Tempera Technique by Jersey Ice Cream Co.

I was introduced to the magic of tempera paint on a trip to the island of Gotland. Like a fairytale, I met a woman who lived in a house of a hundred colors. In her studio colors hung like garlands, each named after a day of the year. April 20, September 3, June 26. I was in love.

There is so much beauty that comes with working with tempera. Each color feels like a gem, laced with the care taken to create each hue - strong in it's formula, and resonating in the makers heart as "right" for the day of the year. (That feeling of rightness, that wonderful feeling you get throughout a project, a process. If you know it, you know it.)  Mixing the pigments into paint you feel somewhere between a scientist and a chef, adding water, egg oil and linseed oil in the right proportions and mixing it until somehow, miraculously, you have something you can dip a paintbrush into.

As you dance your brush along the wall, the house fills with the smell of the tempera paint - impossible to describe but something that reassures you - this is good for you, this is good for the house, yes, yes.

Working with tempera paint teaches you, whether you like it or not, about the beauty of imperfection. The paint goes on like limewash, and the end result has the essence of a thick cloud. Solid, but with movement. More light coming through here and there, a spot you missed, a spot you hit three times. Each batch of paint you mix, no matter how you try to get the measurements just right, will never be the same exact color. There will be a seam in the trim where the color breaks and changes, and it will drive you mad at first, but then you'll wonder why you didn't love it from the start. A clear visual of where you came from, and where you're going.

Is there an ease to a gallon of paint from the hardware store that I fall back on? A relief in knowing I can recreate this exact color again and again, in a week, in a year? Some feeling of control as I request a paint color in a particular sheen, and walk out in 15 minutes knowing exactly what I'm going to get? Of course. I am human. I get lost in the maze of expectations, and fear, and deadlines like everyone else.

But when you have the time. When you want to make some magic. When you want to bring something into your house that's created with meaning, history, care, love - that is when the tempera shines. Let it be a process, it whispers. Let's not rush this. Let it be messy, and unexpected. Imperfect and exactly as it should be.

Tempera source : Temperhuset

Linseed oil: Allback Raw Linseed Oil