Alchemy in Oil and Tempera

I’ve often thought of art as being much akin to alchemy--defined as “an inexplicable, seemingly magical transformation of something common, like lead, into something precious, like gold.” Painting with an odd concoction of oil and tempera has raised this thought more often than ever. Here’s how it works…

You crack two eggs into a bowl. You measure in some varnish (quite stinky), and then add some heavy oil (it looks and pours but doesn’t taste like honey). You beat it all up, then you add some water (well, oil and vinegar don’t mix either) and beat it some more. You then squeeze out some paint called Casein (a milk-base paint--to keep things in the dairy family?) and dip your brush. Then you push the stuff around on a hardboard panel and wah-lah.

You’ve heard of weird science. Well, now you’ve heard of weird art. But weird or not, I like what happens!

--Don Haggerty