Gaia

"Gaia"

Size: 48" x 48"
Medium: Egg tempera on panel
Year: 1990

Egg-tempera is a unique medium that rides between painting and drawing and can only be painted on a rigid support. To execute one on this scale was a master's thesis 'indulgence'. It took four tries to get the correct recipe for the traditional chalk gesso ground to bind correctly to the poplar plywood panel. Atmospheric chemist James Lovelock's "Gaia Principle" which describes the earth as a single, living organism with the atmosphere, biosphere, and oceans influencing one another, inspired the theme of the painting.