The Creative Alchemy of Cold Wax: A Contemporary Medium with Timeless Appeal
Cold wax painting has emerged as a captivating force within the contemporary art landscape, offering a distinctive medium that bridges tradition with innovation. At its core, cold wax medium is a rich fusion of beeswax, resin, and solvent designed to interact with oil paint in ways that defy conventional methods. Unlike encaustic painting, which requires the use of heat, cold wax operates at room temperature, preserving a tactile immediacy that artists find both liberating and sensorially immersive.
What distinguishes this medium is its luxurious, paste-like texturereminiscent of softened butterthat responds intuitively to the artist’s hand. With this consistency, artists are free to scrape, layer, etch, and imprint their surfaces, introducing texture and dimensionality that evolve with each application. The matte finish of the waxed surface, coupled with its ability to hold gesture and nuance, allows for a visual richness that often reveals more with each viewing. Beneath each layer lies a hidden story, a chronicle of the painter’s decisions, edits, and intentions.
Cold wax does more than merely enhance oil paint; it transforms the process. With accelerated drying times and enhanced versatility, artists are not bound by the slow evolution of traditional oil layers. They can explore immediacy, spontaneity, and the joyful unpredictability of surface manipulation. The medium’s affinity for mixed mediawhether collage fragments, powdered pigments, or embedded texturesbroadens the visual vocabulary available to creators. The result is a body of work that feels intimate, raw, and profoundly expressive.
The evolution of cold wax into a respected genre owes much to the work of seasoned artists and educators like Sally Hirst. Her deep engagement with the mediumboth in her own art and in her pedagogical approachhas shed light on the technical intricacies that differentiate one cold wax product from another. Through her extensive testing and comparisons, Hirst has become a voice of clarity and authority in this niche yet dynamic field. Her insights allow artists to make informed choices, guiding them through the nuanced interplay of formulation, compatibility, and outcome.
Sally Hirst’s Studio Trials: A Deep Dive into the Properties of Six Cold Wax Mediums
Sally Hirst embarked on a rigorous exploration to better understand how different brands of cold wax medium compare in terms of feel, smell, drying time, and compatibility. Her motivation extended beyond curiosity, aimed to create a reliable guide for fellow artists navigating the expanding cold wax market. With six distinct brands under scrutiny, including her bespoke formulation, SalCera, Hirst structured her investigation through a series of painting studies that tested each medium in real-world applications.
The six brands testedSalCera, Gamblin, Dorland’s, Zest-it, Michael Harding, and Wallace Seymoureach, brought their characteristics to the table. Some were dense and gritty, lending themselves to structural effects and thick impasto techniques, while others were fluid and light, more suited to gestural applications and delicate transitions. One surprising aspect of Hirst’s comparison was the role of scent. Though often overlooked in technical discussions, the aroma of each product played a distinct role in the painting experience. To assess this subjectively, Sally enlisted her husband to conduct blind smell tests, ranking the olfactory strength and character of each medium.
Zest-it’s wax offered a sweet, citrus-like aroma that some artists may find pleasant and refreshing. Michael Harding’s version, on the other hand, carried a potent turpentine unmistakably strong and potentially distracting for more sensitive users. These variations in smell can be attributed to the different solvents used in each formulation, highlighting the importance of the studio environment and individual comfort when selecting a product.
Beyond scent, texture emerged as a critical differentiator. The Zest-it wax displayed a robust, almost granular consistency that responded beautifully to sculptural manipulation. In contrast, the Michael Harding medium was notably more fluid and transparent, making it ideal for layering thin washes or glazes of oil. Wallace Seymour’s offering balanced these extremes with a silky yet dense body that appealed to those seeking control without stiffness.
Hirst also examined how each cold wax medium reacted to modifiersoils, solvents, and dry materials. Using stand oil and bespoke blends of solvents, she was able to extend the working time of faster-drying waxes or thin the denser ones for smoother application. Marble dust, limestone powder, and other dry additives introduced a sculptural quality to the paint, affecting both opacity and texture. These experiments proved that cold wax is not a fixed entity, but a starting point for endless customization.
