Cloud footed findings,
Harboured in slumbering sludge,
reveals alchemy.
Port, Donegal. Lay of the Land Residency. 2019.
For two weeks we rooted down in Port, Donegal. The off grid stone cottage was the backdrop to our investgations into the landscape. Immersing ourselves in the flora, fauna and bogland for a fortnight gave space to the beginnings of an exporation that I believe has sparked a limitless direction.
Starting out I had no idea what to expect from the roots, leaves, and shoots of plants. I gathered rust and stones in hopes of pigment and hues. I ground charcoal and ash from the well used fireplace, and foraged from the shores of the harbour. The experiments were a catayst for conversations around colour theory and nature based creativity, with close attention paid to the processes we were undertaking.
Two hours passed since beginning the first boil. The ingredient was crowberries, foraged from the top of the bog behind the house on the Slieve League Peninsula. The berries, we believe, were those lucky to be missed by flying Chough birds, and the grazing of sheep. The haul was just over a handful but the hue was deep and luscious.
Deep purple in colour, we dipped our brushes in and began teating the ink. The purple ink glistened on the paper and as it began to dry the colour transformed to a steady blue. Nettles, kelp and lichen followed. And over the course of the residency we created blacks from the charcoal, dusty beige from ash, orange from seaweed and pretty much all the variations of brown you can imagine.
