Nancy Grahlmann.

Photo courtesy of Fountain Hills Artists’ Gallery

The Fountain Hills Artists’ Gallery will hold a demonstration Tuesday, Feb. 4, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., led by encaustic painter Nancy Grahlmann.

Encaustic painting is painting with hot wax medium and consists of natural beeswax and damper resin (Crystallized tree sap).

The medium can be used alone for its transparency or with pigments and is melted and applied with a brush or any tool the artist wishes to create from.

Each layer applied is reheated to fuse to the previous layer.

Encaustic painting is an ancient technique, dating back to the Greeks, who used wax to caulk ship hulls, according to a press release. Pigmenting the wax paved the way for the decorating of warships.

Grahlmann discovered Encaustic painting when she was studying woodworking at the MacArthur Museum in Little Rock, Ark.

“It was such a unique technique and lends itself beautifully to collage. It also adds a depth to the design that is being established,” says Grahlmann.

The gallery is located at 16858 E. Avenue of the Fountains and is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For more information about exhibitions, events, workshops and upcoming demos, visit fountainhillsartistsgallery.com.