Perhaps the most technical challenge involved the compatibility of resins. Cold wax mediums typically use either damar or alkyd resin, and mixing these can produce unstable results. Sally meticulously tested combinations, confirming that alkyd-based waxes pair best with other alkyd-compatible products such as Galkyd Gel, while damar-based waxes integrate more safely with traditional wax-solvent blends. Maintaining resin integrity proved essential for achieving uniform drying and surface cohesion.
Her methodical processlayering, scraping, blending, and adjustingprovided a holistic view of how each product behaves in complex compositions. Sally’s findings speak not only to the practical dimensions of the medium but also to its emotional and atmospheric possibilities. Each wax carried a different energy, influencing how the artwork developed and how it communicated with the viewer.
The Art of Transformation: Cold Wax as a Medium for Process and Discovery
Cold wax painting is more than a technique; it’s an evolving relationship between artist, surface, and time. What makes the medium so compelling is its dynamic rhythmability to build and erase, to bury and reveal. Each layer offers both a new opportunity and a subtle challenge, pushing the artist to respond, reconsider, and resolve. This interplay of concealment and exposure becomes a metaphor for the artistic journey itself.
Sally Hirst’s approach to painting reflects this philosophy. Her process begins with a raw, textural underlayeroften composed of acrylics and other dry mediathat serves as a scaffold for the wax and oil layers that follow. The use of unconventional toolspalette knives, squeegees, trowels, and even kitchen utensils imbues her surfaces with marks that feel both intentional and serendipitous. The surface becomes a living field of energy, bearing the physical gestures of its maker.
The speed at which cold wax dries enables this back-and-forth engagement. Unlike traditional oils, where waiting times can stall creativity, cold wax invites immediacy. The surface can be scratched into, scraped back, or wiped clean within hours of application. This allows for a constant dialogue between intention and chance that many artists find intoxicating.
As Hirst notes, a painting in cold wax is finished not when it is perfected, but when it stops asking for more. This poetic threshold speaks to the medium’s inherent openness, its willingness to adapt to the artist’s evolving vision. The final image is not imposed but uncovered, coaxed into existence through a series of intuitive responses.
In educational settings, Sally’s insights have empowered countless artists to explore cold wax with confidence. Her teachings emphasize not only technique but mindsetthe importance of curiosity, adaptability, and respect for materials. By fostering an understanding of how each component contributes to the whole, she equips her students to innovate and personalize their practices.
Cold wax’s resurgence in contemporary art circles is no accident. As artists increasingly seek materials that offer both control and freedom, structure and play, cold wax meets those needs with elegance and depth. Its compatibility with both abstract and representational approaches makes it a versatile tool for painters at every stage of their journey.
Whether used for its luminous layering, its tactile surface, or its capacity to hold gesture and emotion, cold wax painting offers a profound and flexible method of expression. As artists like Sally Hirst continue to push the boundaries of what the medium can do, cold wax will undoubtedly remain a fertile ground for artistic discovery and innovation for years to come.
Drying Time in Cold Wax Painting: Speed, Variables, and Studio Impact
As contemporary artists continue to explore the rich and versatile world of cold wax painting, practical elements like drying time play a critical role in shaping both the studio process and artistic intent. For seasoned painter and educator Sally Hirst, one of the most common questions in her workshops revolves around how quickly different cold wax mediums dryand how this variable affects not just working time but the ability to layer, carve, or transport finished pieces.
Artists transitioning from traditional oil painting are often surprised by the comparatively faster drying times in cold wax techniques. This is largely due to the mixture of wax and solvent, which accelerates surface drying, allowing for quicker layering and experimentation. To move beyond anecdotal observation, Sally developed a standardized series of tests designed to provide consistent, measurable outcomes. Her approach included applying multiple swatches of cold wax and oil paint in various ratios to a primed canvas chart, mimicking real-world techniques like scraping, layering, and surface manipulation.
