Founded by artist Tilke Elkins in early 2019, Wild Pigment Project promotes ecological balance and regenerative economies through a passion for wild pigments, their places of origin, and their cultural histories. The project connects artists to the land by providing resources, education and inspiration to integrate plant and mineral pigments, hand-gathered and prepared in local landscapes, into studio practice.’ The aim of the project is to create a living, growing and ever-transforming network of humans and other beings through shared passions for foraged art materials.
Wild Pigment Project fosters these connections through a public directory, the Pigment People page, which lists dozens of international artists and researchers whose work with wild pigments encourages community connections to the land. A monthly newsletter, Pied Midden, celebrates interviews with pigment practitioners, and a monthly pigment subscription, Ground Bright, funds the project and directs capital to land and cultural stewardship programs linked to the monthly pigment offerings. Each monthly pigment is contributed by a different artist who is responsible for selecting the organization that the 22% of Ground Bright’s monthly net profits will support. The set of more than 40 Ground Brights is archived online with information about pigment contributors, pigments, and supported organizations.
Within the framework of this project, Tilke has introduced principles of wild pigment practice to diverse creative communities, including Portland Community College, the University of Oregon, WildCraft Studio School, Lewis and Clark College, the Pacific Northwest College of Art and to arts educators and their students worldwide through her online comprehensive foraging and art-material-making course, Being With Pigments.
