Last week, I held a one-on-one tutoring session with Andrea Curley. She is an experienced oil painter but had never applied oil AND cold wax to her canvases before. Knowing that I have focused on this exciting medium in my classes recently, she wanted to give it a shot.
After popping the lid to this creamy beeswax substance, Andrea quickly took to finding shapes and building texture. She remarked at how simple she found this technique. Since it creates translucent and textural effects, the brilliance of this method is really best appreciated in person. But here, in two dimensions, are two of her sample efforts from our session together.
Above, a simple sailboat floats leisurely along a surfy ocean. And below, red salmon swirl in a mesmerizing pattern. In both instances the application of the cold wax texture brings the murky water into perspective.
Teaching allows me to share my love for painting with others, and I think this shared experience helps my students reflect a story of passion in their artwork. This is the way I always strive to teach. And this inspiration also gets reflected in my own art.
More opportunities to learn about oil and cold wax are available in the coming weeks. Check out my class over at FiftyNorth in Northfield and my workshop at my gallery below. There are still a few spots remaining.
Sign up for the class at FiftyNorth – Tuesday May 14, 2024 @ 1:00 – 3:00pm
Sign up for the workshop at Tolle Fine Art – Friday and Saturday April 19-20, 2024 @ 10:30am – 3:30pm
This was my first experience using cold wax with oil paint and I was surprised how fluid it was to work with. I could not believe the ease and freedom this brought to my painting.