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New direction: oils and cold wax medium

cold wax medium and oils on work in progress

It's been a long winter, yet its beauty never ceases to inspire and touch me, and trying to capture it seems like an impossible quest. However, I have recently been working with oils, and discovered the use of cold wax medium with them. I now have more ways to express myself than ever, and cold wax medium has been very rewarding in my "winter beauty" experiments.

Looking at what I was painting two years ago, my style has drastically changed. I think I was in a playful mode back then, perhaps influenced by a workshop towards a direction that wasn't mine. Thus, my work, over these past two years, has slowly matured to the clear desire to work in a representational way -loving the local landscapes and views- and in a more abstract manner, but "épurée", meaning, in French, void of unnecessary elements. I often split my paintings in two halves horizontally as I am fascinated by the yin and yang of life, nature, and things, and both consciously and unconsciously wanting to explore the concept in most of my work.

Oils, and their creaminess, lusciousness, seduced me, even though they have also been challenging with a definite learning curve. However, I now prefer them over acrylics. I still use the latter as I can achieve certain effects, and it makes me work in a more decisive manner since they dry fast. And then there is cold wax medium. I fell in love with it. I use it in various ways and seem to naturally be able to find my way with them. They lend a unique soft quality to painting and I absolutely love the type of effects and texture I can get with them.

I now feel clear about the path I am to pursue, and if painting is a never ending experiment and search, my focus is now on developing consistency in my work, with many paintings to be made, and the hope of a lovely body of work to offer you all.

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