Artist Sandy Thibeault, who paints using egg tempera, has mastered a technique that has been traced to the fourth century B.C. One of the finely wrought paintings now on view during her solo exhibition at the Polasek will be Terpsichore. In March, Thibeault will also lead an egg tempera and gilding workshop. | Courtesy Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens
Sandy Thibeault, a retired high school art teacher for more than 20 years, always encouraged her students to never lose their passion for creativity. Whether they intended to pursue art as a career or as a hobby that enriched their daily lives, she stressed that they should never set it aside.
In 1994, Thibeault decided to take her own advice. She took a class in Renaissance painting at the Massachusetts College of Art and learned more about an ancient painting technique—its origins have been traced to the 4th century B.C.—that would greatly influence the next three decades of her life.
An accomplished egg tempera artist, Thibeault employs the same techniques as those used by artists centuries ago. She mixes her paints by combining egg yolk, water and finely ground pigments. Her images also incorporate gold leaf, which in medieval religious works was used to create luminous backgrounds that emphasized the divinity of the subjects.
Thibeault’s first solo exhibition, Renaissance Alchemy: Egg & Gold, opened in December of last year and will run through April 12 at the Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens. Some of her work will be available for purchase, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the museum.
“I delight in capturing the subtle nuances that bring an object to life,” says Thibeault. “I strive to reveal the inner essence of an individual and to achieve the luminous quality that egg tempera painters have sought for centuries. My work blends the old with the new, combining realism with 15th-century aesthetics.”
Thibeault benefited from two academic summers living and studying Renaissance art throughout Europe. She also faithfully follows Il Libro dell’Arte, one of the first “how-to” art books, written in the late 1400s (or perhaps much earlier) by Italian painter Cennino Cennini.
“Like all great artists, I think that Sandy is committed to excellence,” says Polasek curator Tamie Diener-Lafferty. Thibeault’s work was included in Diener-Lafferty’s first curated exhibition for the museum, All That Glitters: The Society of Gilders, in 2022. She was so impressed that she has worked toward a solo exhibition for the artist ever since.
Admission to Renaissance Alchemy will be free on Renaissance Family Day, slated for Saturday, January 10, from noon to 4 p.m. There’ll be art activities, story time, falconry and fencing demonstrations, live harp music, a butterfly release and an artist talk. And we mustn’t forget about the food trucks.
Thibeault—whose work has won several prestigious national prizes—will lead an egg tempera and gilding workshop on Thursday, March 5, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Attendees will be able to prepare their own egg tempera paint, apply genuine gold leaf and complete a small, gilded work to take home.
The Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens is located at 633 Osceola Avenue, Winter Park. For more information, call 407.647.6294 or visit polasek.org