What she found was striking. Mediums from leading brands such as Gamblin, Dorland’s, Zest-it, and SalCera reached a touch-dry state in under twenty-four hours. This rapid setting pace gave artists a tighter turnaround for additional layers, facilitating greater freedom in complex compositions. In contrast, Michael Harding’s more solvent-rich medium extended drying time up to seventy-two hours, and Wallace Seymour’s unique linseed-oil blend required over three weeks to dry completely when used in its pure form.
However, these slower-drying products demonstrated greater practicality when diluted according to the manufacturer’s guidancetypically with no more than twenty percent wax to paint. Under these adjusted conditions, drying times for both the Michael Harding and Wallace Seymour products shortened dramatically, making them more feasible for artists who value deeper working time without sacrificing the overall schedule of a project.
At the root of these differences are the base ingredients in each medium. Wallace Seymour's reliance on linseed oil, which cures through oxidation, naturally results in prolonged drying since it slowly absorbs oxygen and retains internal moisture. On the other hand, Michael Harding’s turpentine-infused blend evaporates quickly but leaves behind a denser, more saturated paint film that cures over time. In contrast, mediums from Gamblin and SalCera incorporate alkyd resins, which not only speed up the curing process but also increase flexibilitymaking them particularly favorable for artists working in layered, heavily textured applications.
Understanding the interplay between formulation and function is crucial. A fast-drying medium might encourage immediacy and momentum, while a slower-drying variant allows for extended manipulation and nuance. Both serve distinct artistic goals, and Sally’s meticulous testing provided clear, evidence-based guidelines for when and how to use each product to its full advantage.
Wax-to-Paint Ratios and Flexibility: Finding the Sweet Spot for Different Surfaces
The ratio of wax to paint is not just a matter of texture fundamental factor that affects how a painting behaves both during creation and long after it leaves the studio. A fifty-fifty blend of wax and paint creates a rich, sculptural surface ideal for impasto work and palette knife techniques. However, this ratio can also lead to issues when the artwork is created on flexible supports such as canvas or paper. Excessive wax content, especially without modifiers, can reduce surface cohesion, leading to cracking or flaking under stress.
Sally’s tests on this front were equally methodical. Once her test panels had cured for four weeks, she subjected each sample to rigorous bending and rolling, replicating conditions that a painting might experience during shipping or framing. While most samples held their integrity, those with unmixed wax or significantly higher-than-recommended wax content began to show signs of instability. This was especially apparent in samples that had not been adequately mixed or lacked the structural support of an alkyd or oil-based extender.
Interestingly, samples containing linseed oil performed better than expected. Despite its long drying time, linseed oil contributed to the surface flexibility of the dried paint. Even in lean formulations, its presence added a resilience that prevented cracking during aggressive creasing and rolling tests. This discovery underscores a key insight: even minimal oil content in a wax medium can significantly improve long-term surface durability, making linseed-based blends more viable than initially presumed for flexible applications.
When working on rigid supports like wood panels or metal sheets, higher wax concentrations offer creative benefits such as enhanced texture and translucency. However, for artists who prefer the portability or textural qualities of canvas and paper, Sally recommends either reducing the wax proportion or incorporating an alkyd extender like Galkyd. This not only maintains flexibility but also supports a more stable surface for transport and handling.
The practical implications of these findings are vast, especially for artists exhibiting internationally. A painting that cracks during shipment can incur financial loss and reputational damage. By understanding how ratio affects flexibility and drying behavior, artists can make smarter, more informed decisions that preserve both their work and their peace of mind.
Layering, Solvent Control, and the Subtractive Magic of Cold Wax
Beyond the technicalities of drying and ratios lies one of the most exciting elements of cold wax painting: layering. The ability to build up surfaces with alternating layers of opaque and translucent pigment is at the heart of the medium’s appeal. But achieving those intricate visual effects requires not only intuitive skill but an understanding of how different products behave during successive applications.
