Paintings in oil and cold wax medium

Cold wax medium added to oil paint helps it to ‘set up’ in a short space of time, which means that many layers of different colours can be built up fairly quickly on the substrate. It’s then that the excitement starts! By scraping back into the layers, scratching and dissolving - in fact ‘excavating’ like an archaeologist, beautiful textures and nuances are revealed. Then more paint is layered up until the beginning of a composition evolves, and this process of construction and deconstruction carries on, sometimes over months, until I am happy with the finished painting. Once the completed paintings are fully set up they are robust and waterproof, and just need the occasional dusting with a soft cloth.