a  unique shape, size and quality ideal for my future lamps and sculptures. 

I look for pieces that have a story to reveal.  Interesting shapes which mimic mythical birds, sea creatures and flights of imagination are discovered within each piece of driftwood.

Nature provides the source material and I am able to repurpose the discarded wood to reveal its underlying beauty. 

The Creation
Once the cypress is cleaned, scraped and sanded, the time comes to decide the future shade design. It's the moment when the driftwood takes on its own identity and the creative process begins.

I need to spend time with the wood until it speaks to me of its future - a driftwood whisperer of sorts. Once I decide its course, reed material is bent into a complimentary shape and epoxied to its wooden base.

The Finale
The shade's surface is created by gluing together small pieces of archival tissue paper using an acid-free PVA glue. Layers upon layers of tissue are required to build a uniform, seamless surface .

The wood receives a beautiful sheen once Renaissance wax  is applied and buffed. Warm rich brown tones of the cypress wood are showcased in each sculptural piece. It's almost velvety in touch.

​Each illuminated sculpture is equipped with a 6-watt LED bulb which supplies an energy efficient, cool-to-the-touch 350 lumens. Rated for 10,000 hours, you can expect a lifetime of use before a bulb change is needed. 

Encaustic Art

The Past

The encaustic technique dates back to as early as the fourth century B.C. and was brought to the peak of its technical perfection by the genre painter Pausias.

Although wax may appear to be a fragile material, some encaustic paintings from A.D 100-125 survive today in the form of head and shoulder wax portraits set into mummy casings in Greco-Roman Egypt​. An enlarged detail of a Fayum mummy portrait is shown above.  

The Present

Each encaustic 'painting' begins life as a white piece of cotton fabric. Fiber reactive dyes are applied to the fabric and the resulting 'landscape' is glued to a wood panel. 

To prepare the encaustic medium, I melt together beeswax and damar resin - a hardening and stabilizing agent. Once cooled, this mixture is then reheated to approximately 225 degrees F and applied to the fabric surface. As the wax cools, it is smoothed and manipulated to create interesting textures. 

Some paintings contain laser printed photographic images which are either burnished or embedded into the wax surface. Additional encaustic medium completes the process. A light buffing creates a wonderfully luminescent painting.

Care of Encaustic Paintings

Treat your encaustic artwork as you would any fine art painting - avoid direct sunlight, do not expose it to intense, freezing cold temperatures and do not hang it above or near a fireplace or other heating source. ​It would take intense direct heat to damage an encaustic painting  - let common sense prevail. 

Although the surface is completely dry, encaustic paintings can be scratched, gouged or chipped if handled roughly.

As the encaustic medium ages, a dull bloom may develop over time. This is a natural process. To restore the surface, periodically use a soft, lint-free cloth and gently buff until its former reflective surface appears.