To investigate, Sally developed a sequence of layered paintings beginning with a bold Cerulean Blue base. Once this foundational layer had dried, she applied transparent glazes of Indian Yellow, observing how each medium affected transparency, adhesion, and surface modulation. Those mixed with Galkyd and Gamsol delivered a fluid, seamless glaze, enhancing both luminosity and color saturation. In contrast, Zest-it’s stronger solvent created slight disruptions in the underlayers, lifting pigment and altering the intended transitions.
One combination that stood out was Dorland’s Wax paired with Chelsea Classical Studio Lean Medium. This duo produced a buttery, even glaze with impressive clarity. The paraffin and microcrystalline waxes in Dorland’s allowed for smooth handling, while the balanced oil content of the Lean Medium provided the right amount of slip and adhesion without reactivating lower layers. This harmony made it ideal for artists focused on gradual tonal development and nuanced optical blends.
Sally’s curiosity didn’t stop at the application. She also examined how solvents could be used to manipulate or remove cured layers. Employing a vertical wipe-down technique, she tested various solvents for their strength and control. English Distilled Turpentine proved to be the most aggressive, cutting through cured paint layers with ease. Zest-it and ShellSol T followed closely behind, offering strong but slightly more manageable removal. Gamsol, known for its low toxicity and mild odor, was more gentle, allowing for controlled lifting without disturbing the composition. Surprisingly, the lavender-based Lean Medium had little to no impact on the paint film, reaffirming that pleasant-smelling solvents do not necessarily equate to powerful results.
The implications of this testing are deeply creative. One of cold wax painting’s most beloved techniques involves subtractive workscraping, scratching, or dissolving away layers to reveal earlier passages. Knowing which solvents allow for delicate exposure of lower strata without destroying the surface gives artists tremendous control and expands the expressive potential of the medium.
This interplay between construction and deconstructionbetween layering and excavationcreates a dynamic painting process where the history of each layer becomes part of the final narrative. By deeply understanding solvent behavior and layering interaction, artists can move beyond surface aesthetics and into the realm of intentional, emotive composition.
The Tactile Language of Cold Wax: A Medium That Speaks in Texture
Cold wax painting is far more than an artistic medium; it is a tactile language evolving lexicon of texture, gesture, and form. For artist Sally Hirst, cold wax isn't simply a substance to manipulate; it’s a collaborator in the creative process, a medium that responds in real time to pressure, movement, and intention. In her studio, unconventional tools like antique scrapers, silicone wedges, and metal skewers find equal footing with traditional palette knives and brushes. Each object, no matter how humble, is transformed into a conduit of expression.
This medium calls for a deeply physical engagement. Unlike oil or acrylic painting, where brushwork might dominate the visual language, cold wax invites sculptural interaction. Its rich, pliable consistency allows the artist to carve, press, scrape, and layer with a freedom that feels both intuitive and deliberate. The resulting surface is not just a visual element but a tactile one invitation to feel with the eyes.
Sally Hirst begins her process with vibrant acrylic underpaintings that serve as a hidden foundation. These early layers are not meant to be fully seen, but to whisper through the finished work in subtle flashes of color and texture. As new layers of wax and pigment are added, scraped away, or incised, the history of the piece reveals itself. This interplay between concealment and revelation gives each artwork a sense of depth and temporal dimension, much like an archaeological site where each stratum holds a fragment of the story.
In this way, the painting becomes a living surface, always in conversation with its past. The wax holds the memory of every touch, every removal, every decision. It’s a medium that welcomes change and evolution, mirroring the artist’s internal dialogue. The gestures made are not just mechanical actionsthey are physical imprints of thought and emotion.
