Nava Waxman’s studio is filled with everything but her paintings.

Pieces of copper in every shape, form and texture spill out over her desk. A can of beeswax, white and solid, sits in the corner and, on the other side of the tiny room, hangs a thin string, almost like a clothesline.

Instead of clothes, it holds sketches, side by side in chronological order.

“Drawings are my passion. I do drawings in sequence,” she said.

Waxman turns her drawings into paintings using ink, oil paint, pieces of copper and beeswax.

“I started working with copper before beeswax,” she said.

Ever since her father-in-law brought a bag of junk home, Waxman has been scouring garage sales for copper pieces.

It was only during an encaustic course (the process of burning in colours) that she realized the two materials fit together.

“To be honest, when I took the encaustic course, I started using copper in class. Once I layered the beeswax, I was almost crying – it looked like they were meant to be,” she said.

When I visited Waxman’s studio, most of her paintings had been moved to the Blue Dot Gallery, where she had her first solo show last month. The few that were left in her studio were in various stages of creation.

The paintings I saw there were painted with similar earth tones. Smoky reds and blues dominated, and the images included barren trees, electric wires, hills and shaky-looking ladders.

“I guess I feel comfortable in an environment that looks raw,” she said, staring at the softly sloping hill in a painting behind her. “Without it, nothing would work. I want to make a really natural piece of land, a simple hill, a simple valley. That’s where I feel comfortable.”

Born in Israel, Waxman, 34, used to work in information technology. She moved to Canada in 2003 to pursue a career in art.

“It was something I was wishing and dreaming about all my life. I was always creative. I did art in my spare time,” she said. “I knew that in order to pursue my dream, I needed to make a radical change. Moving to Canada was the best choice.”

In Toronto, Waxman could do little else but paint.

“When I moved to Canada, I was pretty much alone. I had no friends, no family, I didn’t work. I had so much spare time. I woke up, took the subway to the art supply store, got home and sat and worked,” she said.

It didn’t take long for her paintings to sell.

“The community here in Toronto is very embracing,” she said. “My paintings sell fast – nothing stays for a long time. It took me a long time to do a solo show. When I did… people knew me, they were waiting for me.”

Waxman’s show at the Blue Dot attracted about 180 people for the opening. By the second-last day of the show, three-quarters of the paintings were sold.

Deenah Dunkelman Mollin, her public relations representative and  friend, isn’t surprised by Waxman’s success.

“I saw her work and I wanted to cry. It moved me. There’s so much meaning in every square inch,” she said.

When describing her paintings, Waxman was hesitant to analyze them.

“I feel that the people who buy my paintings try to build their own meaning,” she said. “I don’t think they’re really urged to know what it means to me. The people who are drawn to my paintings are people who like the abstract.”

While Waxman is a full-time artist, she doesn’t spend all her time bent over her canvas.

“People have the impression that an artist has dramatic moments when lightning strikes and they are suddenly inspired. It is not that way for me. I find myself constantly reading, writing, sketching, pondering the most fleeting to the deepest of thoughts,” she said.

“Being a constant observer of life, immersing myself in nature, taking photos, collecting found objects and then integrating aspects of these elements into my work. This is all inspiring to me.”

Waxman is preparing for her second solo show in October. In the meantime, she’s developing an international clientele.

“I’m sending paintings to England, the U.S., Vancouver, Israel. It’s amazing,” she said.

For more information, visit www.navawaxman.com.