Lilliput Station: Sculpting With Cheesewax

Here is my son at age 13, sculpting a turkey out of cheese wax.

My second born son has an unusual hobby. It started when my mother-in-law gave us a bag of Laughing Cow miniature cheeses in August of 2009. I had just given birth to child #8 , and the kids were a bit bored. So they began using the wax off these cheeses as if it were play-dough. Son #2 was making some very impressive animals using this wax, but he regretted that he had to keep destroying his creations in order to create new ones. Before long, he was convincing his brothers and sisters to give him their share of the wax, and when that still wasn't enough, his grandma purchased more cheese to support his hobby.

I began to see how ridiculous it was to buy cheese just for the sake of the wax, especially considering how much wax he was using. So we experimented with some beeswax I had on hand. I'd heard of modeling beeswax which is used in Waldorf schools, and we had a fifty pound block of beeswax in the attic which I had never gotten around to making into candles. It seemed like the perfect solution. But it didn't work very well. Our beeswax was a little more crumbly than the cheese wax and harder to work with.

When his birthday came around, I suggested that his relatives get him wax from a cheesemaking supply company on Ebay. He got a pound each of two different colors, and he was thrilled. And that is how my son got started with cheese wax modeling.

This turkey took months to complete. His inspiration for this model was a picture in a calendar. It took him quite a while to figure out how to make the wing feathers, and he did a lot of mixing to get the colors of wax that he needed. I was very impressed by his patience.

Making Changes

As you can see, my son added a rock to the Bighorn sculpture since I first photographed it. This is one of the neat things about working with this type of medium. It is very easy to go back later and adjust your models when new inspiration hits.

More Cheese Wax Artists

I had no idea that this was such a popular hobby. Can you believe there are actually two Facebook groups dedicated to playing with cheese wax? Here are some blog entries and websites that show cheese wax art that others have made.

None of your cheese wax.: My middle child, the Clay Prodigy, has added a new, eco-friendly twist to her artistic musings. She is into "found" materials. Like mud. Wax from our nice candles. And cheese wax. Yes, that's right. Cheese wax. . .
Allison's Realm of the Cheese Wax People: This blog is a tribute to what my friends and family describe as my trademark quirk... I make cheese wax people.
Crafty Kids & Cheese Wax: For a snack I set out a bowl of cherries and some of those little cheeses that come wrapped in red wax. About 1/2 hour later when I passed through the kitchen I was surprised to see that my daughter had made a slew of these tiny wax figures.
Young Cheese Whiz Waxes Artistic With Throw-Away Wrappers: They say it's what's on the inside that counts, but maybe not when it comes to mini-mounds of Babybel Cheese.
Wax Figurines: I started playing with the wax rind off of this little mini cheese and then decided that wax was a really fun medium to work with. About three little cheeses worth or wax later, I had created these three little critters.

Comments on Sculpting With Cheesewax

(This blog post was originally a Squidoo lens. But, due to Squidoo's change in policies, I was forced to move it here. These comments were left on the lens and I am copying them here for my son's benefit.)

mercilessly13 May 9, 2013 @ 7:20 pm

I totally make cheesewax dinosaurs. They are fun, but rudimentary compared to these wonders!

Jonnyboy Apr 24, 2013 @ 7:47 pm

Little beyond my Babybel cube pyramid to the stars

Sarah Jan 29, 2013 @ 3:00 pm

Gave you a little shout out on my blog. ;) simplesaurus.blogspot.com

visitor Jan 18, 2013 @ 1:07 pm

Your son is very talented and creative.

Jessica Dec 12, 2012 @ 3:09 pm

awesome! these are really cool, I've been doing some babybell sculptures as well... something to do at work :) I have my fine arts degree in sculpture and for casting we always used microcrystaline wax. You can get a pretty big block of it for not a lot of money.. it carves well and if you work it into a sheet it feels very similar to babybell wax.. I also do some sculpey sculptures that can be baked and therefore are more permanent. Keep up the good work!

Frankie Nov 13, 2012 @ 9:22 am

Who knew cheese wax could make such amazing sculptures. Some of these are truly very good! I just use it as a stress reliever!
Michael Oct 31, 2012 @ 11:59 am

I am a 17 yo boy, and I have to say I'm delighted that someone else shares my hobby. I've been using plasticine for years, but I had some babybell cheese wax that I'd mixed up and found to be an excellent modelling material.

His ambition in these projects is pretty inspiring (Babybell wax is really labour intesnive preparing) - I hadn;t thought of looking at ebay, or using wire as supports.

Might I suggest he look into using Sculpey? It's a polymer that you mold and then bake, and it can become extraordarily detailed. I'd post some of my work.... but I don't know how.

Carol Marmel Sep 20, 2012 @ 2:54 pm

Beautiful! I'm going to try it.

Julia Burton Sep 24, 2011 @ 8:23 pm

I am VERY impressed with your son's work! I also started with cheese wax as a child and it has that great soft flexability a sculptor loves. He is definately a sculptor. I have a clue for your bee wax. melt it slowly on low and add a little vasoline or even oil so that the wax will become more pliable like the cheese wax. I have done this and it seems to work for me. As he goes on he will most likely advance to casting bronzes from his waxes. It is called lost wax mothode. The wax is coated with a clay ceramiic batter. As the batter on the outside is heated to harden the wax pours out leaving a cavity shaped exactly like the wax piece. Then molten bronze is pour into the cavity . when it cools the battter is chipped away and yousee your wax sculpture appear in bronze. Sound like fun? Thhe wax is delicate but the bronze will last longer than anyone alive today. You still get all the fun of the wax work. I learned a new mothod for melting the bronze at home without too much expensive equipment. I went to london to learn it. You just need a weed burner , a propane tank, A ventury typr burner(like for raku) and some very thick ceramic insulation (like for furnace insulation). I am so proud of your son! If you want more detail about the bronze casting let me know and I will send you my notes. He is on his way! juliaburton@cox.net

artbymichelle May 31, 2011 @ 12:46 pm

Just wanted to let you know I have featured your lens on my Memorial Day blessing lens here: http://www.squidoo.com/cool-sculptures
May 4, 2011 @ 8:10 am

What a fascinating hobby, thanks for sharing!
chemknitsblog Mar 25, 2011 @ 7:47 am

This looks like a lot of fun, and good way to recycle the wax that comes with cheese. But do these ever start to smell? *Blessed*

LilliputStation Mar 25, 2011 @ 8:45 am

No, we haven't had any that smelled. Ofcourse, most of the wax he is using now has not been used on cheese because we couldn't get enough from recycling. However, the ones that did use recycled wax don't smell any different than the ones that didn't.

ohcaroline Jan 26, 2011 @ 1:15 pm

How wonderful to have such a creative group of children. Good for you for encouraging and teaching them.
Pukeko Oct 20, 2010 @ 1:39 am

Amazingly talented and creative children. Wow. I have added this lens to by kids4kids and to my angel lens (blessed by a squidoo angel)

Children of Eve Oct 14, 2010 @ 10:08 am

Wow-
These are fantastic. My daughter has been doing this too lately.
Here are a couple of her creations at-
http://childrenofeve.blogspot.com/2010/09/crafty-kids-cheese-wax.html