Tools as Extensions of the Self: Techniques That Transform the Surface
The tools used in cold wax painting are not limited to what one might find in an art supply shop. For Sally Hirst and many artists like her, tools are chosen for their ability to generate a specific kind of interaction with the wax. Silicone spatulas, basting brushes, pottery knives, and even carved wood blocks all become extensions of the artist’s hand. Each tool offers its voice and texture. The swipe of a blade, the twist of a skewer, and the press of textured fabric become a form of choreography on the surface.
Sally often speaks of the emotional resonance carried by these marks. A groove made by a kitchen whisk or a crease embedded by thread can evoke an unexpected feeling because of its rawness, its irregularity. These aren’t polished or rehearsed gesturesthey’re immediate, almost primal. This unpredictability is where much of the expressive power of cold wax lies. It bypasses conscious thought and allows the subconscious to surface.
Among the most compelling techniques within cold wax is sgraffitoscratching through layers to reveal those underneath. Because the wax holds its shape so well, these incisions remain crisp and full of depth, offering a layered contrast between past and present, between surface and subtext. This technique alone can transform a flat canvas into a deeply complex visual story.
In contrast, burnishing and polishing are about subtlety. These techniques add a soft glow or gentle sheen to selected areas, creating focal points and guiding the viewer’s gaze across the work. By alternating matte and polished surfaces, Sally manipulates not just what the eye sees, but how the viewer feels the surface on a sensory level. The result is a dynamic tension between rough and smooth, raw and refined.
Collage, too, plays a vital role in expanding the narrative potential of cold wax. Using the wax as an adhesive, Sally embeds fragments of paper, bits of thread, and even organic materials like leaves or bark into the layers. These are not ornamental details; they are chosen with intention. Each embedded item carries meaningperhaps a memory, a symbol, or a trace of the natural world. These inclusions add physical dimension and emotional weight, creating a palimpsest of ideas and textures that the viewer can read like a map.
Every decision in the layering process holds significance. A painting may pass through dozens of stages, layer modifying the one beneath, adding both complexity and refinement. There is no rigid plan, only a responsive flow of actions and reactions. This is what Sally refers to as emergence: the notion that meaning arises not from premeditated design but from open-ended exploration.
Painting as Performance: The Rhythms of Discovery in Cold Wax Practice
The act of painting with cold wax is as much about rhythm and movement as it is about composition. For Sally Hirst, creating is a performance of sorts ongoing interaction between body, surface, and material. Each movement, whether it’s a sweeping spread of color or a delicate scratch of a fine tool, is a gesture in a dance of discovery. There’s a sense of presence required, a full engagement with the moment. And in return, the wax offers something profound: the ability to preserve that moment in its exact pressure and intent.
A typical session in Sally’s studio might begin with a silicone spreader laying down a wide swath of pigment mixed with wax. The surface is then manipulatedpressed with a textured object, scraped back with a plaster knife, layered again with translucent colors, and perhaps polished with a soft cloth to bring forward hidden brilliance. This cycle of layering, disrupting, and refining becomes a feedback loop of learning and adaptation. Mistakes are not erasedthey are integrated. Surprises are not hiddenthey are highlighted.
This process fosters a sense of freedom rare in more traditional media. There’s room for improvisation, for happy accidents, for shifts in direction guided by the materials themselves. Cold wax is forgiving and generous. It allows the artist to dig inliterally and metaphoricallywithout fear of losing what came before. Everything leaves a trace, and those traces build upon one another to form a rich, textural narrative.
Because of this versatility, cold wax supports a wide range of aesthetic approaches. Abstract artists are drawn to its gestural, improvisational nature. The ability to build up and break down layers lends itself to non-representational expression, where the focus is on mood, movement, and materiality. Meanwhile, artists working in a more representational mode find that cold wax offers delicate transitions, soft-edged details, and nuanced surface variation that can enhance realism without sacrificing texture.
The surface, in either case, becomes a terrainsomething to be explored, mapped, and understood over time. It is not a flat window into another world but a landscape in itself, rich with tactile and visual experience. The viewer is invited not just to see the work, but to feel it, to imagine the touch of each mark, the weight of each layer.
