Earth paint explorations

Learning to make my own earth paints has been such a wonderful journey of discovery so far. I’m continuously refining my grinding, decanting and binding techniques, exploring new rocks from different areas and experimenting with how to paint with them and merge them with my existing artistic style.

I recently found and ground some beautiful purple rocks, but when I mixed them with tempera (egg-yolk based) binder, the warmth of the the egg yolk shifted their colour closer to a purple-brown. So now I’m looking into other mediums that are still eco-friendly, but clearer with less impact on my colour pigments. I’ve also made colour swatches and recorded to location of each rock pigment I create, to embed a deepened sense of place and when I need more of that colour - I know exactly where to go to find it! From collecting, grinding, mixing, binding and painting, it’s a journey of discovery and problem solving, which I enjoy just as much as painting with them. It’s so fun to branch out and stay fresh in my creative practice.