Natural pigments from petals, barks and earths. Easy, fun, all ages, all abilities.

A pigment is a very fine particle or grain, microns in size. How to understand pigments’ purpose and value? Immeasurable! Think of how they impart colour, attract light, call out to creatures, and protect them as well.

So even if I knew nothing about natural paints, inks and dyes, I’d be a massive fan.

Feel good time with nature for all

As I grow in this practice I notice it brings about wellbeing in people of all ages and abilities. The processes for making inks are pretty simple. We get together with each other as we stroll, exploring potential materials. In these place-based activities participants find the level of engagement that’s right for them.

Little kids love squashing, mooshing and smearing.

Kids at Melbourne Farmers Market dyed these with pomegranate seed and bark and hollyhock.

Older kids love knowing where things come from and enjoy making petal inks. They take pleasure painting with what they’ve made as well.

Adults are drawn to making connections with place and the tactile experience of mark making. And like me, many love foraging and finding resources on their doorstep.

An artist remarks in her feedback ‘... it's easy to get into your head when you're making art but it felt so natural to be using materials we just picked up. We knew the process of making these inks and it felt so nice to be free with them ... and let something else take over, not just my thinking.’

Any artist will get inspiration and joy from Jason Logan’s Make Ink, A Forager’s Guide to Natural Inkmaking. I love his focus on the foraging aspect: ‘I make my white ink with found bits of gyprock from building sites and dumpsters common in my neighbourhood.’ Seems they can’t stop building in Toronto either!!

I find like Jason does, that new ways of working with the medium emerge at workshops and pop-ups and gatherings that include children.

Wondrous

Ink-making is something I’m now confident with. Bark inks. Levigated earths. Lake pigments. At the same time, I’m never quite sure who does all this?

Am I a child, looking at bark on a tree for the very first time? Am I an artist, with a golden opportunity to respectfully gather and extract my materials from nature? Am I a sustainability professional, enjoying that all the materials can be thrown back in the bush when the workshop is over? Am I chemist, inducing colour changes with washing soda and iron?

Suffice to say that I’m in awe of the millions and millions of pigments I’ve encountered in the last few years!

If you’re interested in making natural paints and inks, eco-inking in nature and neighbourhood, or having a go at natural dyeing, do make contact. It’s a very special experience, both lively and active, mindful and meditative.

After helping the kids, a dad settles into his imaginative work.