In my work, everything begins and ends with drawing. I love lines. However, my early facility with drawing was hard to reconcile with my attraction to color until I rediscovered the medium of egg tempera, an historical technique used by the Greeks as far back as Alexander the Great and also popular during the late middle ages. Here, colors are built up from multiple layers of glazes applied as thin cross-hatched lines. I can achieve depth and translucency of color while making the same strokes I use in drawing and printmaking.
“Process” is an important aspect of both printmaking and egg tempera painting. I prepare my own panels with many layers of water-based gesso, grind my own pigments and use fresh egg yolk as the binder in my paintings. Color relationships develop without predetermination and in printmaking I welcome the accidents which open up new possibilities.
My work often is about surfaces. Where there is deep space it often refers to Japanese woodblock prints where space is perceived as surface patterns, stacked or layered.
Some pieces are large, bold and dark, some small, intimate and airy. Some are impulsive, some obsessive.
I have an interest in nature which I carefully observe. I’ve used many media and searched out challenges. I’m drawn to a range of vision encompassing a range of intention.
Donna Westerman 