I experimented with Amanda Pierce‘s cracking technique she demonstrates in her Painting with Fire – Vol 6 class (essenceofmulranny.com). The process involves making a pour of plaster of Paris, allowing it to mostly dry, and then cracking it apart. In this case, I embedded the plaster in joint compound and then created the cracks. Once dried, it takes encaustic paint very nicely.

After applying a layer of medium, I decided to play with some of the R&F translucent colors. They came out on the plaster with this nice gemstone quality – at least, I think so! It was nice enough that I decided to put more effort into the piece: painting the background and using my encaustic stylus to fill ancient gold into the cracks. When finished it reminded me of the Japanese practice of Kintsugi, so I named it golden joining.

Now when I look at it, I can see it as a portrait: all the fragmented parts of a person – each is a jewel – all connected – making something more than the sum of the parts. OK, so that is a bit romantic, but still…