NO.3/ COLOURS OF THE EARTH

This is the story of how my fascination for the colours of this earth began. how I discovered natural paint-making and pigment foraging and why I think these ancient practices can help us heal our relationship with the earth

One of the intentions I had while on my healing journey, was to re-discover my creativity and allow my inner child to play again like she used to when I was young. So wherever in the world I went, I always ended up creating things with the local people and in that way, finding out and learning about their indigenous arts and crafts.

I remember returning from my travels with my last stop being Tamil Nadu, India, and I was completely in awe by the richness of colours and textures I found there. My heart was so full from witnessing the artful way in which people there co-existed with nature. I’d notice the women adorning their hair with beautiful flowers and dyeing their clothes with colours made from natural resources, blending with the environment. I saw intricate mandalas drawn onto the soil in front the houses with colorful chalk - despite all the effort put into these beautiful drawings, no one seemed to be attached to them when the wind came and blew them away.

Once I was back in my home environment, waves of emptiness would suddenly wash over me, leaving me questioning why the way we approach art in the West was so very different, so serious, so rational, so exclusive, artificial and most of all: disconnected from the natural world.

Around that same time - 6 years ago - I was gradually awakening to the realization of the climate crisis we were in. The painful realization hit me that most of our planet’s species were in danger of extinction and that severe drought, fires and flooding were wreaking havoc in so many countries, including Germany and Portugal. It became more and more clear to me that I needed to find ways to express my creativity in a way that wasn’t adding to the destruction of our planet.

So I began to dive deeper into art-making with natural resources and I started to visit classes and read on how to make zero waste paints and watercolours, how to dye fabric with vegetables and where to find pigments near my house.

Little did I know that doing this would completely change the way I perceived myself in relationship to the natural world. Engaging with nature through art-making and crafting helped me not to see myself as separate from nature anymore, rather I’d begin to understand that I was nature and every part in me has its origin in the waters, the air, the plants and the minerals that surround me.

So this is the story of how my fascination for earthly shades began. Of how I discovered natural paint-making, pigment foraging and plant dyeing. And the more I learn and experiment, the more this fascination grows. Through my own experience and the experiences I witness others make whenever I introduce them to plant and earth painting, I’m convinced that this practice has the capacity to heal something deep inside of us and replace the illusion of being separated from nature with the realization of interbeing with nature.

I decided to deepen my understanding on all of this and got a certificate from sevengardens - an initiative for sustainability in arts and education. Once I had settled in Portugal, I started offering my own workshop. Currently I’m hosting Earthly Shades every month in the village of Santo Isidoro.