Kimberly Kent artist
Kimberly has worked in the art community for over 30 years as an artist, teacher, curator, gallery owner and art broker. She holds a degree in painting, drawing and printmaking from Portland State University.
Her oil and encaustic paintings germinate from plein air studies that bear the torch for larger paintings. Her work ranges in style from expressive landscape to abstract, working with a vibrant palette and a close look at light, reflection and color.
As an art broker Kimberly curates and procures art for hospitals, clinics and multi family housing projects. Her business focuses on bringing local art to high mission clients.
Q: What is encaustic art, you ask?
A: Encaustic is a Greek word meaning “to heat or burn in” (enkaustikos). Heat is used throughout the process, from melting the beeswax and varnish to fusing the layers of wax. Encaustic consists of natural bees wax and crystallized tree sap. The medium is melted and applied with a tool or brush. Each layer is then reheated to fuse it to the previous layer with colored pigments added.
Fun fact: encaustic painting is an ancient technique, dating back to the Greeks, who used wax to caulk ship hulls!
The 20th century has seen a rebirth of encaustic on a major scale. It is an irony of our modern age, with its emphases on advanced technology, that a painting technique as ancient and involved as encaustic should receive such widespread interest. Earlier attempts to revive encaustic failed to solve the one problem that had made painting in encaustic so laborious – the melting of the wax. The availability of portable electric heating implements and the variety of tools made the use of encaustic more accessible.
www.eainm.com/what-is-encaustic/ .. Encaustic Art Institute
