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Overview:
Make natural inks and paints from soil, clay and rocks. Learn how to forage responsibly, process pigments and mull your own watercolor paints, termpera and inks. We’ll walk the farm, fields & creek to gather rocks and charcoal suitable for pigment making. After a demonstration, we’ll jump into hands-on work to grind and process these earth materials into artist-quality pigments, paints and inks. Enjoy a delicious farm-to-table lunch in the barn’s hay loft.
What You Will Learn:
- How to gather earth pigments responsibly
- Practical methods for processing and making artist-quality pigments from soil, clay and rocks
- How to make reusable watercolor paints from earth, tempera based paints and inks
- Techniques for painting with natural paints and inks on paper
Workshop Highlights:
- Walk the farm and fields to forage for colors, followed by hands-on time in the barn studio
- Collect eggs from the coop to learn to make tempera based paints
- Take home hand-made watercolor paints and inks
- Farm-to-table, seasonal lunch in the hayloft
- No experience necessary – perfect for artists, nature enthusiasts and botany lovers.
Location:
- Jill’s barn studio in Chatham, NY on a serene 200-acre farm
- 25 minutes from Hudson, 25 minutes from Great Barrington, 2 hours north of Manhattan (access via Amtrak to Hudson)
Required materials:
We offer two options for materials to accommodate everyone's needs: you can bring your own tools or Jill can purchase them for you for an additional $65 available at checkout. Jill will provide all other necessary materials for processing and painting and have any purchased materials waiting for you.
Here are the specific tools you will need:
- Mortar and pestle made of marble, stone, ceramic, or metal (wood is not suitable)
- Tempered glass palette (approximately 11 x 14 inches, plus or minus)
- Glass muller
- Small fine kitchen sieve
What to Bring:
- Required materials above
- A few jars with lids (used, clean jars with lids 12-24 oz is perfect)
- Sketchbook for color swatching and note-taking
- Weather-appropriate layers and waterproof shoes or boots
- A hammer
- Harvesting basket or tote for gathering
- Bring your own earth and rocks if you like as well
- Hands ready to work, questions and a belly ready to eat a delicious meal from the farm
Contact jill@farmandfieldny.com with questions or for recommendations on transportation and where to stay if needed.
Refund policy: Refunds are not available due to the long-term planning involved in our workshops. However, we offer credits that can be applied toward a custom workshop or a future workshop date.