falmouth colours

for the last couple of years i've been collecting shale, soft slate and coloured earths from the coast around falmouth and grinding them into powder in a pestle and mortar. some colours are precious and i only have tiny amounts like the veins of salmon pink i scraped off a piece of shale with the tip of a knife. i'd love to learn more about these substances, what exactly they are and if they have names. the ones i'm giving them is the colour and where they were found. at present it's not a very scientific process but one that leads me on adventures of discovery. unfortunately i don't think i'll have enough for all 100 paintings so i'll have to supplement my palette with the coloured earths i brought back from florence- can't wait to use them!

coloured shale collected by a friend

sorting, grinding and sieving

some of the colours