ORGANIC COLOUR, 2020-2022

Making paintings with organic colours has become a natural progression in my exploration of light receptivity and transformation potential in paint substances.

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In 2020, I began working with a selection of organic colour extracts with the most reliable recorded history, including indigo, madder, cochineal, lac and weld. I was also concerned about acrylic paint residue affecting the environment where I worked, with tank water and biodynamic waste disposal.

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The first year was spent learning to distil these substances into pigments for painting, with reference to websites and books, and making detailed notes with colour samples at every stage.

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There is no exact measure with these organic substances. Climate and soil factors influence annual growth and harvesting, and PH sensitivity matters during colour extraction. The small paintings on prepared boards shown here, are some of the first paintings made with these organic substances.