About Matthew and his work

Matthew MacDougall is an artist working in Encaustic and Mixed Media. Encaustic is "Painting with hot wax", and because the material changes from a molten to a solid state in a matter of seconds, is an exciting medium that presents a unique set of challenges to work with. These challenges, however, also serve as opportunities as Matthew's paintings often take on a sculptural quality as the pigmented wax is layered, fused, pushed, and sometimes combined with elements from nature. The work is abstract, exploring concepts such as texture, transparency, depth, and ambiguity. Inspiration for Matthew's work is derived from a love for, and connection with the natural environment.

It is innate, intuitive, inspired...

Matthew resides in northern Oakland county with his wife Jessica and three children, Caelie, Joseph and John.

About encaustic as a medium

The history of encaustic dates back to ancient Greece, where shipbuilders used beeswax and resin to seal the joints and waterproof the hulls of their vessels. Pigmenting the wax gave rise to the decorating of warships, and survives today in contemporary encaustic painting. Encaustic medium consists of beeswax with damar resin(a natural resin from the damar fir tree) and pigment. Damar is used as a hardening agent, and to increase the melting point of the medium. In order to paint with encaustic, the medium is heated to around 200 degrees and is applied and fused in layers with a variety of heating tools. The translucent nature of wax results in a luminous and unique surface that is capable of taking on a variety of characteristics.

Images from my art studio… nestled in the woods behind my home in Davisburg, Michigan.

A view looking out to Henry Island and Port Hood Island from the shoreline of Cape Breton Island - in Nova Scotia, Canada, one of my favorite places and my birthplace.