Since I began this project I have been pining for a good blue to use in my work. Growing some woad and thereby having indigo to use was a wonderful start.Certain concerns, however, were always in the back of my mind as to whether such pigment could really be counted light-fast. So I kept … 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
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
I was very excited to receive in the mail my package of seeds from the Cottage Gardener this spring. Mary and Dan Brittain, the owners of this wonderful organic seed company, are one of the sponsors of the 100 mile ART Project. They had very kindly shipped me 360 woad seeds! Woad (Isatis tinctoria) makes … Read more
Since the rocks I collected from the Don Valley Brickworks were all mud-covered I really only had a very rough idea of what I had collected on my trip. So, with some toothbrushes in hand, my children and I began to clean these little treasures. Some of the rocks really don’t have any merit as … Read more
I recently visited the old Don Valley Brickworks in search of some unique minerals. The brickworks was created in 1889 by three brothers John, William and George Taylor. Their work was creative, using the different materials present at this site to create a variety of brick types. They were also prolific and by 1907 they … Read more
When I proposed the 100 mile ART project I was all too aware that my experience in using entirely locally collected materials had a few holes in it; glue making is one of them. Glue shows up in many areas of painting an icon: The woodworking, gilding and gesso work all rely on a good … Read more
Firing eleven-thousand year old ivory is a bit of a nerve wracking experience. During this process I began to rehearse in my mind what I would say to Peter Russel if something went wrong; and if I would ask for more to make a second attempt … Early on in my attempts to make ivory … Read more