Editor鈥檚 note: Tracey Bryant is the sister of Mike W. Bryant, 快盈v3鈥檚 group publisher.

鈥楩ire Paint,鈥� an event that took place Saturday, demonstrated the possibilities of using a blowtorch as a paintbrush.

Tracey Bryant, the founder of Saxifrage Studio, organized the lesson at her 47 Street downtown studio.

The artform is known as encaustic painting or hot wax painting. It involves using a painting iron to spread wax onto the canvas. Once applied, various tools can be used to reshape the paint, as desired. In Bryant鈥檚 case, she uses a blowtorch.

The event was one of several classes open to the public, offering people a unique way to paint. In addition to this, Bryant explained the history of this unique approach.

鈥淓ncaustics is an ancient artform,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t dates back to the Greeks, around 2,000 years ago. They used it to seal the hulls of their wooden ships and then started using it for decorating their sculptures and murals.鈥�

Bryant emphasized how this technique allows her to use everyday materials to express her creativity.

She explained that many people use alcohol inks to paint on porous surfaces, such as glass or ceramics. However, she prefers to make her own paint.

鈥淚 make my own because I found that the base is isopropyl alcohol, which is hand sanitizer, and I can buy this at the hardware store,鈥� she said, adding that it鈥檚 cost-effective.

鈥淚t鈥檚 rewarding but on its own is very expensive. So buying pre-made paints, all that process is going to be very expensive,鈥� said Bryant.

鈥淚 love it because it鈥檚 very versatile and I鈥檓 a mixed media person. I have a lot of different options. I like to mix different things and I like to push boundaries.鈥�

She finds the process of mixing media akin to an experiment.

Bryant demonstrated her painting technique with great enthusiasm on Saturday.

She has also painted with acrylic paints before. However, since she鈥檚 capable of finishing a painting in a day, the process of using acrylic paints slows her down.

鈥淚f I wanted to build up a texture, I would have to apply it like a molding paste which is like a medium plastic base, and then I have to walk away for two days,鈥� she said of the lengthy drying process.

Bryant sees her life evolving as an artist and is always interested in trying something new. The way she handles encaustic materials has been described as 鈥渆xperimental,鈥� and at the same time, it gives her a sense of a natural breeze.

鈥淭hat is very sort of natural, like there鈥檚 something really synthetic about it that I鈥檓 using stuff from nature, like beeswax to the dammar resin tree sap,鈥� she said. 鈥淓verything about it is kind of natural 鈥� the smells of the beeswax, the senses are engaged with it.鈥�

Bryant has offered several classes on encaustics before, as well as kids鈥� art classes that teach art history, theme classes like acrylic paints and recycled arts.