amaranth, calendula, color, flowers, garden, hopi black sunflower, ink making, inspiration, Making Natural Ink, marigolds, natural color, natural dye, safflower

Ink Garden 2021

This year I decided I would try to grow a few things in the garden for making inks. I chose 5. Safflowers for the pretty pinks they can give, calendula and marigolds for the yellows, amaranth for the intense fuschia and Hopi black sunflowers for the purple and turquoise colors. I also had to take into consideration that I live in a place where the … Continue reading Ink Garden 2021

Leah Mccloskey2 Comments
abstract, color, ink, ink making, inspiration, Making Natural Ink, natural color, process

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 … Continue reading Copper Oxide Ink

Leah Mccloskey5 Comments
inspiration

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 … Continue reading 2020 Landscapes for Landsake

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art, color, day lilies, flowers, ink, ink making, inspiration, Making Natural Ink, natural dye, nature, wild flowers

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. I use wild bergamot to make infused vinagar (btw it’s really delicious) it causes the vinagar to … Continue reading Ink Making 8.18.20

Leah Mccloskey1 Comment
art, color, dandelions, floral tea, flowers, ink, inspiration, natural dye, process

Dandelions

For my next natural dye/ink experiment I decided to see what happens with 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 … Continue reading Dandelions

Leah Mccloskey2 Comments