Encaustic Painting
Learn encaustic (molten beeswax) painting! This is a comprehensive class with everything you need to know to start painting with this versatile, luminous medium or to return to it if you've been away from it for awhile. I’ll provide additional advanced techniques for those who may want a bit more.
Time & Location
Jun 13, 2026, 10:00 AM – Jun 14, 2026, 4:00 PM
Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts, Ojai, CA
Description
Title: Encaustic Painting with Helen Dannelly
Location: Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts, Ojai, CA
Date/Time: June 13 & 14, 10am – 4pm
Class Size:
Tuition:
Level: All
Workshop Description
Learn encaustic (molten beeswax) painting! This is a comprehensive class with everything you need to know to start painting with this versatile, luminous medium or to return to it if you've been away from it for awhile. I’ll provide additional advanced techniques for those who may want a bit more. Demos, discussions, studio time plus Q&A. It’s all here!
Tips & Techniques covered
A Brief History of Encaustic
Safety
Basic Tools
Work Surfaces
Fusing
Color Mixing Techniques
Paint Application/Layering Techniques
Smooth Surface Manipulation
Texture Techniques
Basic Scraping
Adding Line
Stenciling/Masks
Basic Collage
Incising/Mark-making Techniques
Clean-up
Storage
Q&A
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Helen Dannelly is an award-winning Chicago artist educator originally from California who has exhibited her work regularly for 30 years at galleries and museums all across the country as well as in Ireland. She is the curator at the Forshey Gallery in downtown Chicago.
She studied Photorealist painting with Bay Area Photorealists Robert Bechtle and Richard McLean at San Francisco State and then sculpture at the University of Minnesota. Co-Founder of Catalyst Art Lab, an artists’ membership community and online art school, Helen teaches encaustic painting and sculpture, wire and gut sculpture, in-depth color theory classes, abstract painting and more both online and in-person throughout the United States and Europe.
At the Mendocino Art Center in northern California on September 5, 6, & 7, Helen will be teaching “Color in the Wild”, a deep dive color theory intensive that will benefit plein air and studio painters alike. She will also be leading an “Abstracting the Landscape” workshop in Sauveterre de Bearn southwest France near the Spanish border October 11 – 19, 2026. Please see her website for more information and to get on the list for all upcoming workshops and class offerings! www.HelenDannellyArt.com