I start with a collage - photographs, advertising images, old letters, wallpaper, bits of ephemera are enhanced with ink to create a narrative. The collage is adhered to a wooden panel and painted with encaustic paint - a lustrous mixture of beeswax, damar resin and ground pigments which is molten on a special heated pallette and applied with a brush or pallette knife. The encaustic can be translucent, brushed on thinly as a wash, or opaque, applied with chunky impasto textures, depending on the melting temperature and ratio of pigment to wax. The paint has unique layering properties, making it ideal for use with collage. Each layer must be fused to the layer beneath with a heat tool.