Recipe for making your own encaustic medium
You will need: 4oz dammar
crystals
1lb 2oz beeswax (I buy the powdered kind)
Method:
(1) Put dammar crystals in a double plastic bag and batter with a mallet until they form a coarse powder.
(2) Melt the beeswax in a clean skillet (not cast iron, as this will alter the color of the mixture)
(3) When the beeswax is thoroughly melted, add the dammar crystals at 250F for approximately 30 minutes or until the entire mixture is molten. Do NOT overheat. It's best to use an electric pan with a thermostat. Stir regularly to ensure that the mixture does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
(4) Lower the heat to 225F. Continue to heat the mixture for a further 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
(5) Ladle the mixture carefully into a saucepan, leaving larger bits of debris (bark, elephant hair, bugs, etc. from the dammar resin) in the bottom of the skillet. Wipe these away with a paper towel. Then pour the mixture through a strainer (I use a fine metal sieve) back into the skillet.
(6) Finally ladle the medium into pre-oiled muffin tins and allow to set. I usually put them in the refrigerator and pop the cakes of medium out of the moulds when they are very hard.
Warning: Never again use these utensils for cooking, even if they do look clean.