Arts

It's Hot Sauce Day and the anniversary of Roberta Bondar going to space — naturally we combined both

Watch Eric Tigley take us up on our absurd challenge to paint Canada's first woman in space...with hot sauce.

Watch Eric Tigley take us up on our absurd challenge to paint Canada's first woman in space...with hot sauce

Eric Tingley painting a portrait of Roberta Bondar in hot sauce. You know, normal things. (CBC Arts)

It's Hot Sauce Day AND the anniversary of Dr. Roberta Bondar becoming the first Canadian woman in space, so we asked painter Eric Tigley to paint her portrait...with hot sauce! And it's not a totally random connection. Fun fact: in zero gravity astronauts can't taste very well, so they love hot sauce!

How worried was Eric about touching his eyes? "Very worried." 

It begins... (CBC Arts)

As with food, you gotta be careful how much of certain hot sauces you use. As our Facebook Live audience clamoured for Eric to dip into the green sauce, he held back the pressure. "I haven't touched the green yet...I'm using that as my contrast colour."

"You don't want to overpower the piece."

Check out Eric's work on his website and Instagram.