Could you tell us a little about yourself ? I came to art later in life . Originally , I trained as a pediatric critical care physician . About twenty years ago I began my art career in Denver working with alternative process photography . From there I transitioned to encaustic painting and then moved to cold wax and oils as my primary medium . I currently live in Oakland , California and show my work at GearBox Gallery .
What exactly is cold wax medium ? Cold wax medium ( CWM ) is a mixture of beeswax and solvent that is a paste at room temperature . Artists combine this paste with oil paints or pigments to create their work . The solvent is typically odorless mineral spirits , but some formulations use turpentine or d-limonene ( citrus solvent ). The larger commercial products contain either damar or alkyd resin to aid in curing and hardening . Some recipes add a drying oil like linseed . Though these formulations emerged two to three centuries ago , their availability and use was limited until the birth of the turpentine industry in the late 19 th century . Older recipes used various caustic chemicals , water , and heat to chemically alter the wax so that it was workable at room temperature . I consider these products to be something altogether different from what we use now .
How is cold wax medium different from encaustic ? Unlike encaustic , working with CWM requires no heat . In fact , because of the solvent , it should not be heated . While encaustic sets up immediately as the wax cools , CWM is workable at room temperature and stays workable for days . It is easily spread and manipulated using a variety of different tools . It has a handling and feel similar to traditional oil paints . Encaustic medium gives an almost transparent effect , while CWM produces a much more translucent effect . And finally , in contrast to the shiny quality of encaustic work , CWM dries to a rich , matte , almost velvety surface .