As shared in a previous post, I started making egg shells into a pigment. Here I will show how thhe process was taken further by making it into a watercolour paint by mulling and mixing the pigment with Gum Arabic.
Below are two photo’s showing the start of the process:
After the grinding process the powder as stored in a sealed glass container. I wanted to make it into a watercolour paint and this was the process:
Next I wanted to make watercolour paint from a rusty red clay that I had foraged while I on a run recently. I happen to be able to see the trail where I picked up the earth from my studio:
It was a very satisfying experience to be doing what I love – Running and at the same time being able to see chance opportunities to forage earth, plants and fungi that have the potential to become pigment. Most of the time, while out on a run, I think about my art and often without planning to, ideas will come to me. Ideas that are wild and wonderful. Ideas that I would normally judge and cast aside as useless. I often wonder if running puts us in a meditative state that allows us to feel calm and safe – open to explore new ideas and be creative. I love that I can my art closer to my running experience by being able to forage and use the things that I see on a run. The red oxide is a good example. I find that the inspiration is right there and I love all the sensory stimulation of the process – the texture ranging from hard to grainy to a soft powder; the smell of the clay; the oiliness of the gum arabic as I mix the paint to the right consistency and the mulling process with the initial sound of grainy powder – glass between glass and then softening as the mixture becomes a paste. So satisfying, calming and regulating. I have a new appreciation for my medium!