Making Black Walnut Ink

I have read of making a lovely, brown ink purely from the nuts of the Black Walnut tree, and have been curious to try it.  I recently found a mature Black Walnut tree whose nuts had been pilfered by squirrels.  

The hungry squirrels sat at the base of the tree to peel off the outer hull of the walnuts in search of the nut within.  They left behind a big stockpile of the part I needed -- the hulls.

All I had to do was don some latex gloves to keep my hands from getting stained, and collect a bucket full of the dark dye stuff.

It's also a good idea to wear gloves to protect your skin as some people get a rash.  I didn't have any ill effects. 

I found an old pot that I use only for art projects and filled it with the hull pieces, topped them off with water and set it to simmer for an hour or so.

I stirred the pot with a wooden paint stirring stick, and had to be careful to keep the pot from boiling over and splattering the kitchen with dark goo.  I kept the vent fan running and the room ventilated.  

If you try this, keep an eye on your pot to keep the water from boiling off and burning the walnut hulls or the ink.

I tested the ink on watercolor paper (first photo) and pulled the concoction off the stove when I was happy with the color.  Using an old pillowcase, I strained the ink from the Black Walnut hulls, and collected the liquid in a bucket.

I strained the ink outdoors to keep from staining my kitchen counters and floors.

You can see the earthy, brown color of the ink here in the bottom of the pot.

I cleaned out the pot and returned the liquid to it to cook it down a bit, and condense the liquid into a darker ink.

As you can see, Black Walnut ink also dyes cloth!  If you try this project, make sure to wear old clothes and protect your carpet, counter, floor, etc. from being stained.  Also take care not to discard the hulls in your garden as they can kill grass and other plants.  

Here's a test of the ink after I cooked it down a bit.  I like the darker, richer colors of the ink after it was condensed.

I used the ink right away to write a letter to a friend.  A simple dip calligraphy pen worked beautifully.

The ink darkens as it dries.

After the ink cooled, I poured the ink into jars, and added a capful of vodka to each half pint to keep mold from growing in the ink.

I have a few artist friends I plan on giving some ink to.  A simple, inexpensive gift that invites creativity.

If this sounds like an exciting project to you, 

I recommend you read The Organic Artist, by Nick Neddo. He provides instructions and inspiration for making Black Walnut ink and a variety of other art supplies for free directly from nature.

Wishing you many happy art adventures!

Copyright 2023 Betsy Bangley

Care December: Gratitude

Today's Care December prompt involved thinking of the people that make us feel loved and the places that make us feel at home, and feeling gratitude for them. 

I began with this page spread, and picked out some paper bits that made me think of my best friend.  Just the thought of her makes me feel loved and grateful.

I collaged on a stamp -- my BFF and I write lots of letters -- and some tea-stained papers because we love drinking tea and chatting for hours.

A variety of acrylic paint colors added their brilliance.

After the acrylic dried, I painted on a layer of clear gesso so I could easily draw with colored pencils.

A heart with two teacups finished the pages for me.

I hope you'll join Kasia Avery's Care December, too,

and take some self care art time this week to create something just for your own joy.

Happy Creating!

Copyright 2023 Betsy Bangley. All rights reserved.

Care December: What Makes You Feel Joyful & Fluid?

I've been taking Kasia Avery's online art journaling course, Care December, at my own pace.  I love that I can have days that I jump right in and follow the prompt, 

and days that I take time off and save the session until I can savor it. 

Today's prompt invited us to think about what makes us feel relaxed, fluid and joyful.  

We used string and blue ink, and I luckily had some of both, 

from the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse.

We dunked the string in the ink bottle, then flopped the inky string on the page, closed the journal and pulled the string slowly out.

I love the wispy, swirly lines that this technique creates.

The designs looked like the engraved drawings of seashells found in vintage science books. 

Relaxing by the ocean is one of the things that makes me feel fluid and joyful, so I kept the "seashell" marks and added ink washes & colored pencil lines around them.

  

The blue, Serendipity ink ($2 at PCCR) has lovely, shimmery qualities when it dries, 

and looks red in the photo.

Interestingly, I bought the white Prismacolor pencil at the PCCR, too. 

If you haven't joined in Care December yet, there's still time to participate!

Even if you read this post long after December 2023, you can still find the course on Kasia's website.

I hope you take some time to make some art just for joy, just for yourself -- For self-care!

Copyright 2023 Betsy Bangley. All rights reserved.

 

Care December: Setting an Intention

I have been participating in Kasia Avery's Care December art journaling project.  If you'd like to join this free online class, you can find out more here:

https://www.everything-art.com/p/care-december-23

The first day of Care December involves tuning into your own heart about what you want to focus this self care art journaling time on.

I wrote out my thoughts on a sheet of paper, decorated it with some watercolor paint and paper bits, and then jumped into painting the pages of my journal with acrylic paint.

After the paint dried, I added clear gesso.  

Acrylic paint is smooth & slick when dry, so it's hard to draw or write on top of it as is.  

Clear gesso goes on looking milky, but dries clear and adds grit.  

A layer of (dried) clear gesso over top of acrylic allows you to draw with colored pencils, add pastels and makes ink "stick" better.  

I added colored pencil lines, collage bits, and penned a shortened version of my intention statement:

Hear my Intuition & 

Follow Her

Create for Joy

Celebrate & reflect on my art

I have found that when I focus on the tiny voice of my Intuition while creating, I worry less about what other people will think of my art, and less about making "perfect" art.  Of course, we all know that there's no such thing as "Perfect."  Humans are by nature messy beings -- delightfully imperfect.

