BON BONS
I love wrapped candies. I am enraptured by the dresses that hide enticing sugary bodies.
When I painted the Bon Bon's, I was thinking about the day's events and chose the wrapper
that looked like a part of the daily news. It would be a way for me to mark time and
remember important facts. The painting "Havana Banana", an image of a wrapped banana
candy, commemorated the Pope's visit to Cuba. The half unwrapped car had something to
do with marking the date for the bombing of the embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Some
Bon Bons are reminders of more personal moments like a black one which signifies my
mother's heart attack. Others are just frivolous like one that is not shown called
Monica Lewinsky's dress.
The Bon Bons are painted in the medium of egg tempera. The glowing quality of the
surface of these paintings is created by layers of pigment suspended in egg yolk.
When the light hits the surface of the painting, the layers of yolk and color create a
warm translucent quality that is quite unlike any other painted surface. Egg tempera is
a brittle medium when dried. It must be painted on a hard surface as it would crack off
a flexible ground. The layers of pigment and yolk hide the stiff board underneath like
the candy wrappers conceal the hard sweets inside.
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Click a picture for a close-up view.
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WEDDING BON BON
egg tempera
2" x 3" |
BLUE BON BON
egg tempera
3" x 2" |
CAFE BON BON
egg tempera
2" x 3" |
HARVEST BON BON
egg tempera
3" x 2" |
HAVANA BANANA
egg tempera
3" x 2" |
ITALIAN BON BON
egg tempera
3" x 2" |
MUSHROOM BON BON
egg tempera
2" x 3" |
PINEAPPLE BON BON
egg tempera
2" x 3" |
POLAR BON BON
egg tempera
2" x 3" |
BON BON STARR
egg tempera
3" x 2" |
STRAWBERRY BON BON
egg tempera
2" x 3" |
TRIBUTE CHOCOLATE
egg tempera
3" x 2"
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FOURTH OF JULY
egg tempera
3" x 2" |
BON VEHICLE
egg tempera
3" x 2" |
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