The idea of making my own paint came to me about 3 weeks ago. I went for a run in the pine forest near my house and in an attempt to get the most relaxation out of my run, I tried to be very mindful of the sound my feet were making on the trail as I ran. My mind started to wander off on it’s own – thinking about my art and the MA. For some reason I thought of the dark yellow clay soil that now filled my driveway as we are in the process of digging up to build a new swimming pool. Again, I tried to be mindful and brought my thoughts back to the noise my feet were making on the trail as I ran. I wanted to take my mind off everything and be in the moment (I am busy with an 8week mindfulness course at the moment). I was successful for a while until I suddenly thought about paint-making. Perhaps it was the muddy clay trail I was running on that took my mind there? I recalled being invited to a natural earth pigment workshop a few years ago which I was unable to attend but intrigued me at the time. The next thought took me to the clay in my driveway again… What if I could make some paint using it? When I got home I looked up the name of the artist who gave the workshop years ago and contacted her on intagram. I few days later she replied and was willing to have coffee with me. I was so excited! I went to her house on a rainy Saturday morning. Her studio was full of shelves filled with glass jars – big and small, filled with pigment powder of all colours! She inspired me and we talked for over 2 hours. I went home full of excitement to start my own collection of pigment finds. I now have about 9 colours sourced only from rocks and clay from my surrounding area.
I have started looking into organic plant pigments and am busy working on a Nasturtium petal pigment.
Below are some images and videos of the experiments from the past 2 weeks. I look forward to share some of the images where I have started to use these pigments this week when we have our presentations:
The process:
I found the grinding process extremely satisfying and therapeutic. The smell and noises of the dry soil satisfying my senses and helping me to be no-where but in the moment.
Luckily non of my clay and soil samples were filled with rocks and debris so I was able to grind them easily without filtering. Once the soil was ground to a fine powder I had my own earth pigments! And the colours (although few, were beautiful). I could not WAIT to start painting with them!!
