We are interested in bees as pollinators and part of agricultural life cycle (bringers of flowers, fruit and vegetables). On those auspices, we took a class on Beeswax Candle Dipping via the Driftless Folk School.

Candle types: Dipped beeswax candles

Instructor Martha Buche had the wax already a-melting so the classroom smelled great as soon as we began. As a sculptor I have worked with wax in other processes: making plaster mold castings into which glass or bronze was poured, doing a bit of carving and shaping directly into the wax before they were burned out to make the permanent castings. I had never worked with wax by dipping it. Martha also has a formal art background, and shared with us a bit about her non-wax sculptural work.

Beeswax chunks and candle wicking

The process of building up wax thickness slowly but surely via layers was a gentle and subtle reminder of the power of time. The process of dipping