If you wonder how some of the 3-D corals are made in my latest encaustic work, I’ll explain and show you in the next few posts.
While doing research on the negative impact of plastic refuse on coral reefs, I learned that styrofoam will never decompose. So, why is it made? It’s made because there’s a market for it; for carry out containers; for styrofoam peanuts and sheets for packaging…
I have a full bag of those peanuts but no longer use them for packaging and wondered if they could be used with encaustics. The next few photos will show how they were used to create a likeness of pulse coral.
Step 1: Cut the ends of styrofoam peanuts into 8 parts.
Step 2: Dip the styrofoam in encaustic medium; let cool, then continue dipping many times to build up the wax.
Step 3: Create the “stem”* from paper dipped in wax again and again until it’s sturdy. Then attach to the top with encaustic medium and dip some more.
Step 4: Add color. I used pan pastels and a Qtip. Finally, cluster a group together and attach the entire cluster to the cradle board.
*(Coral is not a plant it’s an animal but “stem” seems a good way to describe it.)