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Wild Ozark™

~ Nature Artist using Ozark pigments in Kingston, Arkansas ~

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Category: Making Pigments

From Rock to Art – My process

I don’t know if I’ve ever made a post to show the entire path from the point where I pick up a rock to the color of that rock in my paintings. So here it is now, the journey from … Read the rest “From Rock to Art – My process”

15 February 2026
Iron Oxide as Pigment

The colors in my pigments are because of various combinations of iron oxide, for the most part. This gives me the browns, the yellows, oranges, and the reds. I have an earthy palette!

Hematite

The red colors are from … Read the rest “Iron Oxide as Pigment”

12 March 2025
A Yellow Paint Experiment | Lake pigment from thyme

Back when I made my very first set of paints, I had a really nice yellow. I’d made several yellows from various plants and did lightfast tests on them. All failed except for the one, gorgeous yellow. Not only did … Read the rest “A Yellow Paint Experiment | Lake pigment from thyme”

4 July 2023
A Stable Blue from Asiatic Dayflower (Commelina communis)

One day I smashed a flower petal from the Asiatic dayflower between my thumb and forefinger. It’s a small plant that grows sparsely in the shady, moist areas along the driveway. While it’s not native to the Ozarks, it is … Read the rest “A Stable Blue from Asiatic Dayflower (Commelina communis)”

4 September 2020
The Orange in Osage Root Bark

The color in the Osage root bark is quite vivid and I’m trying to capture that pigment.

My first attempt wasn’t very successful. I used water to try and extract the orange. I simmered it on low heat, then strained … Read the rest “The Orange in Osage Root Bark”

11 December 2019
Bone Black

I made bone black, from a cow vertebra that I charred inside a small tin inside the wood stove. Previously I’d used charred wood from hickory and oak. It has been a difficult paint to re-wet and it never reached … Read the rest “Bone Black”

30 November 2019
Paint from Red Sandstone

Today I made several different shades of paint from red sandstone.

When I make a paint from a pigment-rich stone, like this one, rather than waste what is left on the plate after mulling and scraping up the paint, I’ll … Read the rest “Paint from Red Sandstone”

10 November 2019
What are Paleo Paints?

The Paleo Paints

My husband once said my handmade paints reminded him of how the cave men made their paints for the cave drawings. And he was right! And so we called them Paleo Paints.

I make them by crushing … Read the rest “What are Paleo Paints?”

30 October 2019
Appreciating the Brown Colors

I think the color brown is vastly underappreciated. Think about it. It’s the earthiest of our earthy colors. The base of all the palettes of nature. Something that exists in such abundance is also called ‘ubiquitous’. By its very virtue … Read the rest “Appreciating the Brown Colors”

27 August 2019
Shades of Shale

Black shale is a common rock in our creeks and streams. The rocks are brittle and easy to crumble, and make a dark gray rub. A great candidate for making some paint.

And it makes a really buttery textured paint. … Read the rest “Shades of Shale”

26 June 2019
Pottery Shard

A few weeks ago during my morning walk, I found an old pottery shard. So I put it in my pocket and finished my walk. It looked like it might make a nice paint, but I debated over whether or … Read the rest “Pottery Shard”

20 June 2019
Wild Waterfall Shale

Making paint from waterfall slate

Slate isn’t the easiest rock to grind up. The first time I made paint, I gathered a few rocks from here and there to see what I would get. This rock lives near the waterfall … Read the rest “Wild Waterfall Shale”

16 April 2019
A Paint-Making Experiment with Murdoch’s Mystery Rock

A thoughtful person by the last name of Murdoch, who happens also to know a bit of geology, enjoyed my display over at Kingston Square Arts, bought a print, and then came back and left me a box of rocks. … Read the rest “A Paint-Making Experiment with Murdoch’s Mystery Rock”

2 April 2019
Pink Tequila

Pink Tequila comes from a pink sandstone, but the resulting paint or pigment color isn’t pink at all. Or at least, not very much. It’s closer to orange, but there is a slight pink tinge to the orange.

This one, … Read the rest “Pink Tequila”

21 March 2019
Cromwell’s Sunrise

Cromwell’s Sunrise is a warm golden yellow Wild Ozark Paleo Paint made from a stone of northwest Arkansas. This color began with a rock gifted to me by another northwest Arkansas artist. He saw it while out hiking and thought … Read the rest “Cromwell’s Sunrise”

20 March 2019
Black. The Messiest Color Start to Finish.

Sometimes I’m overzealous with the black. More honestly put, I am almost always too generous with the black. I put more on than I need and so end up taking a lot of it right back off.

Why I love
… Read the rest “Black. The Messiest Color Start to Finish.”

19 December 2018
Red leaves of black gum (Nyssa sylvatica)

Black gum leaves begin turning deep red near the end of summer, sometimes long before any other leaves are starting to think of autumn.

This color is made from the late summer red leaves of black gum (also called black … Read the rest “Red leaves of black gum (Nyssa sylvatica)”

17 November 2018
Making Media for Handmade Watercolors

The binder is what makes pigment stick to the paper. Watercolor binder is made from water-soluble tree gums. This particular listing uses gum Arabic, which is harvested from one of two types of acacia trees that grow in Africa.

It … Read the rest “Making Media for Handmade Watercolors”

14 August 2018

Wild Ozark™

~ Nature Artist using Ozark pigments in Kingston, Arkansas ~

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