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Egg Tempera Icon Painting

Lately I have been working on a bunch of icons lately and hope to have at least 20 for sale at diocesan synod in Annapolis, MD this summer. These are the best icons I have ever done. The really exciting, though, is simply working in egg tempera. Today I realized just how much I enjoy this medium. I have to say that were it not for iconography I probably would never have tried egg tempera. It is a great medium in which to work because it is both rigid and flexible... sort of in between watercolor and oil. The amount of detail you can get is staggering, and I really like the matte look of the paint. For now this medium is so closely aligned with iconography in my mind I would never use it for anything else. I once painted some landscapes in tempera and only one of them came out okay. The problem was I was not painting icons! It just didn't work. I love egg tempera, so that means I will be painting icons for many years to come. Perhaps one day I will branch out and try some additional subject matter in this medium once more.

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