When I create out of my Intuition, I feel joyful, curious, and playful.

I feel happy, calm, and as a side effect, I usually like what I create.

Something I've recently begun to do is to reflect on my art.  I have always propped up my journals and paintings where I could see them after completing a particularly satisfying project, but recently, I've begun poring over art journals and handmade books, looking over what I created and reflecting.

This reflective practice magnifies my self-care art.  I get the boost of creating it in the first place, and then an extra boost every time I look over and consider how good it made me feel while I made it.

In effect, reflecting on my art creates a positive upwards spiral, and makes me want to create more art for self care.  Life feels more sparkly.

And isn't that what we want out of our art practice?!

Wishing you many happy hours of creating and reflecting!

Copyright 2023 Betsy Bangley

 

Painted Collage Papers for Care December!

I recently discovered artist, teacher and art journaler Kasia Avery on YouTube.  She has a delightfully enthusiastic teaching style that makes creating easy & fun.

If you haven't seen Care December, her free art journaling class yet, you can check it out here:

https://www.everything-art.com/p/care-december-23

In preparation for participating in Care December, I followed two of Kasia's YouTube videos on making papers of your own design and colors for art journaling. These are the videos I followed to create all of these painted papers. 

Video 1: https://youtu.be/78hXnnl8fdU?si=DGuh25Km8VmQNK7D

Video 2: https://youtu.be/ki9E6mQPxgw?si=sXCrQRdX24cF23hh

 Kasia uses a lot of different supplies, but a person can just use what they have on hand and have success.

I used office papers and forms from The Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse, my favorite thrift store in Pittsburgh.  They sell everything from fine art materials to vintage items, photography equipment, fabric, jewelry & scrapbooking supplies and lots more.

I spent a lovely afternoon splashing acrylic & watercolor paint on a variety of book pages, magazine pages, pieces of graph paper, used gift wrap tissue paper, music sheeting, old maps, etc., and turning them into colorful papers for art journaling.

I worked on a big piece of kraft paper on the floor to give myself lots of room to paint.  I turned on some inspiring music, brewed up a hot tea, and experimented with lots of different techniques and materials.

 The beauty of this approach is that I didn't have to drive to a store and purchase anything new.  I used what I had, and the items I had found secondhand at PCCR.

Each piece of brightly-painted paper was made in my own intuitive style, so it will match my art journal. And, I got to spend an afternoon playing with paint, listening to music, lost in the hum of creativity and joy.

I hope you'll join me in doing some creative self care this December!

Copyright 2023 Betsy Bangley.

An Upcycled Art Journal for Care December

I love creating with old, worn things that have a history and a previous life.  They add depth to my art and inspire a greater satisfaction than anything shiny and new.

I made this art journal mostly out of materials that I purchased at my favorite thrift shop: 

The Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse!

PCCR has a wide variety of papers -- from old office paper, to decorative scrapbooking sheets, to music sheeting -- as well as fine art supplies, fabric, vintage items, jewelry, and heaps of other treasures.

I made the journal as part of Care December, artist Kasia Avery's course in intuitive art journaling for self care.  

This free event is available online for you to join at your own pace.  You can sign up on Kasia's website, Everything Art:

 https://www.everything-art.com/p/care-december-23 

I followed the instructions on Kasia's YouTube video to create my journal: 

https://youtu.be/Nd5THleyZfw?si=ZsYYTN9oP4YK3TTp

As part of Care December, Kasia is raising funds to support Action Against Hunger.  You can find out more here:

 https://www.everything-art.com/p/care-december-23 

I hope you will join me in art journaling for self care in Care December!

copyright Betsy Bangley 2023

Ink and Collage Postcards

I love the rich, dark marks I can make with India ink.  Ink flows and blooms on wet paper, and travels in its own lively way that I can never precisely predict.

I can add my own handmade stamps to the marks, and after the ink dries, the blackest areas provide a happy ground for chalk pastel marks to play in.

When creating with ink alone, I never have to worry about deciding on a color palette.  The interplay of watered-down ink and bold, black, straight-from-the-bottle ink create their own drama.

I created these pieces to be 6"x 9" post cards, cut from 160# watercolor paper. Before adding the ink, I pasted on paper torn out of old book pages from a Gregg shorthand manual and an old atlas.  I'm inspired by old, weathered materials that have a history and beauty of their own.

As I applied the ink, I tuned into my intuition, simply listening to that quiet little voice within for direction.  When she said "Make swoopy X's and wonky O's'" I did that.

When she said "This is a place for diagonal lines, for swirls, hearts and spatters!"  I took her advice.

I'm always happy when I listen to my Intuition.  She's never led me astray.  Ever.  Even when what she says seems weird or unlikely to work, I'm always happy with my decision to follow her.

And art making feels good -- not stressful as when I'm trying to make something "pretty" or "perfect."

What does your Intuition say to you today about your art making?  

Of course, I'm not talking about that loud, scolding voice of the harsh critic.  I'm referring to the tiny voice that offers unexpected and sometimes weird-sounding ideas.  

It takes some discernment and practice to hear your Intuition.  And it takes courage to try the ideas your Intuition suggests.  But what lovely experiences arise, and what beautiful art!

I hope you get some time this weekend to make art and listen to your Intuition!

Happy creating!

Copyright 2023 Betsy Bangley