Lux Mentis Lux Orbis

This is an encaustic collage with an illustrated background and "found" light bulbs (mostly from cars, I think). The background is a drawn replica of one of Thomas Edison's lightbulb patents and was one of the harder things I've ever drawn. Seems easy, just lines, but getting them all to go where they need with no understanding of their purpose was challenging. 

I did a clear fill, waited for it to dry, then built a tape barrier and set it upright to fill the bottom as well to place the bulbs. 

This is my first piece to have a 2-way fill, pretty easy and turned out nice. 

I carved into some copper with a pointy stick (super technical) and filled it with black wax to make them stand out. 

And a close-up of some of the illustration because it's a shame to do that much work and just cover it up. 

Lux Mentis Lux Orbis: light of the mind, light of the world.