Blowtorch artist uses flames and wax to create encaustic paintings
Some artists use a brush. Others use a blowtorch.
Heather Miller is among the latter. With a steady hand, the Newport Beach resident demonstrated her technique recently by gripping a torch canister and guiding blue and orange flames over wax. She could then target the drippings as they fell on canvas and reheat them to further manipulate her designs.
Miller, of Newport Beach, practices encaustic painting, made by heating beeswax-mixed pigments. After discovering the medium a little more than two years ago, she has dedicated herself to the craft.
“I couldn’t stop once I learned it,” said Miller, who lives in Newport Beach. “I like working with an open flame because it’s mesmerizing. It’s almost like meditation for me.”
Her encaustic paintings of abstract forms are on display at Anne’s Boutique Wines in Costa Mesa through April.
Miller, who took well-known artist Pamela Smith Hudson’s class at Otis College of Art and Design, in Los Angeles, said she has painted with oils, sculpted and carved stone but became particularly interested in learning more about the hot-wax technique after she had seen the artistic results a few times.
Encaustic painting is one of the oldest mediums still in use today.
The Greek word “enkaustikos,” meaning “to heat or burn in,” can be traced back to portraits painted in 100 to 300 A.D. by Greek painters in Egypt. The wax-based paint, composed of beeswax, resin and pigment, is kept molten on a heated palette and then applied to a surface and reheated in order to fuse the paint.
The art form regained popularity in the 1990s when people began using electric irons on surfaces like paper and pottery, since the medium is not limited to certain applications.
In preparation for the exhibit, Miller experimented with the heat of the torch, playing with adding layers to enrich the texture and color of the work. She said she finds inspiration in nature and organic repetitive lines, like sea shells and water.
With her installation, titled “Immersed,” she aimed to capture the movement and fluidity of the sea and the connection people have to water. Miller said she reflected on the ocean’s elements, the smell of the sea, the salt in the air and rolling sets of waves crashing onto sand, and their power to energize or pull viewers into a form of relaxation.
After an artist friend shared one of Miller’s drip paintings on social media site Facebook, Anne Nutten, owner of Anne’s Boutique Wines, to reach out to Miller to ask her to be a featured artist at the 17th Street retail store.
Nutten, an artist and glassblower, combined her love of art and wine when she opened the wine shop in 2008.
She has featured art exhibitions by nearly 100 local artists in art mediums that include metal, glass and photography. It’s an opportunity for customers to view art and sample wines from Nutten’s collection, while giving artists a platform for displaying and selling their work.
Nutten regularly meets with artists looking to display their work in the shop. Some are displaying their art for the first time, while others have developed a following and are more established. Anne’s Boutique Wines currently has a one-year waiting list for artists to be featured there.
“Clients become regulars and they expect us to have different kinds of art up,” Nutten said. “The art enhances the store. It’s a gallery with the bonus of wine.”
The collaboration between Miller and wine proprietor began six months ago. “I really dig her art,” Nutten said.
The artist finished 46 pieces for her installation, and since its opening March 7, has sold six works and confirmed a few commissions.
“It’s been a huge sense of self-discovery,” Miller said. “For me, it was just taking that leap and overcoming my own fears. It’s been interesting.”
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IF YOU GO
What: “Immersed” solo installation
When: noon to 6:30 p.m. Mondays, 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays until April 30
Where: Anne’s Boutique Wines, 270 E. 17th St., Suite 14, Costa Mesa
Information: (949) 631-6627 or visit annesboutiquewines.com
