While I really love the idea of following the historic method for making flake white, I have also decided to try and create this pigment using some of the newer methods developed within the last century. I’ve come to realize that in making flake white I am creating a pigment by taking my ore through … Read more
Heading into the August long weekend my family and I decided to take a short vacation. We headed up to Hanover and then explored the region, visiting places such as Walkerton, Kincardine and Durham. While our choice of location was not done with this project in mind, there did happen to be one stop that … Read more
It was a hot day here in Conestogo, so it was perfect for a little of this and a little of that. After putting the studio back in order (charcoal makes quite a mess …) in the morning I attended to a number of small, ongoing projects. After the worst heat of the day was … Read more
A lot of what I’m using for this project doesn’t require much processing. Many of the rocks that I’ve collected can simply be ground up and used for colour (and I really enjoy that fact!). But, there are a couple elements that I’m curious to explore in a bit more depth to try and understand … Read more
The final colour of my pallet that was still eluding me had been green. My only consolation in this frustration is that it has been is shared by every artist going back hundreds of years. There just aren’t many naturally green pigment sources out there. Historically, an artist’s choice boiled down to either malachite … Read more
With the city of Cambridge being the centre of the 100 mile ART Project, it was important to me that I find some pigment within its city limits. It was suggested that I contact Dufferin Aggregates, a local quarry, and see if I could search around their operation. In talking with Mark Graves, the pit … Read more
Before we headed back after visiting Kettle Point, Reiner suggested that we stop by the Hungry Hollow in Arkona. This is a famous location for collecting fossils that is made up of the same geological formation as Kettle Point but at a lower level geologically. Besides, it sounded like fun, so we headed over. After parking … Read more
This is one of the very unique places I have been looking forward to visiting for this project. Kettle Point takes it’s name from the round boulders, or “kettles”, that emerge from the underlying Devonian shale beds of Lake Huron. These natural wonders are actually concrentrations of calcite crystals which grew over many centuries around … Read more
It really is a small world: In reviewing some of the places that the 100 mile ART Project has gone, Maggie read about the Mastodon tusk from West Lorne and it turns out that she lived in West Lorne for many years. She went on to say that there were cliffs of clay around there … Read more
This week I received some unexpected help in the 100 mile ART Project: About 40 grade-seven students from Laurentian Hills Christian School in Kitchener! On Tuesday and Thursday of this week Mrs. Lisa Eelkema and Mrs. Shirley Huinink brought their students on a field trip out to Conestogo to collect some river rocks and then … Read more