Sarah Harvey - Portfolio of Works

Tempera is an ancient form of paint.  It was used in cave paintings and in many early paintings.  Its base is pigment, or color, mixed with either egg yolk or processed milk emulsion, casein, as a binder.  Andrew Wyeth painted with egg tempera in some of his painting.  Alan Bray, a Maine artist, uses casein tempera  and was my teacher at the Haystack School of Crafts in 2009, where I learned the technique. It responds well to many layers of small strokes creating a somewhat illuminated surface.  Varnished when finished, it is even more archival than oil paint.

My books are inspired by events in my life or by natural phenomena which I witness in my travels. I enjoy writing autobiographically about my past experiences which I then illustrate with images.  Images are created with paper, paint, photos or mixed media. Should I see a fox hunting for mice, I might create a story about that through images. My books are one of a kind or limited editions of 4 or 5.

I paint watercolors on site and/or from photographs taken on site.  They usually represent places which I have enjoyed when walking or driving by many times, and finally  have time to go back and  paint.

Oil painting is a struggle for me, with problems solving and obstacles to overcome, but once I have wrestled one into shape, I am usually happy with the results.  Most oil paintings are done in my studio using drawings, photos and memories from my wanderings.  Larger works come from this process, as it is more freeing to use larger brushes on a big space.