A Colour A Day: Week 10

By Ruth Siddall, on 31 May 2020

A Colour A Day Week 10; 25th-31st May

Jo Volley writes …

This week’s colours are produced by Ruth Siddall and dedicated to the Land Art pioneer Agnes Denes on her 89^th birthday on Sunday 31^st May.

‘These colours represent my first experiments in lake pigments; dyes made insoluble by the addition of a mordant, in this case alum with the further addition of either potassium or sodium carbonate in solution. The initial dye baths were made from raw materials from my kitchen (waste onion skins and dried hibiscus and marigold flowers used in tisanes), plant material collected from local areas of parkland (nettles, dandelion and bark from birch logs) and finally some madder roots which were sent to me as a present by Stephanie Nebbia, courtesy of the Winsor & Newton laboratories. All were made in my kitchen, with adapted equipment and materials during the initial few weeks of lockdown in March and April 2020.’ Ruth Siddall

1. Birch Bark (alkaline)

2. Dandelion Lake

3. Nettle Green(copper modifier)

4. Rose Madder

5. Hibiscus Lake

6. Marigold Lake

7. Onion Skin Lake