One squish of a pokeweed’s berries on skin or clothes will spark any creative soul’s curiosity. Some see mess and stains… but some of us see pure magenta magic.
A true magenta, as far as I’m concerned, is somehow alive with light waves that vibrate both a rich depth and a bright feeling.
With such a radiant color - and one of my personal favorites - it’s no wonder pokeweed became one of the plants to really catch my eye after we moved south. Or that it also has a longtime history as a source of ink.
It is the season of poke berries and roots here. And while the cooked, young shoots of Spring are an old-time Appalachian survival food known as “poke sallet,” the rest of pokeweed’s medicine is best left to experienced herbalists and keepers of traditional plant medicine wisdom.
(Note: The wrong parts, amounts, preparations and uses of poke can make you very sick. While there are many herbs and plants we can safely try as folk medicine on our own after we learn about how to do so safely, this is not one to just try willy-nilly no matter what some youtube video says, k?)
For natural ink making, though, there’s no need to worry about all of that.
I’ve dabbled with squished poke berries as a quick ink in my sketchbooks and art play before. And the plant has been a muse for some of my paint sketches and creative meditations outdoors over the years. She is lovely, with her delicate flowers, color changing berries, and tall, cascading presence. She dances in a breeze and birds adore her.
This year as my garden work slows down for the colder months, and darker hours increase, I feel a new-to-me mix of relief and sadness. I can use a rest from the daily care it all requires, but I will really miss the long days of light with frequent tending and focus on the plants, flowers and herbs.
I have, however, been tucking away other ideas to explore that align with the same values and curiosities that led me to more hands-in soil+plant care, and hands-on food making.
So I am beginning a more intentional exploration of learning about, making and experimenting with natural inks, pigments, and dyes. Slowly, and with the rhythms of the seasonal plants and my own holistic needs. I’ll share peeks, processes and findings here from time to time.
It feels like a good next step as part of preparing to shift further away from acrylic paints and other unquestioned commercial art supplies for my creative practices.
It also feels like a meaningful way of staying connected to plant and natural materials, and what they inspire for me… even when stuck inside on a cold winter’s day.
To approach it slowly is just fine and won’t halt my visual art practice - I have plenty of commercial paints and inks to see me through another year while I learn about making and using more natural, earth-friendly and DIY options.
Samples of the inks I make will be fun to incorporate in my perpetual journal along the way, too - and a great way to note how they may change over time!
Do you use or make natural paints or inks? What has your experience been like?
Yesterday I made pokeberry ink, in all her messy and magical magenta glory.
Let me show you how in the video below, while I share tips and compare this more intentional batch to an improvised pokeberry ink I made last year…