Every painting has its unique color palette. Have you ever stopped to think about how items not found in nature get their color? Everything bears color, from our clothes to our walls, to tile, kitchen gadgets, trains, toys, book covers, and so much more. Pigments and dyes can have a number of different characteristics - natural or synthetic, reactive or inert, mineral or plant base, combustible, compostable, colorfast, manipulable and/or toxic.
Here are some fun facts. Some dyes are used for objects, others for food, and some for both. The natural bright red color of someone’s favorite shirt could come from the same dye used in ubiquitous red candy. This is true if it is carmine, a natural color that also goes by carminic acid, Natural Red 4, E1201, and of course cochineal. Cochineal is also the name of the insect it is derived from. A synthetic dye used for both objects and food (at least in the United States where it is still legal) is Yellow 5, a petroleum derivative. The first synthetic dye, created a few hundred years ago, is Prussian blue (oxidized ferrocyanide). If you want to go down a rabbit hole, you can compare your searches of the spontaneous combustion warning on its tube (in oil paint form) versus its use as an oral pill to counteract radioactive exposure. Hmmm…
These are some of the reasons that led me to explore earth pigments like ochres and oxides. And, as with most things, the more I learn, the more I realize I have yet to learn. Some are directly lifted from the earth and can be used as is. Think of how you may have dragged a rock across asphalt to draw as a child. Many, however, require extractive processes with explosives or solvents, followed by additional chemistry. Most people I know are conflicted by the safety, exploitation, and environmental issues of cobalt mining to power smart phones and electric cars, but do we stop to think about the impact of that same mineral cobalt when it manifests as the blue paint on our cars or gorgeous blue glaze on our favorite ceramic mug?
The past few years I have been painting with pigment in soy. I especially like using colors I can forage locally. In my yard, I collect charcoal (from the fire pit), sand, silt, and slate. On the side of the road, I can find gorgeous pink-purple pigment in the form of porphyry, which is locked up now beneath a foot or two of snow for the winter. If you don’t know porphyry, please pop over to my Instagram post with photos to see it in nature, a color swatch of my foraged pigments in soy milk, a finished painting they are featured in, and its connection to the indigenous tribe, the Massachusett — one of several indigenous communities whose land is now referred to as Massachusetts, my home state.
In wanting to continually reduce my impact on the planet, this year I am expanding my plant-based color options. I already grow indigo, Japanese indigo, woad, marigold, Rudbeckia, and a few others, and I hope to swap seeds with a fellow dyer to expand my homegrown palette. My next foray will be the exploration of lake pigment. I want to learn natural ways to render normally non-lightfast dyes into inert pigment that can be used in painting and printmaking. Throughout this upcoming growing season, I will see what I can (literally) cook up. I hope to have a future update on how all that goes.
In closing, I invite you to research the colors in your life. Have you been ingesting petroleum and insects unknowingly? (If so, perhaps it doesn’t really bother you – no judgement from me.) Have you been enjoying a vehicle or piece of pottery embellished by the same cobalt you normally boycott when it’s used for other applications? (If so, it is not your fault – this information is not generally broadcast.)
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Here is info on my upcoming show:
- Solo Show, The Gallery at Central, Providence, RI; Opening Friday, May 8, 2026
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Until next time,
joç
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