For the past couple of months I’ve been busy with festival-going and getting ready for more festival-going for the Burnt Kettle Syrup. Then for the past couple of weeks, I’ve been enjoying time with Rob (Mr. Wild Ozark/Burnt Kettle). …
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Red leaves of black gum (Nyssa sylvatica)
Black gum leaves begin turning deep red near the end of summer, sometimes long before any other leaves are starting to think of autumn.
This color is made from the late summer red leaves of black gum (also called black …
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2018 Autumn at Wild Ozark
It’s been several years since we’ve had the splendid colors we’re having this year. Today I went out to take some pictures to share of the 2018 Autumn at Wild Ozark. Some of the photos are from our driveway, some …
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Plant Pigments – Experimenting and Searching for Green
Generally I don’t use the plant pigments because they’re fugitive, meaning they fade over time. Sometimes they completely disappear.
However, I’ve found two sources that actually intensify with exposure to light (full sunshine) and so I am experimenting with extracting …
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Plant Pigments- in search of a stable green, the latest painting and the next show
Between getting the house clean today, since it’s raining and I couldn’t be outside weed-eating, I’ve been making a mess in the kitchen. People have to not take things at face value in this house. What looks like refreshing tea… …
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Yay! Wild Ozark is back online!
After 3 days of being in website purgatory, the site is finally back to the light of day.
Just thought I’d make a little post to shout out about that. You guys have no idea how much grief I’ve gone …
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Making Paint from Pink Sandstone of the Ozarks
I’ve been busy as a bee lately making more and more paint. Even though this week my intention was to focus solely on getting ready for upcoming shows and festivals, the lure of a large chunk of pink sandstone seduced …
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Brown Earth Pigment for my Handmade Watercolor Palette
My son found a rock alongside the driveway, near the creek. He kept it to give me since he knows I’ve been smashing a lot of rocks lately. This one seemed like it would be a great rock to make …
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The Painting of a Pelican
Pelican No. 1 This painting of a Louisiana Brown Pelican was based mostly on a photo by Shelby Townsend , but I liked the feet on another from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, so modified them to drape over the edge …
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A Call for Rocks and a New Page
Saturday I went down to Felkins creek which is near the end of our driveway. It’s not that I needed more rocks. I just wanted to see what the recent rains might have turned up. So I should probably have …
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Soul of the Ozarks
I’m sure by now you’ve noticed I’ve been making paint lately, ha. All of my sets of paints are called ‘Soul of the Ozarks’ collections. Each collection is numbered, and starts over in the numbering each year. This post is …
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I am Going to Call it ‘Nirvana’
When I made my very first pan of watercolor paint, it was a russet from one of the sandstones on the ground outside. The color was nice, but at the bottom of that pan there was a very thin layer …
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How to Make Handmade Watercolor Paint from Rock or Clay | DIY
This is an old post. Click HERE to download an updated tutorial.
When I get a chance, I’ll update this post, but it might be a while.
Original Post:
Today I’m making handmade watercolor paint from some of our native …
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Making Media for Handmade Watercolors
The binder is what makes pigment stick to the paper. Watercolor binder is made from water-soluble tree gums. This particular listing uses gum Arabic, which is harvested from one of two types of acacia trees that grow in Africa.
It …
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The “Panic Stage” in a Work of Nature Art
There’s a new work in progress sitting on my easel. By the time I’m done with this post, it’ll probably be a finished work. It’s another kestrel, and I’ve reached a reliable stage in the process. I call it the …
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All for Little Pans of Color Worth their Weight in Gold
The past week was a really busy one. I spent most of the time busting rocks and grinding them to powder. Why? To make paints! You’ll know why I say they’re worth their weight in gold after you read the …
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A Study in Sandstone
The whole painting is in my handmade watercolor paint made from one of our local shades of sandstone.
Every Sunday I’ll be at the Kingston Square Arts shop with the colors I’ve made so far. If it’s not too busy …
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Clearing the Clutter: Promises, Broken Rocks, and Things to Come
Such promise in a broken rock… I see paints everywhere now. Makes it hard to walk down the driveway. As if that wasn’t already hard enough before I learned about making earth pigments! The path in my office/studio AND the …
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The Color of a Plant Does Not Equal the Color of a Paint
I’ve been experimenting with local plants to get a nice, stable, green color for my handmade watercolor paints. Most of the things I’ve tried in my quest for green has resulted in gray or brown. Lamb’s Quarters, a common edible …
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The Dusty Sand of Doha
My plan all along was to gather a bit of the sand of Doha before I left for the sand-stony ground of home. As it turned out, it was harder to find than I expected. Everywhere I went was nothing …
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Art Satchel-A Souvenir from Doha
This old, beat-up looking camel leather bag is my new art satchel. I love it. It’s a souvenir from Doha, Qatar, where I’ve spent the last two weeks. It has enough room to hold my paints, journal, a few favorite …
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Nature Art Anywhere, Even in the Desert
I brought my sandstone powder and watercolors with me on vacation to Doha because I wanted to be able to experiment with them during the days while Rob was at work and I was at the apartment. They’re fortunately very …
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Nearly Dry
We’ve had some rain lately, but not enough. The creek that runs through our land is nearly dry now. Thankfully, there are still a few constantly refilling pools here and there, or else I’d have to carry water to the …
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Nature Art Recap for the Month of June
The past weeks were very creative ones for me with nature art. I tried something new and have found a new passion that’s bound to grow with a little time – milling pigments! Next step in that exploration is making …
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Organizing, Day 2. One of the More Odd Boxes in My Nature Art Studio
I’ve been organizing my studio and categorizing my nature art supplies so they’re easier to find when I need them.
It’s a normal habit of mine to collect things during my morning walks. Lichens, mosses, interesting rocks, chunks of sandstone …