Margaret Arthur - Encaustic Monoprints

About

My recent work is a natural progression from my traditional printmaking. My work often involves mono-printing and etching which I layer using fine papers like Japanese and Chinese paper. The fine paper is generally hand-printed and then stuck onto the base print using the chine collé method (literally Chinese paper glued on).

This means I can have the exact colours and textures that I want in subtle variations over the original print.

In this exhibition the larger pieces illustrate this progression.

The majority of the pieces show a new element in my artistic practice, the use of beeswax to produce encaustic paintings that incorporate other elements of printmaking. The use of encaustic goes back to Greek and Roman times and gives a luminous and permanent quality to the painted or printed surface. The pure beeswax is melted over a heat source such as a hotplate which is carefully temperature controlled. The wax is then painted onto a surface and fused together using another heat source like a heat gun or flat iron.

I was introduced to encaustic work in the U.S. where I have spent several self-arranged residencies. I worked with an artist in San Diego called Robert Treat who is a master of the art and have now been experimenting with it for a few years.

Some of my recent work is concerned with global warming and melting icebergs and glaciers with the implications for us all.

Other themes have evolved from looking at rock structures in Ireland and others such as the San Andreas fault in California and the Grand Canyon in Arizona and Zion Utah.