Discovering Natural Earth Paint has literally been world-changing in my work as an artist. (I am not a paid representative of Natural Earth Paint, so what I'm sharing is purely out of the enthusiasm of my personal experiences with it as an artist - so much so that I do have a link and page on my site dedicated to this positive experience with Natural Earth Paint.)

Decades after practically popping out of the womb making art, I arrived at focusing on it full-time as a vegan adult. Similar to my experience when I first went plant-based over 20 years ago and was surprised by how much effort and awareness I had to invest into discovering food ingredients, I was surprised (but shouldn't have been) that almost all art-making materials include animal-derived, petroleum-derived or toxic ingredients that can negatively impact the health of artists, art families, art collectors, classrooms and the natural environment.

Did you know it's almost impossible to make Prussian Blue without animal bone char or artificial ingredients? Did you know that the sizing of the truly gold-standard Arches papers contains animal ingredients? Did you know that the common 'manufactured' acrylic paints sold in stores - including very expensive professional-grade artist quality - contain plastics that clog up sinks rapidly, and thus, the water supply and marine life as well? And it's already common knowledge that the fumes of solvents needed in oil painting can be nausea-inducing at best and seriously health-compromising at worst.

Until recently, I had relatively little experience with oil paints - not by choice. I painted one oil painting in my arts high school long ago, and that's it. I'm highly sensitive to odors and fumes by nature and due to the sense-heightening that comes with years of meditation and plant-based eating. This, combined with my various small, home-based studios in very hot/very cold climates, meant that oil paints were out of the picture.

When I realized during covid that most of my full-time art-making would be painting and researched how much bad stuff is in art materials, I knew I had to walk my talk of contributing to a healthy world through a life approach and practice of 'do no harm'. In my initial research, I found no one source of totally plant-based, non-toxic materials, but as I kept searching and dug further, I found Natural Earth Paint.

Started by an oil painter who gave birth to a daughter with environmental sensitivities, the company is quite simply amazing. Since I started with handmixing the paint powder pigments a few years ago, I've been along on the journey of seeing their offerings expand exponentially and more art suppliers picking them up. There's almost nothing I can't do with their materials. (I'm just waiting for large-size rolls or sheets of their bamboo paper :-)

In addition to all their great mediums, materials and earth-friendly packaging, they offer a robust library of free tutorials, recipes and shared artist experiences to support a natural earth eco- (and human health-) friendly practice.

What I didn't expect in walking the eco-friendly talk is how much it would impact not only HOW I create, but WHAT I create. The added dimension of intimacy in handmixing your own materials - from paints to gesso to adhesives - is indescribable in words.

The sense of connection to resourceful ancient methods and all the painters who preceded us throughout pre-industrial history is palpable, and getting to know the deeply varied temperaments of different pigments in different weather conditions is a new discipline and artistry in itself. The necessity to slow down to take the time to handmix is a meditation in itself. And hitting the sweet spot with the muller of exactly right viscosity is like floating in a lake, taking off over a jump with a horse in the exact right stride and distance or experiencing the feel of the sweet spot with a tennis racquet or golf swing. It is a kind of ecstasy.

Beyond all these delights, learning all the nuances of handmixing and the resulting behavior of the materials that don't simply pop out of a tube has completely shifted what I'm exploring through my art. My intention with my art has always been to share the world and geometries of energies I perceive beyond the form that make us and the world more than what we think we are and expand the access to what we can really do. Prior to working with Natural Earth Paint, I was only really doing this through digital art, which doesn't provide the kind of tactile connection I need. There is something about starting from the foundation of mixing these materials and knowing that even my bamboo brushes are sourced sustainably, as well as how the paints perform, that has taken me into the new territory and realm of being able to fully explore and enact what I perceive onto physical paper in unexpected ways.

While I expected to mostly be helping the environment with Natural Earth Paint, Natural Earth Paint has actually helped me more, evolving my capacities and opening new vistas not only into what I create, but what I perceive. It raises the interesting question of which comes first: The artist's idea or the availability of the materials that shape what ideas emerge? I have come to experience that it is an equal dance of co-creative fueling and discovery, which is a direct reflection and manifestation of the way our universe and humanity's purpose and place in it work.

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