Natural Earth Paint
In 2009, professional artist, mom, and environmentalist Leah Fanning had a large, one-woman gallery exhibition planned and needed to paint full-time for a year to prepare for it. She also found out she was pregnant with her first child around the same time. So, to protect her baby’s health, she ditched every toxic art supply in her studio, including paints, thinners, and primers.
But what was the alternative to conventional paints?
Leah drew inspiration from the cave painters through the Renaissance masters and took to nature to find her supplies. “I actually went into the woods and harvested all the pigments myself,” she recalls, smiling. “I would never leave home without a trowel and a bag. If I saw beautiful colors in the strata on the roadside, I would jump out of my car and gather the pigments.”
