HANDMADE WATERCOLOR PAINTS

Since mid 2025, I have been creating watercolor paints made from natural pigments: plants, rocks, clays, etc. Materials which I have harvested, foraged, found, or salvaged in the Bay Area. I package the paints in handmade ceramic paint tins or natural materials like eucalyptus seed caps, seashells, acorn caps, etc.

There is much to say about this process of making paints out of natural pigments. Ochres (rocks with color from iron) are sacred; they should be treated as such. Foraging for rocks and clay, like any kind of foraging, must be done with love and humility. I carry this out by only taking small amounts of rocks I can find loosely on the ground, I don’t harvest rocks or clay from “load bearing walls.” or anything that might cause erosion to the environment.

Ochres have many cultural uses for Ohlone people. Rinihmu Pulte’irekne means “above of the red ochre” in the ancestral language of this land, Chochenyo.

THE PROCESS

Grind in a mortar and pestle. Filter out larger particles.