The Great Panel Adventure   November 2006

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I shellacked the panels to seal the wood. I have used button lac shellac flakes for my cabinetry and furniture, but could not find blonde shellac flakes at my regular outlet, apparently they don't sell it anymore due to humidity issues during shipping. Instead I used a prepared blonde shellac, less time consuming, but not as satisfying as mixing my own... and the smell was obnoxious.

After the shellac it was time to gesso, and sand, gesso, sand, gesso, sand... I liked the look of the white edges, and as that look meshed with the images I had chosen to coat in encaustic medium, I kept the gesso visible. I may try some alternative framing techniqes some other time.

The gesso I used has an acrylic base which does not work when painting encaustics directly, for that I use a traditional gesso. As I am using fine art paper as the ground this time, the acrylic gesso worked well as a base under the paper. When I apply encaustic to paper, the paper becomes semi translucent, so for these panels the gesso acts as the white base under the prints.

...continued on page 06