Tomorrow I am participating in CAFKA.07 by presenting, “The Craftman’s Studio” so today was spent tidying up. There were a number of little things that I wanted to get done before tomorrow’s event and one of them you can see in the photo to the left: A map of Canada which has the colours I’ve … Read more
Before leaving for his trip to hike up around Lake Superior, Reiner promised he would try to locate a vein of red rocks he had found 15 years ago. He wasn’t too optimistic about it because he had looked for it since and never been able to find it, but he would try nevertheless. I … Read more
For the last week I have been in Linz, Austria. This being the last day of my visit, my host, Anja, arranged a special treat: Seeing St. Martin’s Church. St. Martin’s is the oldest church in Austria and is found in Linz overlooking the Danube. The oldest record mentioning it are from the year 788 … Read more
I usually don’t allow myself to become obsessed about studio issues on Sunday, but today was a very relaxed day and the work was very minimal, so I did a little bit with the woad. I also was looking for an end to my suspense! And, as I carefully got to the bottom of my … Read more
One of the very few dyes that can be used reliable as a pigment comes from the woad plant (Isatis tinctoria). It is also sometimes called wild mustard. This spring my wife planted a small crop for me in her garden and with the weather turning cooler I thought it was time to harvest some … Read more
A few months ago Betty Spackman sent three cow bones that she picked up during a trip she took to Albert. Most of the bones she collected are earmarked for an exhibition she is planning, but she was kind enough to send a few my way. As a thank you (and perhaps as something she … Read more
For this trip to collect pigment, I was very fortunate to have the help of a fellow member of the Kitchener-Waterloo Gem and Mineral Club, Reiner. After a couple of conversations on the topic of rocks and pigments, Reiner expressed an interest in coming along on my next hunt and so we agreed to a … Read more
As you can see from the photo above, refining the red ochre my brother and I collected from the old mine in Londonderry resulted in a wonderfully bright red pigment. It took longer to dry than I had anticipated, but I am so happy with the results that I’m not put out by that at … Read more
On May 18th, 2007 the Schema Monk Nathanael fell asleep in the Lord. It was my great blessing to be able to attend his funeral and participate as a layman. Father was many greater things in his own right, but to me he was my godfather, a spiritual father and a mentor within the arts. … Read more
Image problem: Instead of this, we need a picture of ___ plates: second from left is reddish, third plate from the left is more intense, right plate is dark? For some time I’ve wanted to see what might happen if I heated the pigments I collected from Nova Scotia. As anyone who has ever painted … Read more