Original artwork description:

This egg tempera painting was made with raw pigments hand-ground in egg yolk and gold leaf on a gessoed oak panel.

The figure of a woman is raised in low relief, modelled in gesso. She hangs at the surface of the water, her body subsumed in the water and merging with it, while her face floats above the surface. She has her face turned to the sky, where a benevolent, life-giving light shines directly onto her from a golden heaven.

The picture represents the struggle of living and of 'keeping your head above water' but also the value and wonder of life and the beneficence of nature, which makes the struggle worthwhile.

The minimalist style of the painting focuses the viewer intensively on the face of the figure as it is hit by the golden rays.

The oak panel was prepared with a white gesso ground, made from calcium carbonate and animal skin glue. The female figure was modelled into low relief using the same gesso and the rays shining on her face were incised into the gesso. The area to be gilded was coated with red bole and then gilded with 23 carat gold leaf using the traditional method of water gilding; the gold was subsequently burnished to give it a perfectly smooth surface with a deep gleam. The paint was made by grinding dry pigments in egg yolk tempera. A black underlayer was applied and then overpainted with ultramarine blue and a little titanium white.

The painting is signed and dated on the reverse and has a d-ring attached so that it is ready to hang.

Materials used:

Oak panel, gesso, gold leaf, egg tempera paint, pigments

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