Saturday, February 18, 2012

A Renewed Interest in Fresco Painting

Jester, 1996

Duck Lady, 1996

16 years ago I took a fresco painting class in Florence. It was taught in Italian before I knew any Italian so I'm sure that I missed a lot in translation. I painted a series of 20 images based on characters from the Carnival in Viareggio.

This summer after receiving a grant to develop the course, Lost Techniques of the Ancients, I decided that I needed a refresher course in the technique. To my surprise I found a course an hour away from my home! This three-day workshop taught by George O'Hanlon of Natural Pigments totally charged me and renewed my passion for the art of fresco painting.

Painting done in the workshop: A copy of a detail from Popaea's Villa. Ancient Rome
George is a master at explaining the makeup of pigments and the chemistry behind painting, something that had never been taught to me in art school. Since July, I've been trying to paint one fresco a month and learn from my mistakes in preparation for teaching it to high school students in May. For whatever reason I decided on the theme, Birds with Attitude.  Here are a few examples of my experiments.

Cockatiel, 2011

Raven, 2011

Owl, 2011

Pelican, 2012
Rooster, 2012

Blue Heron, 2012