Land-scapes: Work in Progress
Alongside making clay bodies for tiles and kiln fired work, I have also been making paint pigments with the clay I dig . I am trying out different mediums and binders -particularly organic traditional mediums such as gum arabic, tragacanth gum, walnut & linseed oil, egg tempera and so on. Similarly, to make pastels I have experimented with using beeswax and turpentine as well tragacanth gum.
Acrylic Binders – I started my ‘painting with clay’ journey in 2023, using ready made ‘binders’ brought from art shops, because they are cheap and easy to use. I used a commercially produced oil and impasto medium as well as an acrylic medium which both gave the sort of matt surface I was looking for. I also painted onto good quality linen or cotton canvas in order to make high quality artefacts which will last, not fade or warp.
Unfortunately, I’ve now concluded that using acrylic binders doesn’t square with my environmental values and I’ve decided to stop using these. According to Forbes 58% of microplastics in the oceans can be traced to paint.
Painting with clay
Making clay paint
The clay is dried, broken up and left to soak in water. It is sieved through a garden sieve (3mm) first and then progressively through finer sieves -60, 80, & 100 mesh sieves. This is left to dry again, crushed and made super-fine with a pestle and mortar.
Landscape studies using acrylic binder 2023
The dry pigment powder is mixed with a binder which will allow the colour to stick to the surface of the canvas.
North Devon Land-Scapes
I grew up in North Devon, visit regularly and have a deep attachment to the landscape there. The area has a rich and varied geology which has been mined for pigments, clay, and minerals over many centuries. Over the last two years I have been gathering and making my own earth pigments from along the North Devon section of the South West Coast Path - between Combe Martin and Peppercombe Beach. This includes:
‘Bideford Black’ –Abbotsham Cliffs
Yellow Ochre- Fremington Quay
Buff – from the Taw Estuary
Umber -from the River Umber -Combe Martin
Red Ochre - Peppercombe Beach
‘Poor Man’s Grey’ -Green Cliff
I have used these pigments to paint on both canvas and paper .
Land-scape watercolour paintings 2024
My most recent abstract land-scape paintings use a traditional gum arabic , honey and glycerin binder which combined with earth pigments can be used in transparent washes like watercolour paint or, simply by adding more pigment, as a more opaque gouache.
Using extra rough watercolour paper with visible edges, and paint made from found earth pigments brings emphasis to the materiality of my art process.
North Devon Land Scapes - Details
North Devon Land Scape 1. North Devon Land Scape 2
Handmade watercolour paint on Jackson’s eco extra rough watercolour paper. 22” x30” - 2024
A glass muller is used to grind the pigment super smooth.
A mop brush on wet paper gives a fluid ‘watercolour’ finish.
A dry brush on dry paper gives a more opaque gouache finish.
The painting is built up from multiple layers of paint laid over one another, which adds depth and interest.
The Foreground is what lies Underground
My land-scape paintings are inspired by the work of Mark Rothko and the simplicity of the visual language he developed, to play with colour and express core human emotion and subjective experience. His ‘colour field’ paintings of layered and irregular rectangular areas of colour have provided me with a template for my own learning and reflection and development as an artist. Becoming more fluent in this ‘art language’ has allowed me to foreground the simplicity of the colour palette of the earth in a series of abstract land-scape paintings. My intention is to make art that is literally ‘grounded’ in the story of the landscape and that conveys a visceral ‘sense of place’. To be simultaneously both an interior and an exterior landscape. And, unlike some of Rothko’s work my paintings will not fade because they are built up from layers of lightfast ancient earth pigments!
Watercolour and Gouache Binder
I now make my own watercolour and gouache paint -using a traditional binder which is made from gum arabic, honey, glycerin plus a drop of clove oil. I have used this paint on Jacksons eco extra rough 560lbs watercolour paper and I am really pleased with the results. (see below)
Watercolour and gouache paint
Binder ingredients:
60ml gum arabic.
A teaspoon of honey.
A teaspoon of glycerin.
1 drop of clove oil.
Mix well together and add to dry pigment.
Blend with a palette knife.
Add water and more binder as needed.