Croton Council on the Arts Encaustic Demonstration with Artist Lesa Cash
This session is a demonstration, offering an inside look at several techniques using encaustic medium. Lesa will walk participants through a selection of foundational methods, explaining tools, materials, and processes while showing each step in real time.
Attendees will receive a takehome handout that includes a supply list, helpful tips, and a curated set of Lesa’s recommended YouTube tutorials for anyone who wants to explore further on their own.
In addition to the live demonstrations, samples of additional techniques — including those not covered during the session—will be on display. Lesa will discuss these pieces, explain how they were created, and answer questions about variations, materials, and creative possibilities.
What is Encaustic?
Encaustic is a beautiful, ancient art form that uses melted beeswax mixed with pigment to create rich, layered paintings. The word itself comes from the Greek for “to burn in,” because each layer of wax is gently heated to fuse it to the one below. Artists love encaustic for its luminosity, texture, and versatility. The wax can be brushed on, carved into, layered, scraped back, or used to embed paper, fabric, or found objects. Once cooled, it creates a surface that’s both durable and wonderfully tactile. Encaustic dates back thousands of years—most famously in the Fayum mummy portraits of Romanera Egypt—and it continues to inspire artists today with its mix of tradition, experimentation, and glowing color.
Lesa Cash Bio
Lesa Cash is a Hudson Valley-based, self-taught, emerging artist, whose work is deeply influenced by the beauty and magic found in nature. A member of CCoA, her photography, encaustic, collage, drawings and paintings have been locally exhibited and published. She has been both rejected and awarded and loves every part of the process in creating and sharing her work. Her love of antiques often finds her work created in or framed in vintage finds she restores herself.