Ultimately, Sally Hirst’s exploration into cold wax painting reveals it as a medium of profound expressive potential. Beyond its technical attributesits drying time, its mix ratios, its toolslies a deeper truth: cold wax holds memory. It retains the moment of contact, the exact nuance of pressure or release. It doesn’t just capture what is paintedit preserves how it was painted. Each mark is a lasting echo, a relic of artistic intention, embedded in the wax like a fossil of thought.
Through its unique language of texture and its capacity for both control and chance, cold wax painting opens a door to artistic discovery unlike any other. It invites the artist to let go of rigid outcomes and instead participate in a fluid, ongoing conversation with the surface. In this dialogue, tools become voices, texture becomes meaning, and the medium itself becomes a co-creator in the story being told.
Understanding the Enduring Nature of Cold Wax Medium: Stability Through Time and Temperature
As artists reach the final stage of a painting, the concern often shifts from technique and expression to preservation and presentation. For those working with cold wax medium, questions about longevity, durability, and environmental resistance become especially relevant. Sally Hirst, an established voice in the field, embarked on a comprehensive exploration into these very aspects, focusing on how various cold wax mediums hold up under real-world stressors.
A frequent concern among artists, especially those new to cold wax, revolves around the assumption that the medium may soften or melt under heat due to its beeswax content. This misconception is understandable, as traditional beeswax is known for its relatively low melting point. However, cold wax mediums are formulated with stabilizers, solvents, and resins that transform the fragile nature of beeswax into a robust, versatile component.
To put this durability to the test, Sally conducted two experiments: one practical, one controlled. The first involved a road trip spanning the intense heat of a Southern European summer. Transporting a range of her cold wax paintings from Spain to the UK in a car exposed to the sun for hours at a time, she found no deformation, melting, or even change in surface quality. While the interior of the vehicle carried a faint waxy aroma, the paintings themselves remained untouched by the heat. In her second test, Sally exposed two panelsone with traditional oil paint and the other a 50/50 cold wax mixto direct sunlight on a particularly hot day. Both held their form without softening or warping, and the surface sheen stayed consistent.
These findings contribute to growing evidence that cold wax, particularly when formulated with alkyd resins or other binding agents, performs admirably under temperature stress. Although no medium is invincible, and direct sunlight should always be avoided to prevent long-term fading or yellowing, Sally’s trials provide significant reassurance for those skeptical about cold wax’s structural integrity.
Another layer of durability was tested in how each cold wax medium stood up to physical handling and environmental stress. In what Sally called the "rolling and creasing" experiment, she applied various wax mediums to canvas and subjected them to pressure and bending to mimic the rigors of handling and transport. All samples withstood the stress well except for those heavily mixed with Wallace Seymour medium beyond its recommended ratio. These exhibited minor cracking, a reminder that following a brand’s usage guidelines is essential for maintaining the balance between flexibility and stability.
From temperature resilience to physical handling, the cold wax medium proved itself as not only a contemporary choice for textural richness but also a surprisingly robust one. Artists looking to blend sensual mark-making with lasting quality have in cold wax a medium that doesn’t sacrifice stability for expression.
Sheen and Surface: The Visual Impact of Cold Wax Finishing Layers
Cold wax medium brings with it a distinctive visual signatureone that sets it apart from both the high gloss of varnished oil paintings and the sealed surfaces of acrylic works. The natural matte finish that cold wax delivers is not just a byproduct of its chemistry; it’s a defining aesthetic that enhances color depth, reveals texture, and complements the physical act of painting.
Sally’s extensive use of various brands allowed her to notice subtle yet important differences in the final surface quality of each cold wax formulation. She observed that mediums like Gamblin and Dorland’s create a consistently matte and velvety finish that absorbs light in a way that enhances tonal richness. These formulations are especially effective for artists who wish to emphasize surface movement, layering, and transparency.
