Barrio Malawi - Egg Tempera

Recent Painting Sales

marissa — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 04:13:16 -0500

These two paintings recently sold. I wanted to post them here since I won't be showing them back home.
"The Village in The Sky" acrylic on canvas (left)
"Malawi Mama Returning Home" egg tempera (right)

"Village in the Sky" and "Malawi Mama Returning Home"

marissa — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 04:12:53 -0500

Egg Tempera Demo at Ekwendeni

marissa — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 06:08:52 -0400

Egg Tempera Demo with Ekwendeni Youth

marissa — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 12:52:33 -0400

A while back I did an egg tempera paint making demonstration with the Youth AIDS Resource Center in Ekwendeni (a small town just north of Mzuzu). The center is run by the CCAP (Central Church of Africa Presbyterian) and has some 26 youth clubs around the area. One of their clubs is the handmade paper making club. Using recycled materials (office papers, newspaper, etc) they make their own paper and cards for sale. The proceeds goes towards paying school fees for orphans and providing food for the HIV/AIDS home-based care program out in the villages. Before I did my demonstration they were decorating cards with collages (leafs, feathers, dried flowers, etc), but expressed interest in painting. It was a perfect opportunity to share the results of my experimentation with natural pigments. This group doesn’t have it in their budget to be buying paint but they can easily dig up colorful soils in their “backyard”, make charcoal and collect white chalk from schools.

Today I visited the Center again and was happy to see that they have continued with the painting. They were excited about how easy it was to make paint on their own and are coming up with new designs while they continue to work with collage as well.

Malawi Mama and Baby

marissa — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 09:10:02 -0400

Egg Tempera on paper. This is the first "Malawi mama with baby" in a series that I plan to focus on during the month of June.
Natural pigments (saffron, red oxide and charcoal) were combined with egg yolk.

Egg Tempera Abstracts

marissa — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 08:46:04 -0400

Egg Tempera made with saffron, red oxide and charcoal.

Front Pew Mama

marissa — Thu, 25 May 2006 06:00:30 -0400

I first sketched this woman at church a few sundays ago. In this small painting she is brought to life using home brewed egg tempera paint pigmented with red ochre clay, charcoal, and papaya leaves. All of the natural pigments were collected and prepared by myself and Mama Mtetwa.

Home Brew Tempera Paint

marissa — Thu, 25 May 2006 05:51:01 -0400

Last weekend, I turned our kitchen into a chemistry lab. The Quest...to successfully make long lasting paint using only my hands and natural resources. The Result…fabulous egg tempera paint!

Egg Tempera ExperimentI was inspired by a number of factors including Victoria Finlay’s book Color: A Natural History of the Palette, Malawian artists’ need of access to affordable paint, and personal curiosity. Over the past few months I have been researching pigments and paint making techniques. Egg tempera paint is one of the oldest paints known to man, even older than oil painting. Some date egg tempera paint back to the first centuries AD, but it was most widely used in the Middle Ages with the Byzantine painters. The Greek Orthodox Church has maintained the tradition, and up to the present still uses egg tempera for icon paintings. In the secular world of art this tradition has seen a revival over the past 10 years. So much so, that there is a great online forum where you can read and participate in discussions about issues relating to egg tempera paint and painting

How does it work? The recipe is quite simple, but is a bit labor intensive when you talk about grinding your own pigments. First, prepare a fine pigment powder; then, add just enough water to make a thick paste. Next, prepare an egg yolk by separating the white from the yolk, dry the yolk membrane by rolling it around on a cloth, lastly drain the yolk contents into a container. Finally, mix 1 part yolk with 1 part pigment paste. You can add more water to dilute and get a lighter tone.Mama Marissa Grinding

I started experimenting with egg tempera last week using red ochre clays, charcoal and papaya leaves I collected from around town. Mama Mtetwa Grinding CharcoalI have gotten great satisfaction tapping into my resourceful side and knowing that my paintings from Malawi are not just about Africa but made OF Africa. I am hoping to hone my skills both on the production side of egg tempera and painting techniques with the medium, in order to teach Malawian artists how they can use their natural resources for painting. I met with two artists briefly this week. They were absolutely blown away by the results of my experiment and are super excited to learn how to make paint.

I hand ground charcoal which gave me a great black. It resulted in a grainy texture, but I was able to work with it and liked the effect. Right now I'm looking for cheesecloth to use as a filter and hopefully be able to make a finer pigment paint. For green, I used papaya leaves which gave me a wonderful brilliant green. But, as you might expect, after only a few days my lime green is turning more and more yellow. Interestingly, the paint I made from boiled papaya leaves is holding the color, but the pigment is more grainy. It appears to not have dissolved into the water.

To continue my experiment I need to fine a mortar and pestle which will make the grinding process more efficient and more effective. The other obstacle is supports (i.e. paper, canvas, wood). I haven't found any good paper yet. Honestly the best is card stock. Egg tempera is not a very flexible medium. The egg yolk is the binder which isn’t very strong, therefore, on a flexible surface like canvas it is likely to crack. The best option for us would be good stiff paper or wood. My only hesitation with using wood as a support is that it might limit the local artists' market which consists mostly of western tourists who want to buy something easy to travel with. I'm still searching for some kind of drying oil (linseed, etc.) which would allow us to make oil paints and work on unmounted canvas. reality is that this is one of the poorest countries in Africa. The local artists need to use their skills as a financial means to support themselves and their families.

Elephant LeafI’m posting images of my paint experimentation and the two small paintings I finished using my home brew!

Mama Mtetwa Grinding Charcoal

marissa — Thu, 25 May 2006 05:48:18 -0400

Mama Marissa Grinding

marissa — Thu, 25 May 2006 05:36:02 -0400