Cindy McKee

Madison Woods wrote:

r ranson wrote:

Cindy McKee wrote:You can use the sap from any Prunus tree to make your binder.

I've got some fruit trees that cry.  Mostly wild and flowering cherries, but I wonder if that one plum tree is still weeping from an old injury.

I'm not ready to make paints yet.  But I might as well harvest it for the day when I am.  (Or maybe I can trade it for paint?)

How do I harvest and preserve it?

I haven't tried the fruit tree sap, yet. I wasn't able to gather enough to give it a good attempt. My guess is that you'll just dry it out in little chunks, then grind it before mixing it with water and honey. Good luck with yours!

Actually, I pluck off the balls that form where some bug has gotten through the bark, and I put those in warm water. It takes a couple of days until I decide the gum has absorbed all the water it's going to. Then I strain the liquid, in order to get out little bits of bark and hard gum. Then I rinse out a container and lid with rubbing alcohol and store the sap in that, in the fridge. It's best to use fine pigments with it. It can't handle coarse pigments, the way that oil can.

BTW, I love your kestrel.
You (We) can use fugitive plant dyes to make a traditional painting, photograph it and make tons of prints from the photo, while the original painting fades.
That way, lots of native plants can be represented.
I say that, because I have trouble mulling clay pigments. I have to use them in casein binder. Rocks are something I haven't even tried.

Madison, I registered just to suggest that you try using the sap from wild cherry trees growing in the Ozarks instead of gum arabic. You can use the sap from any Prunus tree to make your binder. I get the balls that ooze from my peach tree to make watercolor binder and the paint is fine. If your binder is also sourced locally, your paint will be that much more authentically local.