Last year, I enrolled in an online ink making workshop given by Maiwa School of Textiles. It took me a while but I finally finished it this winter. Although I have been experimenting and making inks for a few years I wanted to learn more about the process of making lake pigments. A lake pigment is a pigment made by precipitating a dye bath with … Continue reading Lake Pigment
Winter brings the sweet smell and tastes of oranges and tangerines. I didn’t realize that this beautiful fruit could be used to make a glorious ink until I saw a post in my instagram feed and I just had to try it. (I hoped to give credit but can’t find the artist) Save your orange peels in a container in your fridge. You don’t want … Continue reading Orange Peel Ink
For ink making in 2021, I wanted to experiment with plants and other materials I hadn’t tried before, one of which was honeysuckle berry. These cheery red berries show up in July and are everywhere on the borders of the woods and fields near where we live in upstate NY. I was so busy with summer events and life that I decided to freeze the … Continue reading Honeysuckle Ink
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
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
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
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 … Continue reading Violets and the beginning of an artistic journey into natural color.
Yesterday I went to a seminar held at The Surrogate Courthouse in downtown NYC. I have never been in this particular building, I arrived like most ny’ers rushing in and having to put my heavy coat, bags and cellphone in the bins to go through security. I rushed to the elevator and went to the second floor to get to the meeting. It was a … Continue reading Secret treasures behind the revolving door.
As a person who has had to hang art in many different types of spaces with walls of different colors and materials, the worst of which was a pink marble wall and a very strange deep orange marbke floor in the lobby of a very old building in Manhattan, it is nice to see an article devoted to the subject. The blues are intriguing, the … Continue reading Great Article looking at Art on Color
We are really lucky to have The Clark, a gem of a museum, nestled up here in Williamstown, MA and not so far from my home. It’s never to crowded and I can spend time viewing some wonderful art that always inspires me no matter how many times I see them. Here are a few: Continue reading A Winter visit to The Clark
Leah's Notes and Art Blog 