Wax flowers are ordinarily only clumsy
imitations of the lovely blossoms which
adorn our gardens, or smile upon us from
lurking-places in wood or wayside, yet the
artist in this work is sometimes so success-
ful as to cheat the bees and birds.
In endeavoring to learn this art do not
be too easily discouraged. Practice in this,
as in all things, makes perfect. You may
try to make one flower and produce a result
more nearly resembling another, but if you
would succeed you must not let such fail-
ures stop your work.
You always have the advantage that
your model is perfect. You are not re-
quired to make any improvements upon
454
nature : you have only to imitate, and the
pattern is before you in all its charming
perfection of shape and tint.
Practice will fit you in time for closely
reproducing nature, if the exact imitation
of her work is what you are to aim at.
New models are always at hand ; spring
and summer bring them, and the coldest
winter day need not be without them bloom-
ing in window-pot or hothouse avenues.
To say there is a peculiar fascination in
this art is only to express what has been re-
alized by nearly all who have tried it. And
when you have succeeded and your produc-
tions bear a close resemblance to their
original copies, your home has beautiful
ornaments.
•Wax should be kept in a box, closely
covered from dust, and in a cool place. A
brush must be provided for every color, and
strictly kept for that one tint. Your sable
pencils may be cleaned after using for one
color, and employed in another.
Always use a pair of scissors to cut out
your petals, and take as your pattern the
flower you wish to copy.
In purchasing, it is economy to obtain
the very best wax. You will need white,
cream-tinted, very pale green, smilax, tea-
rose leaf, pale spring- and deep spring-
green tints for wax, but at first a few colors
will sufi&ce. In paints, both in powder
and cake, the waxworker should have car-
mine, chrome-yellow, burnt sienna, burnt
umber, Prussian blue, indigo, crimson lake,
violet, carmine, rose-madder, French ultra-
marine, flake- white, and Indian yellow ; a
sufficient number of tinting and sable pen-
cils ; some modeling pins, wires covered
with silk for fine, and with cotton for coarse
stems ; a palette and palette knife ; some
best Bermuda arrowroot ; green and white
down for leaves ; two sizes of wooden molds
for the lily of the valley and a cutter for
heliotrope, and a bar of India ink. This is
a much larger outfit than the novice re-
quires, and will only need to be obtained
gradually, as the worker improves and
grows more ambitious.
To take the pattern of a petal, place it
on white paper, and brush it over with a
tinting-brush. The form of the petal will
THE MODEL COOK BOOK
87
be left white on the paper, and may be cut
out. Or the petal may be laid on a piece of
paper and its pattern cut out in that way.
Always cut the petals with the grain of the
wax. The fingers are excellent modeling
tools. A few drops of glycerine used on
the hands an hour or two before working,
makes them soft and pliant. Do not work
with brittle wax. To remove its brittle-
ness set it awhile in a warm room, if it has
been in the cold.
Page 107
Presented as published in 1901. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Wax flowers are ordinarily only clumsy imitations of the lovely blossoms which adorn our gardens, or smile upon us from lurking-places in wood or wayside, yet the artist in this work is sometimes so successful as to cheat the bees and birds.
In endeavoring to learn this art do not be too easily discouraged. Practice in this, as in all things, makes perfect. You may try to make one flower and produce a result more nearly resembling another, but if you would succeed you must not let such failures stop your work.
You always have the advantage that your model is perfect. You are not required to make any improvements upon
nature : you have only to imitate, and the pattern is before you in all its charming perfection of shape and tint.
Practice will fit you in time for closely reproducing nature, if the exact imitation of her work is what you are to aim at. New models are always at hand ; spring and summer bring them, and the coldest winter day need not be without them blooming in window-pot or hothouse avenues.
To say there is a peculiar fascination in this art is only to express what has been realized by nearly all who have tried it. And when you have succeeded and your productions bear a close resemblance to their original copies, your home has beautiful ornaments.
•Wax should be kept in a box, closely covered from dust, and in a cool place. A brush must be provided for every color, and strictly kept for that one tint. Your sable pencils may be cleaned after using for one color, and employed in another.
Always use a pair of scissors to cut out your petals, and take as your pattern the flower you wish to copy.
In purchasing, it is economy to obtain the very best wax. You will need white, cream-tinted, very pale green, smilax, tearose leaf, pale spring- and deep springgreen tints for wax, but at first a few colors will suffice. In paints, both in powder and cake, the waxworker should have carmine, chrome-yellow, burnt sienna, burnt umber, Prussian blue, indigo, crimson lake, violet, carmine, rose-madder, French ultramarine, flake- white, and Indian yellow ; a sufficient number of tinting and sable pencils ; some modeling pins, wires covered with silk for fine, and with cotton for coarse stems ; a palette and palette knife ; some best Bermuda arrowroot ; green and white down for leaves ; two sizes of wooden molds for the lily of the valley and a cutter for heliotrope, and a bar of India ink. This is a much larger outfit than the novice requires, and will only need to be obtained gradually, as the worker improves and grows more ambitious.
To take the pattern of a petal, place it on white paper, and brush it over with a tinting-brush. The form of the petal will
be left white on the paper, and may be cut out. Or the petal may be laid on a piece of paper and its pattern cut out in that way. Always cut the petals with the grain of the wax. The fingers are excellent modeling tools. A few drops of glycerine used on the hands an hour or two before working, makes them soft and pliant. Do not work with brittle wax. To remove its brittleness set it awhile in a warm room, if it has been in the cold.