The “Warms” Wild Ink Set 2024

With this being the second year of creating wild ink sets for folks to experiment with, I reviewed what colors I could create sustainably given some environmental variables and time constraints with my practice. This set features four ‘warm’ colors to work with, some combinations.

Goldenrod + Dandelion: This year was mostly warm and dry, and I noticed Goldenrod bloomed *weeks* earlier than usual, before I was ready to shift into this part of my practice for the year. I foraged some at the end of the blooming season, and this time, added some dandelion flower tops. Kitchen alum was added to brighten the yellow and make it more colorfast.

Dyer’s Coreopsis + Marigold: I grew marigolds and dyer’s coreopsis from seed for the beautiful golden orange color here. The flowers were in pots on my back patio, and harvested late summer. Alum was added for colorfastness.

Staghorn Sumac: This year I foraged sumac berries in late summer, and created the bright orange-red color seen here. Sometimes sumac is more red than red-orange, and environmental factors may have contributed this year.

Avocado pit: The fact that chopped avocado pits can create such a deep ruby red is one of the many reasons I love creating ink; food waste stream inks are the most sustainable of all!

Each ink contains a couple drops of clove oil to preserve the ink, as well as gum arabic for painting quality.

Remember to shake each bottle before opening and painting. Have fun!