Encaustic, Sumi Ink, and Cigar Boxes

A VERY OLD METHOD
One of the oldest painting mediums known in western art (excluding cave painting) is using melted wax known generally as encaustic. It's just a wonderful medium that allows for much play and creativity.

ART MADE FROM DISCARDED MATTER
There is much art that uses discarded materials.  It's been coined the Arte Povera movement.  It's had many practitioners, two of which are Anslem Kiefer and Antonio Tapies.   To be sure, these two artists had more to say than what materials can be used to make art.

MY USE OF DISCARDED MATERIAL
I've used all sorts of materials in paintings - steel beer cans, old shirts, old twine, bones, straw to name a few items.  Two examples of how I've been using discarded materials with encaustic appear above. These two pieces are examples of a series I've worked up using discarded Chinese calligraphy practice sheets of mine and used cigar boxes.  The calligraphy scraps are 'glued' together using multiple thin coats of encaustic (melted wax) and I sometimes add powered or melted pigment to the wax or apply it over oil paint (yes, this does work). As wax is applied to the Chinese rice paper, the rice paper becomes translucent, which allows lower layers to appear on the surface, albeit somewhat muted.

SIDE NOTE - CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY AND PAINTING
I've practiced Chinese calligraphy with a wonderful contemporary Chinese artist, Wang Gongyi  (gong-yee).  In Asia, calligraphy is the highest of arts;  It ranks above painting.  Chinese landscape painting has its foundation in calligraphy.

USING CIGAR BOXES IN FINE ART

Cigar boxes have been used by artists for quite some time. In the 90's, there was a stunning show of Richard Diebenkorn's work at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA). A small part of that show included some of his paintings executed on the lids of cigar boxes. Nowadays cigar boxes aren't the cheap painting support they once were. Maybe partly since people also use them to make purses, guitars, and what's called 'tramp art.' Thankfully for me, I can get a hold of them without smoking cigars!