Today I had the joy of wandering around the Affordable Art show which is being held in Brisbane for the first time. I was eager to accept this invitation having been to some wonderful Affordable Art shows in Switzerland – they were called something different but you could put your art into a supermarket trolley and pay at the exit – sounds strange ?

Not at all – simply a way to access all forms of art from many different galleries and at some affordable prices. So If you are in Brisbane and reading this – Go along. Its great to wander around and talk to many of the artists and the gallery owners.https://affordableartfair.com/fairs/brisbane/

I met and chatted to a few artists and there was so much to choose from and so much to admire.

However my standout was https://triciatrinderart.com.au/

I met Tricia and we chatted about her artwork. I walked up to one thinking it was resin and she quickly put me right – her art is created with beeswax and it is based on something the ancient Greeks used called encaustic -ενκαυστικος ῏where basically heat is used to heat or burn in the artistic process and here she is using beeswax and damar resin which is crystallised tree sap.

She explained that this is an ancient technique dating back to the 5th century when wax was used to waterproof ship hulls. Pigmenting the wax gave rise to the decorating of warships – and apparently ancient Greeks who settled in Egypt, and there were many at one time, used the encaustic method to paint the portraits of their dead onto the mummies.

She ran through how she applied the beeswax onto her canvas and then adds dried pigments. She uses a blow torch to melt the beeswax which she then spreads with her hand and the entire painting is hand – done as it were, and comes up with a lustre that is magical as much as it is natural.

Now that is what I call an original use of a natural substance combining my love for art, the Greek world and bees- a triple whammy. She was definitely this mornings bees knees.

Brisbane

Brisbane