Pure Pigments — The Colour Makers House, Britain's only medieval pigment alchemist
Britain's only medieval pigment alchemist - where Cumbrian stone and earth are transformed into colours lost for centuries.
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The simplest and most ancient pigments are the ochres — iron-rich clays that produce colours ranging from pale yellow to deep orange-red depending on their iron content and whether they have been heated. The ochres available in the North Pennines and the Lake District include some of the richest deposits in England, and these are among the materials used at The Colour Makers House today.
Back in 2008, a few miles north of Carlisle, on the edge of the Solway Firth, over 500 pieces of ochre were discovered that had been worked by Stone Age man. So, ochre has been worked on in this area for a long time - to find out more
Beyond the earth pigments lies a more complex tradition of colour-making that requires chemical transformation of metals and minerals. These are the pigments that gave the medieval palette its most remarkable blues, greens, and whites — and they are the colours that require the most knowledge, patience, and care to produce at a time when alchemy was on the cusp of transforming into chemistry during the 17th and 18th centuries
Verditer, one of England's distinctive blue-green pigments, is produced when copper reacts with nitric acid in the presence of chalk or limestone. Historically, English verditer was a by-product of silver refining: when silver was extracted from argentiferous copper ores using nitric acid (aqua fortis) - to discover more about this illuminating period
During the demonstrations and workshops, whether as an artist, conservator, or historical craftsperson, you're participating in this centuries-old conversation between chemistry and craft. You're connecting South American seabird colonies to English silver refineries, connecting global trade networks to local workshops, and connecting the medieval alchemist's "aqua fortis" to the painter's palette.
The second part of the Demonstration and Workshop reveals the types of medium, or binder, that holds the colour to the surface, whether it is a living room wall, a car's metal surface, or a fine art canvas. You are invited to help the alchemist with the arcane rituals of making them, and then you get to try them out for yourself. From demonstrations, which are a quick overview lasting an hour, to fully immersive experiences that include visiting linked sites around the region.
Further details and links about these experiences are below -
Transform your understanding of colour in three extraordinary days. From Roman mines to your palette.
Friday evening through Sunday afternoon in Britain's only traditional pigment alchemy workshop
Intimate groups ensuring personal attention from master craftsman Mark Hilsden
Stay at Appleby Manor, once owned by Beatrix Potter's family
Painting with the Landscape
Where geology becomes art. Five days between two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, learning techniques unchanged since medieval monks ground lapis lazuli at Shap Abbey.
From foraging pigment to converting it into beautiful watercolour paints and then painting landscapes with them.
The comprehensive experience for artists who demand more than surface knowledge. Seven days to master 2,000 years of British pigment tradition, taught by the nation's only practising pigment alchemist in a Grade II-listed Stuart townhouse. You'll visit every major historical site, process materials from their geological source, and leave with knowledge that exists nowhere else in Britain
