Among the many paintings in the world today, the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper are the two most recognizable ones. This is because of their magnificence and the perfect combination of media and the style used. Some of the noted painting media are oil, oil pastel, dry pastel, enamel paint, ink, light, water color, spray paint, fresco and encaustic. One painting media that is gaining attention now is wax or encaustic. This media makes use of beeswax, resin and pigment and when combined, they form a superb design. Its resurgence in the painting world becomes visible today after dying out sometime when tempera and oil paints became available.

History says that Diego Rivera, a muralist, first used this type of medium in 1920s. It was then revived by Jasper Johns in the mid-1900s and with the evolution of other painting media and style, wax painting become inactive until the 1990s. It was then during the later years that encaustic regained its place in the world of painting. This is because of the emergence of electric equipments that can easily mold and manipulate wax pigments like iron, heat guns and electric griddles.

And today, an exhibit is being shown at the Morro Bay Art Association Gallery. The exhibit is themed “Hot Color, Hot Wax” which is a fusion of pastels and encaustic paintings. Flo Bartell, the art association president, has some art pieces on display. Bartlell’s fascination with art began when she was just ten, but her meeting with encaustic happened only few years ago when she saw handmade paper with a waxy cover. Fascinated by its beauty, she then researched deeply and find out the wonderful art of encaustic. And after two years of concentrating on this media, she is now showing off her creations.

Paintings on display include Bartell’s nonrepresentational paintings, taken mainly under the influence of Picasso’s and Kandiski’s breaking the rules and whimsy contrast. Robert Dodge and Margaret Bertnard’s art work are also on display with animals and impressionistic themes respectively. Carolyn Braun, on the other hand, provides the pastel-media paintings with shadow-striped cows, old barns, exotic birds and sceneries.

Art galleries have been around for countless of years and they always enthrall people’s attention. You may stand there now asking yourself why art is such an awe-inspiring and astonishing subject to people around the world. A large amount of people like art because it is a formation within the artist that comes from their heart. The artist uses his heart and spirit when creating such masterpieces. Some artists are so outstanding their names are known around the world. Exhibitions provide all types of paintings and sculptors for people to see and it is a spectacular place to get inspiration.

Some people take art very seriously and travel the world to visit galleries because their passion is to buy art. Buying art can really be a gratifying thing to do and if you find the right painting by the right artist, one day you’ll have a true treasure in your hands. Contemporary art galleries usually provide the ‘up-to-date’ art, such as abstract art. Especially in these days, people long for such works of art.

Traditional art galleries, however, provide the old style such as landscapes or impressionism paintings. To put it all in a nutshell it can be said that creative works of art will be alive within the world and still there are many artists yet to be born. Now with all this said, next time you walk out on the city streets, stop by an art exhibition and be bewildered by such exquisiteness regular people can make. You will be astounded by the stimulation you will experience by every painting you see.