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Honeysuckle Ink

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#art #colorfromnature #forage #ink #ink making #inspiration #inthestudio #landscape #lifeasanartist #nature #pink #process #the country life

Safflower Ink 8.2021

I grew the safflower from seed that I started in early April. I got 7 plants to take hold in the garden. The weather here was very damp and rainy this summer and I think they like hotter dry weather, so they didn’t get too many flowers and started going brown very soon after they bloomed. Dye garden plants from seeds. Safflower in bloom along with calendulaSafflower Safflower petals drying…

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#color #colorfromnature #flowers #ink #ink making #inspiration #lifeasanartist #natural dye #nature #pink #process #safflower #the country life

Copper Oxide Ink

I love the color blue in all its varieties. Blueberries and black beans can make nice blue inks and dyes but are fugitive and the color fades when in the light for a long period of time. I have read about the indigo plant and I plan to try making ink from the dry pigment. Since I adore the aqua color of patinas I found a recipe and decided to try making copper oxide ink. The recipe seemed fairly…

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#blue #color #colorfromnature #ink #ink making #inspiration #natural dye #painting #process

Ink Making Fall 2020

November 2020 This fall was an exciting time to be a rookie ink maker. I went for long walks to look for all types of berries and nuts that I could use and found that 2020 was a bumper crop year for so many of the plants that are great for making ink. So far, my 3 favorites turned out to be wild grape, buckthorn and pokeberry. The galleries below are a photo log of the process I used to make the…

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#color #colorfromnature #fall #forage #ink #inspiration #lifeasanartist #natural dye #nature #process

2020 Landscapes for Landsake

Hi Friends, The Landscapes for Landsake show is in its 19th year, I have had the privilege of curating the show 4 times in those years. This year was a little different and we had to take the show online. The challenge of bringing a very festive event held in a big beautiful barn with hundreds of paintings into a more intimate experience was daunting but I think we have done our artists justice.

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#art #buyarttosavefarms #buyliving

PhaseIII/6ft. and Making Color from Nature

A Socially Distant Art Installation

My installation of natural inks and artwork made from foraged plants.

A few weeks ago I was privileged to participate in an exhibition with my good friend and artist Hannie Eisma Varosy. We were planning our biannual art exhibition which was going to be a continuation of the 2018 one but life as we all know it took a more solitary turn in March and we…

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Ink Making 8.18.20

I have been taking a lot walks to find plants to make more ink. This time of year there are so may things to choose from. In July I decided on wild bergamot, Queen Anne’s lace and a few day lilies I still had growing in my garden.

Wild Bergamot

Bergamot ready to cook

Queen Anne’s Lace ready to steep

Queen Anne’s Lace

I use wild bergamot to make infused vinagar (btw it’s really delicious) it causes…

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#art #artexhibition #color #cooking #day lilies #ink making #inspiration #natural dye #nature #wildflowers

First Ink

I finally dove in and made ink for the first time. It is as gratifying as any creative project I have ever done with the added bonus of making my own medium that is one of a kind.

I finally got the supplies I had been waiting weeks for the day before I planned another visit to Pa to see mom, so I decided to pack them.

Day Lilies

I went for a few hikes and there were Day Lilies blooming…

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#day lilies #ink making #process #wildflowers

Clover

Last Saturday I went for a walk in the back fields with the dogs. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular, I wanted to see what was popping up and get a walk in.

Fields of wildflowers

There were a number of different things that caught my eye especially the clover, phlox and buttercups were are all booming.

For my next natural color experiment, I decided to go with the clover.

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Dandelions

For my next natural dye/ink experiment I decided to see what happens with dandelions.

Fresh picked Dandelions

When I picked them there was a really beautiful yellow stain on my fingers, so I hoped that that would be the color I got after the steep.

I steeped the flowers for 10 hrs by pouring boiling water on them and putting the lid on. The tea came out more of a brown color then the…

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#art #color #dandelions #flowers #ink making #inspiration #natural dye #nature #photos to inspire #yellow

Spring in Pa.

In early May about 8 weeks into self quarantine in upstate NY, I got very antsy and had to get out. So I decided to go visit my mother in Pa. for Mother’s Day. Armed with a mask and a spray bottle of sanitizer, I was ready for a week of family from a social distance.

The best part of my days were the walks I took with two of my sisters who live in area. We went to some really beautiful…

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#color #flowers #inspiration #lifeasanartist #nature #photos to inspire #process #the country life #wildflowers #woods

Violets and the beginning of an artistic journey into natural color.

Last week my sister Carol who lives in Reading, Pa. posted pictures of some jelly and simple syrup she had made from violets she had foraged. I was intrigued by the idea of making the jelly so I asked her for the recipe. Although we are a few weeks behind PA in the season I knew we would soon have a lot of violets in the rock garden on the side of our driveway and 10 days later the violets didn’t…

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The Woods in Spring #3

This weekend Dan and I went to get another couple of buckets of ramps before the season is over and they flower.

After the rain last week and along with the couple of warm sunny days I couldn’t wait to see what else was coming up. I was thrilled to see all the bits of color peeking out, the violets were opened in full force and there were white trilliums, tiny anemone and an abundance of…

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#color #inspiration #nature #photos to inspire #process #wildflowers #woods

More notes from the woods.

April 20, 2010

This beauty is called a Fairy Spud. It’s so tiny but actually very visible in the woods right now, the dead leaves are a perfect backdrop that enables the eye to catch the color from above. A good lesson to remember for when I am painting, “it doesn’t take much”.

American Cress?

Close up of a blue cohosh flower

Purple Trillium

Liver Wort

There were some new things that popped…

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Finding Spring Treasures in the Woods

Dan and I went for a hike up into the woods where he forages for ramps every year. I really wanted to see what else was popping up along with the ramps. Here’s what we found.

Bloold Root

Eastern Waterleaf?

Trout Lily

Blue Cohosh

A little fairy scene

Anemone?

Scarlet Elf Cap

Fresh Ramps

I can identify a few of them but I am not quite sure if the small white one in the 6th pic is an Anemone.

I…

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#cabinfever #Food #inspiration #landscape #localfood #nature #photos to inspire #process #the country life #wildflowers #woods

#Repost @fatnhappyllc ... Pictures from the pop up at 50 South w/ @chefdanspitz and @klondonfarmhouse and @lilyandtherose #localisbest #popup #rootvegetables #upstatechefs @denisonfarm @pvfproduce https://www.instagram.com/p/B8nCZQ3n_SD/?igshid=1h1pv3gx4jxq6

#repost #localisbest #popup #rootvegetables #upstatechefs

Last nights moon lit up the night with the snow and ice reflecting the lite. I didn't need a flashlight or head lamp. Our little house looked so charming. https://www.instagram.com/p/B8XOPfWnSJd/?igshid=6rcoyafbh3yx

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