All of my yarn and textiles are hand-dyed with the highest quality plant materials, bugs, or resins, as textiles have historically been dyed for ages. At the end of each dye batch, I have leftover “dye bath” that still contains this valuable pigment, but it is not quite enough for dyeing more textiles. I extract the pigment through a multi-day process, and once it is dry, I am left with a powder. This powder is ground finely by hand with a mortar and pestle, and then mulled by hand with a natural, historical watercolor paint binder made with honey, glycerine, gum arabic, water, and tea tree oil (to prevent mold).
The process takes days and a significant amount of arm strength! But the results are gorgeous, stable watercolors. Since they are handmade, they do lay on the paper a little differently than synthetic store-bought watercolors. But like any artist knows, there is pleasure in learning and exploring new materials. I enjoy working with watercolors that are not “perfect” and remind me that they came straight from the earth, and have been worked with human hands, not a cookie-cutter machine process. They lend themselves well to the spontaneous and organic art of watercolor painting.
This tin contains 8 pans with magnetic backings, ensuring they stay in place within the tin. Send back an empty pan for a refill when you run out!
All of my yarn and textiles are hand-dyed with the highest quality plant materials, bugs, or resins, as textiles have historically been dyed for ages. At the end of each dye batch, I have leftover “dye bath” that still contains this valuable pigment, but it is not quite enough for dyeing more textiles. I extract the pigment through a multi-day process, and once it is dry, I am left with a powder. This powder is ground finely by hand with a mortar and pestle, and then mulled by hand with a natural, historical watercolor paint binder made with honey, glycerine, gum arabic, water, and tea tree oil (to prevent mold).
The process takes days and a significant amount of arm strength! But the results are gorgeous, stable watercolors. Since they are handmade, they do lay on the paper a little differently than synthetic store-bought watercolors. But like any artist knows, there is pleasure in learning and exploring new materials. I enjoy working with watercolors that are not “perfect” and remind me that they came straight from the earth, and have been worked with human hands, not a cookie-cutter machine process. They lend themselves well to the spontaneous and organic art of watercolor painting.
This tin contains 8 pans with magnetic backings, ensuring they stay in place within the tin. Send back an empty pan for a refill when you run out!
