whoever you might be… you are one of the first lovely persons who have subscribed to my blog/site and… never heard from me again!

Contrary to appearances I have been working very hard: first taking over a charming artist residency in Provence, the Ateliers Fourwinds, while still running our beloved art store/centre in Byron Bay, Australie. That would be enough in itself it seems but I am somewhat passionate and so have made a point of going to visit, in the last two years, some amazing people who make with passion art materials in Barcelona, New York state and city, Seattle, California, Brittany, Melbourne and the Somerset moors!

At first, I wanted to sell these articles to magazines but I am not finding the time to approach them in a serious way and am not sure, if they agreed, I could take the pressure of doing an article a month or even a term for example. Also artsy mags don’t seem too interested in materials and more professional ones are often so tacky I’m not sure I even want to go there (she whispers!)

And so, to stay independent and working at my own pace among all my other commitments, I have decided to put these on line for free and for all to enjoy and share… But, if more people were to visit and read my blog posts, I also wanted the background pages of my site to be far more advanced than they were… more work!

After nearly a month on the computer, years of notes, ideas and bits of knowledge have all come together… Hurrah! Of course, there is still far to go however I felt like sharing this first step… feel free to send me feedback (and  encouragement too!)

Please go to my home page if you will and you will see a new organization. Only one click and you will discover the whole index of the site/online book I intend to write. Not all sections are done by far, although most are quite advanced behind the screen. All those underlined have a link to completed pages and you can discover my six new ones about Pigments and get a taste of how informative they will all soon be or click on titles below to go directly to the section you are most interested in…

Pigments: an introduction

What is a pigment?

• Pigments vs Dyes;
• Pigment classification by characteristics;
• Inorganic vs Organic Pigments;
• Historical vs Modern Pigments

Historical pigments

• Prehistory
• Antiquity
• the next 15 centuries

Modern pigments

Colours and families of pigments

• A description of the most commonly found colours organised in broader categories: blues, greens etc.
• A bit about the most important families: the Cadmiums, the Earth, the Quinacridones, etc.

A little bit about binders and making your paint

and… if you enjoyed reading the pages PLEASE LIKE & SHARE !

My only reward for hours and hours of work will be your comments, your sharing and a broader audience in order to thank also the lovely people who have so generously opened the doors of their factories and labs, given tips, knowledge and advice to me I can now spread around!

I am trying to build a bit of an audience first but a great article about the Escoda brush making company is coming SOOOOOOON… promise!