Making Ink Recipes

Making Sumac Ink

Making your ink from foraged plants and materials found in and around the house is a rewarding project.

I started making sumac ink in late winter when I realized I could pick the red seed heads from the wild shrubs growing in my neighbourhood. Winter is the perfect time as the berries are dry and won’t stain your hands.

You’ll need to pick about 6 seed heads to get some intense colour.

Supplies:

Large stainless steel pot

potato masher

finemesh strainer

glass bowl

a jar with tight fitting lid

funnel

coffee filters

white vinegar 2T

salt 1T

whole cloves for preservative or wintergreen essential oil

2-3 Cups of water

gum arabic from an art store, used as a binder for pigment

testing strips made from watercolour paper scraps

Method

Place the sumac seed heads into a pot filled with 2-3 cups of boiling water. Add the salt and vinegar and let the sumac cook on medium heat until you reach a desired colour. It can take up to 1 hour of cooking. Use test strips to test. If you want more intensity then add more sumac. You can use a potato masher to help release the colour.

Pour through a fine mesh strainer into a glass bowl.

Place funnel with coffee filter into a glass jar and pour liquid through the funnel. Be patient as this can take some time.

If you have some small 2oz jars or bottles with dropper lids those are ideal for storing the ink. Now add several drops of gum arabic to each small jar. You’ll need to add one clove to each little bottle or 10 drops of wintergreen essential oil to preserve the ink.

Label your jars. You can keep ink up to 1 year in the refergerator.

Meet the Artist.

Artist Bio:

I grew up in Kitchener, ON. As a child of the 70’s I was influenced by Disney and Looney Tunes animation, bold coloured clothing, large patterned wallpaper and bold busy fabrics. Black and white photographs in family albums are evidence of my use of crayons, pencils and markers to create art.

I had a strong passion to pursue art and so I enrolled in the U of Waterloo’s Fine Arts Faculty Studio Program. I studied painting with Tony Urquhart and Art Green, drawing with Nancy-Lou Patterson and printmaking with Jane Buyers. French Impressionism, Van Gogh, The Group of Seven and Tom Thomson seduced me and I began to use high chroma colours in my own work. I also enjoy the styles of Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt, Aubrey Beardsley and Imao Keinen Kacho’s Japanese woodcuts.

For the past 15 years I have worked as a professional gardener and garden designer. During the fall of 2020 I made a decision to resume painting and drawing and set up a home studio. I use animals and landscapes in my drawings in a collage, illustrative style to tell stories of the places I’ve explored.

Artist Statement

As an artist and professional gardener, my work is deeply influenced by my love for the natural world and my commitment to sustainable living. Working in urban city and country gardens in the Waterloo Region, I have developed a passion for native and drought-tolerant plants, and I am particularly interested in creating pollinator garden plantings that provide habitat and support for bees, butterflies and beneficial insects and birds. I am also in the process of creating a meadow planting in my own front yard to support insect and bird foodwebs and create more balance in the cityscape.

Inspired by the stunning landscapes and diverse wildlife of Ontario, I use a variety of mediums, including coloured inks, coloured pencil, acrylic paint, and watercolours, to bring my drawings and paintings of animals and landscapes to life. In my art, I aim to tell a colour story and use line and mark making to invoke emotion in my drawing and painting style. Through the use of bold colours and dynamic compositions, I strive to create pieces that are both aesthetically pleasing and thought-provoking, inviting the viewer to pause and consider the quiet moments in life and the importance of living in sustainable urban and wilderness environments.

As someone who is deeply committed to wildlife conservation and sustainable living, I believe that art has the power to spark dialogue and incite change. It is my hope that my work will serve as a catalyst for introspection and understanding, and will inspire others to join in the effort to protect and preserve our planet's precious natural spaces.