Gifts from the Land Making Earth Pigments with Siobhan McLaughlin

Spend an enriching afternoon with artist and curator Siobhan McLaughlin at St Andrews Botanic Garden, delving into the art of crafting earth pigments for painting. Siobhan’s work is deeply rooted in her bond with the landscape, evident in her ritual of walking, collecting, and processing earth and rocks into natural pigments. Instead of using ready-made canvases, she hand-stitches and stretches leftover fabrics, each action embodying her close, tactile connection to the materials and terrains that inspire her creations. Working with earth pigments is a profoundly sensory experience, inviting us to rethink how we interact with the natural world around us. The session starts with a contemplative stroll through the garden, sharpening our awareness of the hues and textures in our environment, and building a bridge between ourselves, the materials, and the earth. Under Siobhan’s guidance, participants will learn the art of collecting earth and discovering various pigment varieties. Following a simple lunch, she will showcase techniques for processing and grinding natural materials into pigments, and teach how to create paints in acrylic, egg tempera, and oil forms. The day concludes with a hands-on painting session using these organic pigments, exploring the nuanced variations in color and texture across different mediums. This workshop offers a chance to ponder the environmental and relational aspects of artistic creation, reflecting on how our interaction with nature shapes the materials we choose and, in turn, how those materials impact our art. Lunch and drinks are covered in the ticket cost.

**What you’ll gain from this experience:**
– Skills in collecting earth and recognizing diverse pigment types
– Techniques for grinding earth and crafting natural paints
– Insights into how different painting mediums interact with natural pigments and affect their appearance

Siobhan McLaughlin (b.1994) is a Glasgow-based artist and curator. She earned a First Class MA (Hons) in Fine Art from Edinburgh University in 2019 and has since received notable accolades, including the SSA Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Award at the Royal Scottish Academy and a film commission from Tate’s British Art Network. In 2022/23, she was honored with an RSA Residencies for Scotland at Cromarty Arts Trust on the Black Isle, a Visual Art Scotland Cornwall Exchange Residency, and a Stephen Palmer Travel Award.

**Excerpt from Artist Statement:**
‘The silent burden of chronic pain is interlaced in my artwork, with ideas of care, memory, and defiance embedded in pigment crafted from crushed earth. By grinding rocks and soil from the landscapes I