NIT8

Artist nit8 (1960°) has been cherishing the brush for 44 years. She lives in a small rural village in the middle of the Kempen region.

She has worked as an advertising artist in the non-digital era. Afterwards in a specialised photogravure where she developed the designs in preparation of the offset printing. This gave her a lot of knowledge about colour analysis.

In 2004, she started travelling as a backpacker to remote areas. Fascinated by the variety of pigments used on huts, clothes, murals and paintings, she started looking for places where she could buy the natural pigment. The pigments come from rocks and stones, semi-precious stones, insects and plants. The Lapis Lazulli blue from Afghanistan. This used to be more expensive than gold. It was only used by our old masters to paint Mary's dresses. The pure gold and silver powder. The scrimshaw...all undiluted.

Nit8 has delved into the tempera techniques.

Tempera paint consists of the traditional mixing of (slaked) lime, pigment, gum arabic or egg yolk or egg white, or honey, and water. She herself usually uses egg tempera, or gum arabic, or sometimes both, depending on what she wants to achieve. Grinding the pigment and preparing the paint is intensive and takes time.

The first tempera works were discovered, according to scholars, in the 14th century. This technique was also used by our great masters before the creation of the oil paint tubes. Icons are usually painted in tempera.

Tempera paintings are very fragile but will last for centuries. New types of UV-protective varnishes mean that they no longer need to be hung in the dark.

Nit8 has developed its own style.

Using different heights in her layers, she creates a 3D effect. This gives the works a different dimension each time, depending on the perspective from which one looks at it.

She works instinctively and creates both abstract and figurative works.