When most people think of natural resources, they’re thinking of lumber, ores, fresh water, and other things used for manufacturing on an industrial scale. Local natural resources include wild foods and medicines, wild water, and for me, wild rocks.

I’m uncomfortable with the amount of damage we do to the earth in the quest to procure our natural resources on an industrial scale. The only way to reduce the damage would be to reduce worldwide consumption of all of the things that rely on the resources. We’re all party to the abuse, so I’m not insinuating that I’m not part of the problem.

Less Impactful Use of Resources

We use lumber here at Wild Ozark. If we were inclined to do so, we could cut all of the trees down and use them for lumber, replanting a forest for another future harvest. But that’s not how we operate.

Every year we take whatever we need from deadfall that happened over winter or cut standing dead trees as we find them. But we don’t cut ALL of the deadwood. Other critters need those trees as much as we do. They hunt for insects and use them for homes. We share.

When I harvest herbs for my remedies, I don’t take all of whatever it is I’m foraging. I take a portion. Same when it comes to my husband’s hunting deer. He doesn’t fill all of his tags. We only need two deer.

Most Appreciated Local Resource

On a personal level, my most appreciated natural resource (after our spring water) is our abundance of rocks. I’m especially happy that our particular rocks are the kind that’s good for many things. One of those things is making paint.

Here are some paintings that feature those local natural resources:

Yesterday I printed materials for my stationery sets that I made from paintings that were made possible by our colorful rocks. But the technology I used was made possible by the industrial use of natural resources. And today I’m uploading the next of my course modules to the class on Making Paint from Rocks, another adventure made possible by our rocks and technology.

I try to find a balance of consumption that does the least harm while also allowing progress. Until I can become a full hermit, that’s the best I can do.

Why work so hard to get paint?

To start by gathering rocks and persevere to the end where you have a nice paint to work with is time consuming and labor intensive.

I understand that maybe an artist needs to be a little on the crazy side to continue doing it… which means I’m absolutely insane, perhaps.

But there is something tremendously rewarding about using the colors of the land that provides me with the inspiration and imagery for my paintings. This is why I continue to make my own paint.

Well, that’s one reason.

The other reason is a sense of security. If all else fails about this world, as long as I’m still alive and healthy enough to do so, I can at least continue my art.

Local Natural Resources for Making Art

We have natural resources for all of the ingredients to make either watercolor or oil paints. Cherry tree sap would work for the watercolors, and black walnut oil pressed from the walnuts would work for my oils. We have an abundance of mulberries with leaves could be used for making paper, sycamore bark that could be canvas, and grasses I could weave to make a woven canvas.

Where there is a will, there is a way.

The process to getting a paint would be longer and more complicated if I have to also create my own oil, watercolor gum, paper and brushes. Indeed, it would add a tremendous amount of extra steps. But I could do it if I had to!

Sharing the Beauty of Rocks, my favorite local natural resource

My artwork is something I create because I love doing so. I love the earthy colors I get from the rocks, clay, and the depth of black I get from soot or bones. I enjoy the adventure of making charcoal from willow sticks, even though I don’t do charcoal drawing at the moment. It’s something I *can* do at any time if I wanted.

I enjoy sharing my artwork with you, and now I’m enjoying making an online course about how to make the paint. When I’m finished with the paint-making tutorials, I’ll add other courses on making things like the charcoal sticks and other forms of art and maybe some of my favorite herbal remedies I’ve loved learning to make from our abundant local resources.