Studio Setup & safety
When I first started painting with encaustics, I would set up on my kitchen table. That was a real pain to set up and take down, so I moved everything to the bonus room over the garage. After a few months I transferred everything to the basement under a window. As I painted larger and larger and used more materials in my wax, I felt I needed much better ventilation, so I finally I moved out to the garage. There were a lot of things I didn’t know when I started, and I’m very glad I was able to implement safety measures along the way so I could keep using wax.
One of the catalysts for my moving into the garage is that the larger my paintings became, the more wax needed to be heating at the same time. The bonus room and the basement just did not cut it in regards to ventilation. I found the fumes became irritating if I spent too much time in my “studio.” I was also concerned about using a torch in the house and the safety of my small children at the time.
I’m very lucky my husband is handy and was able and willing to convert half of the garage by installing a window, a heater, then eventually flooring and new cupboards.
R&F Handmade Paints has excellent resources on setting up a studio, on ventilation, and safety when heating and painting with wax.
Please use this link to go to their website and do your research. They have a great encaustic manual and temperature charts and a quick safety breakdown here.
There are artists who have become sensitive to encaustic fumes and have had to stop painting with wax, including the lady who taught me!
Main things in brief:
Ensure you have cross-ventilation at a minimum.
Have a fire proof can and fire extinguisher handy and know how to use it.
Have a burn kit. Understand how to treat a wax burn.
Fuse on a heat-resistant surface. I have puppy training pads, covered in aluminum foil, with silicone baking mats over top of my counter. I fuse on this surface with my small torches or heat guns. For larger paintings, I have a cast-aluminum camping griddle on a separate table. For very large paintings, they go on the table overtop the aluminum camping griddle.
Remind yourself you are using a torch (if you are using a torch) and keep hands, hair, and paper away from the flame. Always set your torch down in a spot where it won’t get knocked over. Consider the torch, heat gun, griddle, and tins all to be hot when you are working. Use clamps to move tins.
Heat guns can start paper towel on fire. The only thing I’ve come close to burning so far was a paper towel with a heat gun. They are extremely hot.
Beeswax is flammable. Do not spill water onto your griddle or in a pot of hot wax as apparently it can explode like hot oil and water. Bad.
Understand the risks related to artists materials — for example, some pigments are dangerous to inhale or ingest. Wash hands before eating. Consider wearing gloves. Research pigment safety before using dry pigments.
Watch for tripping or slipping hazards in your studio.
Other than that, have fun!