On the other end of the spectrum, Wallace Seymour’s version, containing more oil, naturally dried with a richer, slightly satin sheen. For those seeking a gentle luminosity without full gloss, this balance of matte and subtle glow is an attractive option. Sally’s custom blend, SalCera, struck a harmonious midpointa satin-matte finish that felt alive with tactile energy, yet controlled in its reflection. Such subtle variations allow artists to select the exact finish that complements their vision, proving that even the most subdued surface can offer tremendous expressive range.
For those who wish to manipulate sheen after drying, there are a few reliable methods. Light buffing with a soft cloth can bring out a gentle glow, adding a nuanced dimension to areas of the painting. Artists can also influence the sheen earlier in the painting process by adjusting the amount of oil or resin mixed into specific layers. This method, however, requires a careful understanding of the medium’s chemistry to avoid undermining the structural integrity of the work.
Importantly, traditional varnishing is not advised when working with cold wax. Unlike oil or acrylic paintings, cold wax does not bond well with most varnishes, and the flexible nature of the surface can lead to cracking or dulling when covered with incompatible materials. The innate beauty of cold wax lies in its unsealed, tactile surfacea quality that invites the viewer closer, encouraging intimate engagement with its physical nuances.
Rather than seeing the lack of varnish as a limitation, Sally frames it as a philosophical statement. Cold wax paintings do not aim for perfection or polish. Instead, they celebrate the hand of the artist, the process of layering and excavation, and the raw interaction between pigment and surface. The matte quality becomes more than a finish; it becomes a narrative device, revealing the history embedded within each mark and stroke.
The Strength Beneath the Surface: Resilience, Responsiveness, and the Cold Wax Identity
What makes cold wax such a compelling medium is not just its texture or sheen, but its unique ability to balance resilience with responsiveness. After allowing her test pieces to cure fully over time, Sally began a series of experiments focused on surface endurancespecifically how different brands performed under physical and chemical stress.
She subjected the cured surfaces to light abrasion, solvent wipes, and applied pressure to mimic accidental scuffing or cleaning mishaps. The alkyd-based mediums, such as Gamblin and SalCera, stood out for their toughness. They could handle moderate cleaning with artist-grade solvents like Gamsol or ShellSol T without flaking, softening, or losing pigment integrity. This feature is particularly valuable for artists creating works intended for public display or those who frequently ship or handle their pieces.
By contrast, damar-based mediums like Zest-it offered a different kind of performance. While their surfaces proved more delicate under solvent exposure, they made up for this in their ease of manipulation during the painting process. The softer, slower-setting nature of damar-based waxes allows for greater flexibility in blending, layering, and textural exploration before the surface sets. This makes them especially attractive to artists who work intuitively and rely on extended open time for mark-making.
This dichotomy between resilience and responsiveness does not imply a hierarchy of quality but rather reflects the medium’s versatility. Different formulations offer different advantages, and Sally’s investigation highlights the importance of matching the medium to one’s artistic goals. Whether an artist prioritizes structural strength for durability or softness for expressive experimentation, there is a cold wax medium that aligns with that vision.
As Sally reflected on the entire testing journeyfrom smell and handling to drying time, surface sheen, and long-term resiliencewhat emerged was not a definitive “best” cold wax, but a richer understanding of a multifaceted medium. Cold wax is not just a technical tool but a creative partner, one that shapes and responds to the evolving intentions of the artist.
For Sally, this exploration continues to influence her practice. In the rhythmic act of building translucent layers, scraping back to earlier forms, and playing with the balance of color and texture, the cold wax becomes more than a medium. It becomes a repository for memory, movement, and meaning. Each layer tells a story, and each surface holds a trace of decision and revision.
Cold wax painting, then, is not about achieving a sealed perfection. It is about embracing the tactile journey of making artan experience that invites curiosity, experimentation, and connection. Through her rigorous tests and poetic reflections, Sally Hirst offers not just answers but an open invitation: to dive deep into this medium’s potential, to respect its quirks, and to discover what stories it can help you tell.
