From "Notes From a Subterranean Library in Oregon," a compilation of Ray Peat's newspaper letters and columns, compiled by T3Uncoupled (2023). Originally published 1967.

Ray Peat, "Art and sculpture", p. 8

  • In Junction City High School, a few interested students with ability in sculpture are making models of a mixture of beeswax, turpentine and cooking oil, which they will cast in metal. This general process was used during the Renaissance, especially for small bronzes. It is widely used by professionals, but few high schools teach beeswax sculpture, said Raymond Peat, art instructor who introduced the process this year at Junction City High. “Practically all students are going on to college, and the old conception of leather work, clay modeling and finger painting as the art course often has little to do with their future requirements. The students working in beeswax sculpture probably will turn out pieces of lasting value that they can be proud of and that will be worth displaying in their homes. If a student’s project doesn’t turn out, he can use it for a sinker when he goes fishing.”