Lucy offers a selection of workshops based on the skills she has learnt; as artist, pigment and ink maker, through her own research and previous qualifications and experience. (see ABOUT section> Lucy Mayes C.V). Workshops take place in her studio in East London or can be designed to work within a setting of your choosing. Please contact her though the form on this page for enquiries or book a workshop through the website.
London Pigment Introduction Workshop
Making sustainable pigments, inks and paint
- Introduction to Lucy's work as artist-pigment maker
- Explanation of waste stream pigments and where to find them.
- Introduction to colourants- pigments, dyes and making paint
- Paint making workshop (watercolour or oil paint etc) & filling out especially designed colour charts
- Paint made in the session will be available to take away
Lake making workshop
Harnessing colour from plants
- Short introduction to Lucy's work as artist-pigment maker
- Introduction to colourants- pigments, dyes and making paint
- Basic chemistry behind the laking process
- Practical pigment making demonstration, paint testing & filling out especially designed colour charts. The choice of plant material will be offered prior to workshop and will include but not restricted to the following:
weld, ragwort, Canadian goldenrod, safflower, madder, marigold, etc.
- Pigment made in the session will be available to take away
Botanical Ink workshop
Using locally collected materials
- Short introduction to her work as artist-pigment maker
- Introduction to colourants- pigments, dyes and making paint
- Run through of raw materials used for botanical ink making & how to extract dye
- Ink making processes that include the following materials; oak galls, brazilwood, madder, walnuts, earth pigments and verdigris
- Practical ink making demonstration, ink testing & filling out especially designed colour charts
- Ink made in the session will be able to be available to take away
Earth Colours of Britain
Mapping spaces with colour
- Short introduction to her work as artist-pigment maker
- In dept look at the earth colours I have collected, their provenance, characteristics and geological make-up.
- Explanation of how Lucy processes earth colours
- Paint making workshop (watercolour or oil paint etc) using some of the pigments mentioned & filling out especially designed colour charts
- A selection of earth pigments will be available to take away
Intermediate Pigment & Paint Making Workshop
Deep-dive into the properties of pigments & paints
- Short introduction to her work as artist-pigment maker
- In depth look at the properties of different pigments (concentrating on pigments I make: local/nationally collected iron oxide pigments, verdigris, lake pigments, carbon black pigments, waste stream pigments), binders & fillers and how they affect the resulting paint handling and dried paint film
- Practical pigment making demonstration, paint testing & filling out especially designed colour charts
Verdigris Workshop
Deep-dive into copper pigments
- Short introduction to her work as artist-pigment maker
- In depth look at the verdigris or copper-based pigments Lucy has made, including their provenance, characteristics and recipe ideas
- Paint making workshop (watercolour or oil paint etc) using some of the pigments mentioned & filling out especially designed colour charts
- a selection of verdigris pigments will be available to take away
Natural Dye Workshop
Experiments with decoctions made from plants
- Short introduction to her work as artist-pigment maker
- Explanation and practical workshop using iron, oak galls and walnuts to dye paper and textiles.
- a selection of dyed material and inks made from raw materials used in this workshop will be available to take away