The Joy of Indigo

“let me die
from having being drunk on
indigo skies, my liver…
overflowing with stars.”
― Sanober Khan, Turquoise Silence

Well that’s an interesting opening idea for my May blog! I’ve just recently discovered indigo pigment, and have fallen in love with it. As you can tell from that quote , indigo is a beautiful deep midnight blue.
It’s lovely on its own and it makes wonderful darks when you drop any colour into it, much more interesting than black. It also makes beautiful greens when mixed with Quinacridone gold, ideal for NZ bush. And lovely atmospheric greys when mixed with burnt Sienna.
But it has a dark history…
During the 16th- 19th centuries it was the only blue dye available , so blue fabric became a real status symbol, only afforded by the rich and famous. Originally the pigment came from tropical plants grown in India, West Africa and the Americas , and was known as “blue gold”. Sadly, the plants were raised on plantations using slave labour, so it came at a high and grim cost. Luckily , in the early 1900s German chemist , Johannes Pfleger , discovered how to make it synthetically.
The most common use of indigo these days? Your denim jeans .
This has been a busy month as I helped curate and hang the WCNZ Splashing Out exhibition in Marlborough. We hung around 120 paintings from all over NZ , as well as from UK guest artist Hazel Soan – it was a real treat to work with paintings from painters of all abilities and experience , some exhibiting for the first time . And even nicer to see some of the newbie’s paintings sporting red stickers. A great week of outdoor painting, workshops and social get togethers and I even managed to sneak off painting a couple of times 🙂 as well as attending a landscape workshop run by Charlotte Hird (who also is an indigo fan).
Since I got back Korimako has been busy with visitors, so no painting has been happening. I had a visit a few days back from a local 12 year old who wanted to know how to paint Piwakawaka and then one from a 5 year old who wanted to show me his break dancing skills- inside the studio, which was thrilling 🙂 You just never know who is going to walk through the door.
We’re headed back to Australia in a few weekstime for a couple of months of wandering …the desert skies there really are just like that poem – indigo sprinkled with sparkling stars . There’s something amazing about sitting out under a huge sky like that. The silence is very loud and puts you firmly in your place.
The studio will be closed until we return as I won’t be asking our house sitters to be studio minders 🙂 .Please contact me by email if you need anything (other than an audience for your break dancing skills).
Keep warm, Jan
PS. If you’re in Nelson and feel like getting out to sketch, our Wai Knot group will be meeting on friday 30th May from about 10.30 at the end of Parkers Rd in Tahunanui – you’re very welcome to come and join us for an hour or two of casual sketching.