About The Artist

I was born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico and raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania. I currently live in San Antonio, Texas.

My Introduction To Egg Tempera

The history of my introduction to egg tempera begins while on a class trip to the Brandywine Museum in Pennsylvania. There I was introduced to the work of Andrew Wyeth for the first time. The pristine imagery was unlike anything I had seen in my young life and left me mesmerized. The description of the egg tempera medium served to fascinate me even further. It was not until years later in my own artistic search that those early experiences helped to guide me in the current direction in my own art.  Repeated visits to the museum combined with art history studies served as inspiration that has transformed into my pursuit and commitment to mastering this beautiful medium.

Why I Paint & Why In Egg Tempera

My goal is to make images that are aesthetically beautiful and conceptually engaging . I want to create paintings you want to return to and enjoy both for how they are painted and for what they are communicating.

I paint with egg tempera because I love its fast drying quality, it’s ability to layer many colors and retain its vibrancy, the clarity I can achieve in the final visual image and its unique color/surface voice among the mediums.

My Process

My working process begins with a seed of an idea that surrounds something I may be going through at the moment. That leads me to start considering imagery that would best represent those ideas or feelings. My subject matter at the moment involves people, mainly portraits but more than just portraits. They are studies that help me to tap into those initial ideas. As I get more proficient at painting I try to challenge myself to resolve those problems by working with more complex compositions, poses or simply working larger. From those initial ideas I prepare reference material, mainly photos and sketches from which I create a complete line drawing of the final work. Once the drawing is complete I transfer it to a traditional gesso panel (rabbit skin glue, whiting, pigment and water). Since I work in egg tempera a traditional panel is required to ensure a proper chemical and mechanical bond of the paint film to the surface. I then proceed to develop a complete under-painting in India ink. The India ink under painting helps to establish the values in the painting. Egg tempera is generally a translucent medium therefore any under painting will always affect subsequent layers. Once the India ink under painting is complete I begin to paint in egg tempera by layering multiple layers. The most challenging part of any painting for me is the middle stage where everything is a mess. The way I use egg tempera involves a lot of optical color mixing where I create colors and values indirectly by layering warms and cools and complimentary colors. This creates many areas of the painting that require constant refining and re-drawing. The beauty of egg tempera is that it dries almost instantly so I can continue to work by layering stroke upon stroke to achieve the desired effect. I think every artist working in egg tempera does things a bit differently. I have learned how to paint in egg tempera on my own so a lot of what I do is what I have learned to do by trial and error. For example some artists mix their dry pigments into pastes and store them in jars, I prefer to mix my dry pigments directly with my egg medium as needed. Some artists use casein under painting, others don’t do under paintings. I prefer the under painting because it allows me to focus on the bigger value relationships first without having to deal with the complexities of color. I am sure there are many other differences but those are some I am aware from my discussions with other tempera artists. Knowing when a work is complete is a challenge for any artist since we always find things that could be done better. For me it is complete when the elements in the work are as refined as they need to be to communicate initial idea.

Artists I Admire and Study

Artists who I study and admire include George Tooker, Paul Cadmus, Andrew Wyeth, N.C. Wyeth, Jared French, Edward Hopper, Diego Rivera, Douglas Wiltraut, Dennis Harper, Carl Rice Embrey, Matthew Daub, Michael Allen, Alan Feltus and others.

Below are two statements by artists that I admire. Each statement resonates with me deeply.

“For me there are two things that matter most in a work of art–how it is made, and its ability to move the human soul and imagination. These two work in concert”. Matthew Daub

“Art should be about transcendence. It should not merely reflect our surroundings like a mirror, adding to the clutter, but become something more wonderful, more meaningful than that. It wants to be remembered and returned to over and over again. Good art feeds us. It is so important.” Alan Feltus

Education

1996 B.F.A., Kutztown University, Kutztown PA

Exhibitions

2008

  • Ab Ovo (From the Egg) Painters in Egg Tempera – Invitational, Clement Gallery, Troy, New York
  • 78th Annual San Antonio Artists Exhibition – Juried , The San Antonio Art League and Museum San Antonio, Texas

2007

  • Coppini Minature Show, Coppini Academy of Fine Art, San Antonio, TX
  • Coppini Portrait Show, Coppini Academy of Fine Art, San Antonio, TX
  • Mandala Art Gallery, San Antonio, TX
  • ViewPoint 2007, Cincinnati, OH
  • Members Annual Juried Show, Coppini Academy of Fine Arts, San Antonio TX

2006

  • Liquid Layers, Avant Gallery, El Paso TX
  • Why Not, International Museum of Art, El Paso TX

2005

  • Texas Rasquache Art Festival, Shine Gallery, El Paso TX
  • Arts International, International Museum of Art, El Paso, TX
  • FACE, Art Car Museum , Houston, TX

1996

  • Hispanic Heritage Month Art Exhibit – Kutztown University Student Union, Kutztown,PA
  • Spring Exhibition, Sharadin Art Gallery(KU), Kutztown, PA
  • Open Space Artists, Allentown Art Museum, Allentown PA

Awards

  • Kit Goldsbury Donor Award, 78th Annual San Antonio Artists Exhibition, The San Antonio Art League and MuseumSan Antonio, Texas
  • Anne Knight Donor Award, 78th Annual San Antonio Artists Exhibition, The San Antonio Art League and Museum San Antonio, Texas
  • Third Place, Coppini Portrait Show, Coppini Academy of Fine Art, San Antonio, TX, 2007
  • Third Place, ViewPoint 2007, Cincinnati, OH, 2007
  • Third Place, Artist of the Month, Coppini Academy of Fine Art, San Antonio TX, 2007
  • Honorable Mention, Annual Juried Exhibition, Coppini Academy of Fine Art, San Antonio TX, 2007
  • Artists Magazine – Annual Artists Magazine Competition, 2006
  • Blue Ribbon Award, Why Not? – International Museum of Art, El Paso TX, 2006

Gallery Affiliations

  • Mandala Art Gallery, San Antonio, TX

Memberships

Publications

  • Ekperigin, Naomi, “Artist of the Month,” American Artist Magazine, November 2007, View Website
  • Wohlfarth, Jenny “Degree of Distinction,” Artist Magazine, January 2007, Pg. 105
  • Kennedy, Renee’, Best Of America Mixed Media Artists & Artisans Volume 1, 2007, Pg. 39

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