Another breadcrumb - Natural Ink
This Japanese Maple tree gave me a beautiful slate blue/gray color in April and Green, Purple, and a light gray in October.
It was only a matter of time. Nature has been the theme and muse of my work for years now. But it was always through the lens of my camera or through gardening and making soap or wildcrafting a new herbal medicine or skin product in my apothecary.
There have been periods of time over the last few years where I’ve had a sudden urge to pick up a paint brush. But I never considered myself a painter. Never took a painting class, and it wasn’t until just a few years ago I could mentally even consider calling myself an artist. But the urge was still there. I try to follow my intuition, so I’d pick up a paint brush, grab a few watercolors…and then- nothing. I’d stare at the blank page and freak out. Worried I’d mess the paper up, that my worst fears were real- that I wasn’t an artist. I can’t paint. I know now, that is all bullshit. Everyone is an artist. Anyone can create art. Art is for everyone.
Always drawn to color + texture. Loving the way these inks mingle with each other.
I’ve always been drawn to abstract work. Colors + textures. I am always drawn to fluid painting, the way the colors blend, merge, mix with one another. It wasn’t until very recently that I realized it’s what I’m drawn to in my photography work too. Nature’s colors + textures, and they way they mingle and merge with one another.
Obsessed with nature’s colors + textures
When quarantine started I started to get that itch to paint again. And as divine timing would have it, I discovered natural, wild pigment + ink made from plants + rocks. As you know, I am always on the hunt for what else nature can provide us. But paints? My mind was blown and I was SOLD! I dabbled in grinding + crushing local rocks from the Shenandoah River during our float trips on the weekends. I worked with them a little and while I still have that ground pigment sitting in my treasure shelves, it didn’t grab my attention like working with the plants did.
Finding natural pigment is easy. To test a rock- scratch it against a harder rock. Does it leave a color behind? If the answer is yes- you have natural pigment. Grab your mortal and pestle and start grinding!
Three different rocks, three different shades of color. These were found in my creek in about 5 min.
I did a few google searches, found an easy extraction method and got to work. I made ink from avocado pits, walnut shells, Japanese maple leaves, all the summer berries, + whatever else I could find. I saved the ink in gifted jars that had been setting on my shelf for a year (another synchronicity perhaps?!) and started ‘painting’.
Flowers from my garden to test for color. Another way to use nature + your garden bounty!
And what I quickly learned in this process is that the LESS I did with the inks, the MORE beautiful the work turned out. The process turned into more of a grounding, meditative practice for me than anything else. In a time where the collective world, and my personal world was spinning so fast, it felt like we were all out of control. This process grounded me in the present, reminding me day after day that the less I worked the ink and gave up control, the more beautiful the outcome. It became a parallel in my real world too. The more control on outcomes I surrendered, the more beautiful my days and life became.
I started to look at this process as sort of a palette cleansing. I was in between photography + design projects, but this process allowed me to be somewhat creative in that downtime between ‘real’ projects. I put the process + ritual aside once the weather warmed up and other projects required my attention but it started whispering to me again a few weeks ago.
Foraging for horsetail along a country road. The ink produced a soft yellow.
The weather started to change again and I was starting to see more and more color and texture everywhere I looked. The plants started calling to me again and I gladly listened this time.
October’s color palette. Rose of Sharon, Pokeweed, Sage, Walnut, Marigold. To make the ink, I boil a handful of plant in a stainless steel pot, boiling down until I have just enough for a 1 oz bottle. Try adding 1/4 t of salt, baking soda, or citric acid to create additional colors from one plant. Add 1 drop of clove or wintergreen oil to act as a preservative. Experiment, there is no right or wrong way!
October’s colors are brought to you by Pokeweed, Rose of Sharon, Walnut, Marigold, Sage, Japanese Maple, Passion Flower Vine, + Horsetail. These were the plants that called to me most. And what I found when working with Japanese Maple in October is that it gives a completely different color than it did in April. And that is what I have fallen in love with this second round. That the same plant, can give you multiple colors depending on processing time and seasons.
3 different colors from one plant. It all depends on the processing time and any additives added to the process.
And yet, there is an even deeper meaning to this work I am just starting to scratch the surface of. Working with Nature in this way, completely in sync with the seasons, bringing her gifts to us over and over again. It is work that will take a lifetime to unravel and even then, the work my not be done. With this work, I am not only able to process the hidden colors of the plants, but am able to connect with them on an even deeper level. Learning new ways to use their gifts, new ways to bring their healing energy into our homes and bodies. If that isn’t soul work, I’m not sure what is….
A recent favorite.