Breathing Free

                                            

Breathing Free

Painting "Breathing Free" was pure joy! The of layering colors with my palette knives and scraper seemed to lift my spirits and  set me free from the doldrums.  One of my favorite parts of this piece are the loose grasses. 

                   

         This is done in Cold Wax & Oil on a 

12x12 cradled gesso board

                                     

September Field

September Field 8x8 oil & cold wax

detail

When I first did this little piece, the sky had a much different feel & look as you can see in the picture below.

As often is the case, I decided to rework part of it, 

I changed the sky to the one below

I liked it much better, yet it still didn't please me perfectly. I had another go at the sky &  finally it's done!

September Field is available at etsy

Oil & Cold Wax

Early in 1999 I experimented with a new medium... Oil & Cold Wax. Unlike encaustic in which the wax is melted with resin & gives off toxic fumes, cold wax can be done anytime without toxic properties. All you need is oil paint, cold wax medium (which has the look & consistency of shortening), Gamsol by Gamblin for cleanup plus your tools & surface.

The above pic  shows  my first purchases for this new medium, a set of oil paints, 2 different brands of oil paint sticks (one brand I didn't like working with at all) a small can of ColdWax Medium, small bottle of Gamsol, palette knives & a couple squeegee like tools. 



I immediately discovered that I love painting in Oil & Cold Wax! The process of blending the oil paint and Cold Wax Medium with your palette knife to a creamy texture is relaxing & restorative. You can paint wet into wet, or let the paint dry before adding another layer. You can remove layers with Gamsol or carve into the layers. It's wonderfully versatile. Painting in this medium usually takes me much longer than painting in acrylics, but I find it much more satisfying & enjoyable. 

The above painting was my 2nd attempt, learning and experimenting with this different medium & to see what I can do in Oil & Cold Wax.