Corn Chief

Egg Tempera on prepared Masonite - 20 x 16

Hopefully you will see a face profile and wild headdress in this chief sculpted from Indian Corn!

This piece is an egg tempera painting from past endeavors. Egg tempera was a phase. I passed through it and never returned. The process required much preparation, applying many coats of gesso to a support with lots of sanding in between. Now these supports are readily available in art supply stores! Then came the careful mixing of real egg yoke with gouache and distilled water. I know egg tempera comes in tubes...but I was a purist! This piece was special even though I didn't realize it at the time. During my egg tempera period, our pet was a sweet male German Shepherd named Tanni. Actually his name was "Rosemary's Baby Satan". My late father in law, a Baptist minister, didn't like Satan's name at all! Father Sexton began calling him "Say-Tan"...and then "Tanni". Tanni was much more fitting even though he was more black than tan in color...Tanni sounded gentle and "good". The name stuck. Father was right. While he was my baby, he was much too nice a dog for the evil name, Satan!

When this painting was approximately one-half finished, I had left the studio for a few minutes. Upon returning, Tanni had licked at least two ears of corn and probably four hours of labor off the panel! Guess the egg was tasty or maybe he was just helping me! Soon thereafter the finished painting was entered in a "Faces Show", received an Honorable Mention and sold from that show. Now I would happily buy it back!. Maybe artists shouldn't feel like this or at least not mention that we do? I know others who have felt the same way after letting a special piece go only to regret it later. Every time I run across this photo, my heart floods with happy memories! I trust someone somewhere is enjoying CORN CHIEF.