Isn’t it incredible that our world provides us with everything we need to craft our own richly colored, long-lasting inks, dyes, and paints?
Here is a recipe from Rebecca Desnos to make botanical paint from coreopsis flowers.
Ingredients
A handful of coreopsis (Coreopsis spp.) petals (dried or fresh)
½ cup water
Gum tragacanth
Ferrous sulfate crystals
Directions
Simmer the petals in half a cup of water for a couple of minutes and stir regularly.
Remove pot from heat and leave the petals to sit in the dye pot for a while longer (a minimum of an hour, but it can be as long as you like). Stir regularly to encourage the dye to extract into the water.
When you are happy with the color of your dye, strain the petals through a sieve lined with a piece of muslin (or other fine fabric).
Wipe the pot clean, then pour half of the remaining dye into a bowl and set aside. We will darken half of it with ferrous sulfate and leave the other half yellow.
Let’s thicken the yellow dye first. Using your measuring cup, check the amount of dye you have. Per 1/3 cup of dye, start with approx. 1/8 tsp gum tragacanth. Pour the dye into your pot and reheat. Then sprinkle in the gum and stir to dissolve and watch the dye thicken.
Test the consistency of your paint by painting a test line on paper. If you like, you can add a little more gum to thicken further.
Pour the paint into a clean glass jar and label clearly. It can be stored in the fridge, but likely won’t last as long as the paint that contains ferrous sulfate.
Wash out your pot again, then pour in the remaining dye. Add a tiny sprinkle of ferrous sulfate to darken the dye. Watch as it changes color, and add more if necessary.
Now thicken with gum tragacanth, following steps 5 – 8 again. Pour the paint into a jar and label. Enjoy using your two different shades of coreopsis flower paint!
Tips
After dyeing fabric, if you ever have a pot of dye that you’ve finished with but can’t bring yourself to pour away, try simmering (or even boiling) the dye to leave a concentrated ink. This may brown the color somewhat, but it’s a way of making use of every last drop of precious color! Thicken the concentrated dye to make botanical paint, or keep it as ink
