Friday, October 24, 2008

Organic Painting Part 5- Poke Berry & Turmeric Paint

Now that I am learning how to use the paint & hair brushes, I can get more detailed -
This is part 5 in the Poke Berry & Turmeric painting series - using 100% recycled paper sewn together to make the canvas & hung with scrap fabric on a red bud tree branch. The brushes are made of human & horse hair (both work really well but horse hair holds the paint longer), the hair is secured to a stick with a rubber band.
NO chemicals are used what-so-ever, the poke berries & turmeric are boiled down for about an hour with some kosher salt & filtered water. (note: no chemicals does not mean edible, poke berries are poisonous to eat!)

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

INcreible. Beautiful. Thank you. I picked a bucket of pokeberries today. I'm gonna go paint something. Thank you for inspiring. Love. Love.

Miss Voodoo said...

Go Amy!
Send pictures or a link to what you paint! :)
Don't burn the poke berries on the stove, it stinks second only to a dead skunk...bleh!
xoxo

Anonymous said...

They get better every time! Organic paintings extraordinairre!

Anonymous said...

Simply a masterpiece of art.

Shayla said...

I was just sent the links to your organic painting series this morning and watched them all. Thanks, they're great, inspirational. Your work is very bold. Sometimes it's easy to hit a low point and get discouraged looking for more natural ways to create. This was just what I needed. Got some ideas going too. I used to dye with onion skins and use that on my paper, but it wasn't dark enough-more like a stain. I'll make it more concentrated and try it with salt instead of soda.

Miss Voodoo said...

Hey Shayla!
I like thicker bolder colors too! I think the trick to that is to make them very very concentrated, not add very much water, and watch is closely as you do warm it up and add water. Also, if you let it sit for about 24 hours it tends to saturate itself more, but can change the tint slightly.
I am hoping to add some natural indigo and try out charcoal for black - since they used that stuff in cave painting. Also i would like to try rust on metal and henna!
Another natural alternative i am looking into, is using powdered earth pgments with egg yolks to creat tempera paints. :)
Send links or pics to whatever you make!!!

Unknown said...

I just tried painting on paper with tumeric paint (different recipe using soap and cornstarch...) and the tumeric is leaving grit on the paper. Will the grit go away if I boil the tumeric and water longer?