Artist Profile
Hazel Rayfield
I am a self taught artist with a passion for painting in encaustic wax, I live in Southend on Sea on the South East Coast of England with my husband Adrian.
I started painting many years ago, my very first painting was in oils and was of a cyclamen. Working with the oil paint gave me the texture I wanted but the smell of oils was too much for me and I quickly switched to painting in acrylics. After a break of several years I was given a set of water colours as a gift, this revived the painter in me, as a web / graphic designer I had still been using my creativity but in a digital format. I still enjoy my watercolor doodles but my passion is now in Encaustic painting.
Discovering Encaustic
I discovered encaustic's in 2010 having been shown a piece of artwork, the colour and the shine of this small abstract piece was unlike anything I had seen before, this lead me to research the art form and is why I now paint in hot wax.
There is a wide and varied source of information online about Encaustic Art. After reading about and watching some youtube videos of the techniques used in creating encaustic art, I knew this was something I had to try! In early 2011 I created my first Encaustic painting, I am self taught but the information and especially the videos I watched of the techniques really helped me in developing my own way with the wax. One of the reasons Adrian and I create the videos of me paintings in hot wax, is to show just what can be done using hot wax. These demonstrations and workshops can seen on in my Art In Wax YouTube channel.
As an Encaustic Artist painting in hot wax, I find I can create the texture I loved with Oils and Acrylic but with a movement and vibrancy unlike anything I have used before.
Painting in Hot Wax
I mostly work with Encaustic wax on Encaustic Gloss card, using hot irons and heated stylus tools with a variety of attachment heads, I also have a hot plate and craft heat gun which I use in various ways to melt the wax for painting. Many of my paintings are inspired by nature and are an impressionist style. I have a passion for painting flowers and scenic views. I hope you enjoy looking at my paintings, the gallery has a range of work from larger A3 size pieces to my favorite size of 8 x 6 inches, plus a range of ACEO (Artist Card Editions and Originals) miniature paintings which are collectibles.
Art In Wax Blog
To keep up to date with what new with me and Art In Wax, please check my blog , I am a very keen blogger!
The blog has lots of information on what's going on at Art In Wax, new paintings, exhibits etc. I write articles on how I paint, including projects and demonstrations and about the tools and the techniques I use to create my pictures. The blog has details of our video demonstrations together with photographic step by step "How to" encaustic art demonstrations and projects, one of which appears in a British Craft Magazine as a Rose card project for the Queens Jubilee special edition. The blog is also the place to find out news of where you can view my art and even have a peak at my studio area in a post about where I work.
Links and information on our youtube videos Adrian and I have made of me paintings flowers, landscapes and seascapes are also published on the blog and have details of how the video are made and what colours and materials were used in the paintings videos.
Adrian Rayfield
Adrian is also a painter, he runs his decoratoring business by day plus we work together on web projects for our web design business.
He is a creative person in his own right, digital graphics being one area plus Adrian is also a talented photographer, with a keen interest in strobist work. He has created many wonderful pictures on a wide and varied array of subjects, from still life to capturing movement with his pictures of water droplets and exploring other areas of photography such as night photography (Adrian's fireworks from last year are a WOW) some of his photographs can be viewed on his flickr account, including a picture of beach huts which won a photographic competition recently.
A selection of Adrian photographs are also featured on Art In Wax : A Collection of Studio Food Portraiture and Water Splashes which were both exhibits.
Adrian has photographed many of the pictures on this site (the better photos!), I have also painted some of the photographs Adrian has taken of flowers and scenery - so some subjects have come full circle!