working toward a sustainable studio practise

I am working towards a sustainable studio practice. This involves assessing all the materials I use for their compostability, toxicity, environmental impact and usability. It has meant I have had to change the way I approach a painting as binders that keep the pigments stable require research, and lots of experimentation into different ways of application. As an acrylic painter who loved the immediacy of the medium with its quick drying time, I am used to sanding and scratching energetically into my work and building up layers rapidly. Letting go of acrylic binders has been tough as it means leaving paint layers to cure for 24 hours- hello patience! I am using a few different binders depending on the application: For dense fully saturated colour, egg tempera is the way to go. Oils could be used as well but personally, I don’t get on with solvents and the drying times are far too long. Gum Arabic can be used for glazes and making watercolours. I also use a lot of collage, glued with a wheat-based paste. It dries nice and tight and is cheap to make. See below for a great recipe

There is also this great stuff called Methylcellulose that is used in housepainting as a wall glaze to stop eco-paints from shedding dust-it is non-plastic, made from cellulose (plant-based materials) comes in a tin and is fiendishly expensive!! But I use it as a glazing medium to mix with my pigments. I also use it as a final sealer on many of my paintings.

I use paper, card and wooden panels as my substrates. A lot of the wood is scrounged from skips, old floorboards - any smooth wood surface. All wood panels are cradled so they sit 3.2cm from the wall.

I love to forage for my pigments- yellow ochres from building sites, red mud from ploughed fields, black coal from the river, and olive greens from the edges of sunken lanes. Wonderful earth pigments from around the world are also available online which is exciting and opens up the palette substantially. For amazing information and insights into the vast and wonderful world of natural pigments check out the wild pigment project online, and Heidi Gustafasons Book of Earth, and Caro Ross’ book “Found and Ground’ an invaluable resource for those wishing to explore natural inks and paints. I love the idea of working within the limitations of what is available in my fairly immediate environment, because after all my paintings are by and large a response to that environment.

Best glue recipe, that is pretty much edible!

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup cornstarch

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp. white vinegar

mix all ingredients together, and stir over low heat until boiling. Allow to cool and put in jar. Keep in fridge when not in use. I have found this the most mould-resistant due to the vinegar. I just take what I need for the day and keep the rest in the fridge. It will keep for up to a month. You can get away with ordinary flour, but it won’t be clear and it will develop a mould. Over time this glue hardens to incredible strength- I have been using it for years in collage work and never had any problems. If you are going to layer things, let it dry overnight before the next layer of paint or collage goes on.