Last Rose of the Season
Egg Tempera 9x7in on museum board
For sale at gallery only
M.Phillips Fine Art Gallery
This is painted in Egg Tempera. (Not to be confused with the tempera paints you see used by children.)
It is a process of layering the paint in thin layers of powdered pigment to which the binder of egg yolk has been added. After encaustic it is the oldest painting medium. Fine examples of egg tempera from the 1st Century AD still exist. It was used by most artists until some genius thought of adding oil as a binder to the pigment...making oil paint. Believe it or not, oil paint is believed to have been used in Afghanistan somewhere between the 5th- 9th centuries but was not adopted by the western world until 1500AD. Anyway, back to egg tempera.
Andrew Wyeth was a 20th century giant in egg tempera and lived long enough to see a renewal of interest in his chosen medium.
Egg Tempera is without doubt my favorite media, but unfortunately you need excellent eyesight do do it justice. I can only do a few pieces a year so they are usually pieces I have strong feelings about. The shawl appears frequently in my ET pieces as I feel a huge, emotional bond with it. Made by my Aunt Claire many years ago, it is the family Christening Shawl and has gone back and forth across the Atlantic to England for each new birth.
Really enjoyed viewing all your roses and flower paintings, I appreciate your comment on my painting especially coming from a high calibre artist as yourself. Thanks again and look forward to seeing more of your work!
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