Washing earths

ocres from La Terrera

Pigments

After a few weeks of necessary disconnection we are back in the atelier with many things to tell you. I would like to start with a new project that we are excited about. Our first collection of natural earths to transform them into pigments!!
I have always admired the landscapes of one of the least known areas of Jaén, the Sierra de Segura y las Villas. Where its iron-rich lands show off red ocher in its deepest and most varied tones. In my mother's hometown, Puente de Génave, there is a multicolored mountain popularly known as “La Terrera”, which majestically guards the sunsets along the banks of the Guadalimar River. Its colors range from the most yellowish ocher to greenish tones, going through all kinds of reds and a powerful purple ocher that has always fascinated me.
As you well know, lately I've been very involved with the alchemy of colors, always focused on historical pigments and all the ancestral processes for their collection and fine-tuned for their use in the plastic arts. It has been a very natural and intuitive process, the selection of the land, its exhaustive washing and the magical moment par excellence, the levitation of the finest particles to obtain the slime with the most precious pigment. Once the water has been carefully removed, the most satisfying processes begin: drying on trays and subsequent grinding, to immediately have jars full of pigments in your hands with the colors of your childhood. It's something completely unique!
Since we were in town, I took the opportunity to collect Goma de Plum for the first time!! It is the one that was used in all medieval and modern recipe books before the generalization of the use of Arabic gum from Acacia Senegal. We collected it from the majestic plum trees in the orchard of a great friend in 'El Molino de Anica', an old and impressive water mill. The first thing that amazed me was the hue that the solution acquired, a very deep amber tone and also its great viscosity. In fact, it was necessary to add a little more water at the end. Very happy and excited with the result. Stay Tuned! @ Puente de Genave, Spain