botanical paint
even though we always use certified non-toxic art materials in our home, i realize that the art market is far behind other industries in terms of environmental regulations. many art pigments (that i love so dearly) are made from hazardous chemicals that have not been tested for toxicity (even when labeled non-toxic.) while some paints may not be toxic to the consumer, they may be toxic to fish and wildlife when they get washed into our water supply. this has made me really think about the art materials i offer to my child. i recently fell in love with clementine art and their amazing line of products when i sampled a few when in my beloved boulder. then last weekend i was in an eco-chic shop here in the bay area called live greene, and found a new product line called glob, out of berkeley.
in lieu of buying their full paint kit that contains brushes and cups to mix paint in, i bought a kit of just the paint blending packets (because i have plenty-o-paintbrush and bowl around here.) it was a steep $12, but curiosity and greeniness got the best of me.
natural, gluten-free, soy-free, vegan paints = priceless?
these paints are way cool – the red is made from pomegranates, orange from tangerines, yellow from lemons, green from basil, blue from berries, and purple from plums! on their packaging, they claim to have scents, but we found that some colors had a faint aroma and others had none. N and i had so much fun mixing them and sampling the colors they made.
the consistency of the paint can be altered depending on the amount of water added. you can dilute them to almost a watercolor stain type of pigment, or with less water, they are somewhat gelatinous and translucent, kind of like fingerpaint. N loved painting with them!
N was inspired to paint fruits after talking about what the paint was made from
a giraffe eating leaves from a tall tree
light shining through a watery water-spitting blue elephant
art drying in the play house
mmm, leftovers
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