The Book

COMING JULY 2025!

My Life Illuminated in Egg Tempera

The memoir of a woman's quest to master the ancient art of egg tempera painting, gain confidence as an artist and find lasting love.

Art & Love:

Book cover of 'Art & Love: My Life Illuminated in Egg Tempera' by Lora Arbador, featuring a painting of two lovers entwined on the cover.
Book cover of 'Art & Love: My Life Illuminated in Egg Tempera' by Lora Arbador, featuring a painting of two lovers entwined on the cover.

It’s 1966 and unaware that a counterculture tsunami is brewing, Arbrador arrives in Berkeley, California where she is introduced to egg tempera, a homemade paint that combines colorful pigments with egg yolk. Lora falls in love with the luminous medium but cannot find a teacher to unravel its mysteries.

Art and love converge when she falls for a tender, charismatic artist. But after their eight-month immersion in the great museums of Europe, Lora follows him into a commune that she later realizes has become a cult.

Set against a backdrop of huge cultural changes – from the counterculture of the 1960s and back-to-the-land movement of the 1970s, to the AIDS epidemic and sex underground of the 1980s – Art & Love is a journey of creative and emotional fulfillment that captivates, educates and entertains the reader.

Arbrador’s stunning artwork enhances the narrative, inspiring those grappling with their own artistic expression and longing for love.

Includes Arbrador’s bonus essay “Which Came First? A Taste of Egg Tempera History.”

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