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
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
It has been 9 months since my brother, Aaron, and I spent the week collecting pigment/rock samples from old mines in Nova Scotia and the verdict is in as to which of these samples are usable. While I am excited about these colours, not all of them were what I expected (as you will read). … Read more
While the gross work of pounding the pigment into colour was done, there still remained the work of finely grinding them. This work was done during a demonstration at the Homer Watson Gallery. When grinding with a glass muller, one can’t help but notice that some rocks grind up with ease, but others require a … Read more
For the past three years I have been growing a few plants of Rubia tinctorum, commonly known as the Madder plant. Madder is one of the most permanent pigment producing plants. Its use goes back a thousand years in Europe and much further in the East. In the West (until the rise of Indigo, … Read more