I have been exhibiting since the 1970, starting with acrylic paintings. In the last 14 years I have concentrated on caligraphy painting, somewhat in the sumi-e style which I studied in the 80’s with Iya Itigaki who was a shaman with the brush. Around 2014 I started experimenting with natural dyes made from plants and insects. With the help of my great friend Gladys Serrano who knows much more than I do.

This included a parallel project of making my own natural non toxic paint. Both processes start with a dye bath made from plants, insects, minerals and clays.

The paint making has been a fascinating and very messy process of alchemical reactions. With paint it is easy to get great colors, but not easy to get colors that are light fast. Hardly anyone talks about this. Basically no color is light fast forever.

One of the most wonderful things about natural paint is that it is alive. Commercial paint is very colorful, but the colors are a flat monotone. Paints made from natural substances reflect and refract light in ways that give much more depth of color. The colors actually can change depending on how the light hits them. The brush strokes come alive.

One of the reasons  painting made with black charcoal based ink used in Japanese and Chinese calligraphy and painting have such alive brush strokes is because the ink is made from actual plant fibers that line up along the direction of the brush strokes. The effect is very subtle, but definitely adds to the power of the brush strokes..

A little history

Up until 1856 all dyes were natural. John Perkins, an English organic chemist, was the first person to commercialize colors made from coal tar, specifically the color mauve. Others had discovered the process, but none had commercialized it. His process was eventually bought by Bayer in Germany. The process used for making mauve and other colors from coal tar is very similar to and lead to the creation of chemical pesticides and fertilizers also from coal tar. Petrochemicals. Many of those beautiful oils, watercolors and acrylics are made from petrochemicals. And all the colors we wear in our clothing. Not very environmentally friendly. Also the process uses huge amount of water.

Ephemeral art: Does anything last, is anything permanent? Having survived several disasters in my life, I say No nothing is permanent. Everything is in change and flux.

Simon Garfield, Mauve, W W Norton and company,  New York 2000