The turtle is there in all the green glory! All those paint lines are there, the colors, the ragged edges, the light, the dark, the accidents and the intentions. And, now it’s time to wax over all that paint. It seems reckless in a way, after all the care and joy and freedom of the painting, after the hours letting the liquid find just the right line, I go and cover the art with wax, but this is the way. There is an old Buddhist saying about how only when everything is destroyed, do you know what it is that is indestructible. I think of that saying a lot when I am batiking. It’s a process of destruction and life, it is a phoenix rising from a fire, it reveals something hidden beneath, the thing that cannot be destroyed. I heat the wax again, using my thermometer, of course, to get it to the perfect temperature of 225 degrees F. I use a wide brush this time. I pick up the wax in the bristles and watch it absorb into the green fabric. I’m careful to fill inside of the wax lines, instead of just on top of them. I like all the lines to have their own life, their own character…I don’t want to melt established wax lines with a covering of wax…I just want to cover the color so cracks show through. The wax needs to be not too thin, and not too thick. It needs to be just right. Too much wax will crack off and too little will not crack at all. It is about balance; balance, balance, balance.