Maiwa's Earth Pigments and Paint-Maker Caitlin Ffrench – From Earth to Paint

by Maiwa - Tuesday, April 19, 2022

Caitlin ffrench

These images of Maiwa’s earth pigments come from Canadian artist Caitlin Ffrench.

Caitlin works deeply with the idea of place and hand-made colour. She is an accomplished paint maker (and dyer) who has the ability to coax subtle hues from the earth. She is usually working with wildcrafted pigments, gathered from within the landbases she visits. Stones or discarded bricks are laboriously ground down finer and finer until they are fine enough to be called pigments - beautiful dusty colour - and then transformed again by her into paints.

For Caitlin, to make a pigment from a stone is to make a connection between place and memory.

Here is a little bit more about her in her own words:

“I am a fibre artist living in East Vancouver. I believe that clothing security is just as important as food security—and that we can find brilliance in even the hardest things. I make most of my own clothing (partially because of my beliefs in clothing security, and partially because i’m 6 feet tall- and finding clothes that fit is hard).

I also weave, spin, felt, do surface design (screen print, eco printing), knit, crochet, dye, wildcraft, dance poorly, sing even more poorly, and ride bikes.

I spend a lot of time with my darling partner, who helps me with all of the strange things I do—(He is a lovely artist in his own right…www.aplustattoos.com)

Visit Caitlin on instagram at @ffrench or at her website caitlinffrench.com.

About Earth Pigments

Earth pigments come from minerals, clays and oxides and are best known by names such as burnt sienna, umber and ochre. They are collected in various parts of the world for their characteristic colours. The exceptions are indigo and vine black, which are plant-based. Maiwa works with small companies who prepare these pigments using centuries-old traditional methods. Our pigments are ground extra-fine for textile use.

Earth pigments are not dyes: they do not dissolve in solution, nor do they form molecular bonds with fibres. To work on textiles, paper or other surfaces, the pigment is combined with a binder which bonds the pigment to the surface. Acrylic and gum Arabic are popular media. For cloth we prefer soymilk where the proteins in the milk act as the binder. Our experience with earth pigments is on natural fibres.

For more information see our Earth Pigments Instructions.

See all Earth Pigments

From Pigment to Paint

Caitlin has shared a simple starting point for those who who want to begin transforming pigments into paint. The process can become quite elaborate - and each paint maker, like each chef, has their own unique take on what is best.

Start with this ratio:

1 - 1.5 parts earth pigment to 1 part liquid gum Arabic.

To this you may add:

Honey or glycerin (keeps the paint moist and prevents drying out)

Clove oil (acts as a preservative, prevents mould - only a small drop needed for a half-pan.)

The beautiful glass objects are "mullers" used to mix ingredients and grind pigment particles smaller. They work great, but if you don't have one you can still get started with a simple palette knife.

For use on textiles with a soymilk binder, see our Earth Pigments Instructions.