This artwork was created in the spirit of ‘Welcome Home’. Life in the world can be busy and chaotic but at the end of the day we all go home, to a sanctuary we have created for ourselves. As we enter this space a series of familiar objects greet us, objects we have chosen to inspire feelings of security, comfort, fun and inspire joy. All of this is our way of creating a welcome home.
I always loved how in French, enchanté is simply what you say when you meet someone new and say 'pleased to meet you' but alongside it sits the older word, enchanted, the sense of being cast under a spell of a new delight. That's what this piece is for me: I'm inspired by being constantly enchanted and pleased to meet nature and that it never gets old.
Every flower and leaf in this artwork is painted with pigment that is real stone, genuine terroir earth, colours made by the planet. These are the natural pigments once used for centuries by artists now turned into a welcome.
Welcome you, welcome nature, welcome home.
 
Dip-pen drawing in oak-gall botanical ink, ancient recipe
Hand-made watercolours and gouache, traditional recipes and techniques using historically accurate methods with hand-applied Dutch gold &/or copper leaf.
Features rare ochre pigments sourced from unique places around the world.
Fabriano, eco-certified, archival, artist quality, animal free paper 640gsm
 
The bespoke paint is a special blend of natural earth pigments and acacia tree gum. These are the same coloured pigments once used before industrial 'copies' were invented, going back to a time when small amounts of hand-sourced colours were cherished and precious. This art is made in celebration of nature and as such only uses carefully selected historically accurate, natural ingredients to be extra kind to the planet.
 
Ochre is a coloured rock, a pigment used by painters throughout human art history from pre-antiquity to now. Thousands of years old, ochre comes from deep in the earth and is different in character depending on the place of origin. In this work, I have used genuine natural tree gum from African acacia trees, known as gum arabica which has been used for centuries as a binding medium for traditional watercolours and gouache. My research continues to find an Australian alternative that is equally clear and strong. The paint is naturally optimised to showcase the nuances in the pigments as it dries to a clear crystalline form and allows the colours to be vibrant and pure.
 
In the spirit of 'all is connected', these ochres are sourced from layers of earth below the surface of different landscapes, the similarity and beauty of the materials is a connection, a meeting point laid out in this artwork, symbolic of love, protection and our good fortune to live with such beauty in our flora and fauna.
©Vanessa Rhodes