Paint Making with Natural Earth Pigments

September 28 & 29
9:00 am-3:00 pm
Instructor:  Amanda Brazier
no experience necessary | limited to 8 students

In this two-day workshop, students will learn how to gather and make paint with natural earth pigments found locally.  The first day of the workshop will cover the history and significance of natural pigments in art and culture. Then, students will spend some time outside collecting their own earth colors around Chattanooga then will learn how to process the rocks and clays into more refined pigments, ready for paint making. On day two, students will learn how to mix their pigments with various binders to create oil and watercolor paints.  They will finish the day painting with these beautiful, local earth colors.

Materials provided:
– all pigment processing and paint making tools
– extra pigments
– paint binders

Materials for students to bring:
– shovel
– containers for pigments (mason jars for storage and sometimes collection, or reuse plastic grocery bags)
– their own gathered pigments (optional of course)
– watercolor and/or oil painting materials of your choice (brushes, paper, primed panels, etc.) – You will be making both kinds of paint and given plenty of time      to experiment with both.

Amanda Brazier is a painter living in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She received her BA in Studio Art and Spanish from Freed-Hardeman University in 2007. For the past eight years, she has been gathering natural earth pigments near her home and making paint. Her paintings reference primitive dwellings or woven cloths and develop through stacking, weaving, and assembling simple forms. She is a facilitator for the organization Mark Making and is represented by River Gallery in Chattanooga.