For years I have collected small tokens found in the landscapes of the places I have traveled. A pinecone here, a stone there…and my little piles were living in drawers or collecting dust on shelves until I finally realized I should make pigments from them. This, in turn, spurred me to look for paint pigments in other places right around my own home. The 4 paintings here are the first in a small series of paintings containing colors made from my collection of small stones and rocks I was able to use to create pigments. The only premade media I used was white encaustic paint and a small amount of india ink.
These paintings contain
These paintings contain
- Slate from the old slate mines in Wales
- Stones from Sedona Arizona
- Rocks from Presque Isle in Marquette Michigan
- Lava rock from a hidden red sand beach in Maui Hawaii
- Charcoal from trees burned by the wildfires in Washington State
- Ash from my backyard fire pit
- Crushed lapis lazuli
- blueberries (which were not colorfast and have faded away)