Workshop Botanical Ink making

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thenatureconnection.nl

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info@thenatureconnection.nl

Discover the magic of color from nature! In this day workshop, you’ll make your own plant-based ink from local plants and learn how to draw or write with it.

Plant-based inks are a mixture of highly concentrated, natural plant extracts with a liquid. You can use them for writing with ink pens or for painting like with ecoline or watercolor. Some of the oldest manuscripts were written with these...!

During this day, we’ll work with traditional plants from our region. Think of oak gall, madder, or walnut. We’ll also go foraging to see what nature has to offer right now for ink-making. I’ll teach you how to identify the plants, which parts are suitable (bark, leaf, flower), and how to harvest respectfully & sustainably. Which plants we return with depends on the season, of course!

Back at De Ceuvel, we’ll process the gathered materials. You’ll learn how to make ink in various ways from different types of plant material. In addition, you’ll learn to make your own drawing tools from natural materials: how to cut a reed pen and how to make your own brushes. At the end of the afternoon, you’ll get to try them out with the inks you’ve made.

You’ll go home with a few bottles of homemade ink, a handmade reed or bamboo pen, brushes, and of course your own drawings.

Anke Wijnja connects people with themselves and with nature through her company The Nature Connection. She works at De Ceuvel, where she also manages the Purifying Park. Anke has extensive knowledge of nature and everything that grows and blooms, and shares it with great enthusiasm. In addition to craft workshops, she also leads wild foraging expeditions and teaches outdoor mindfulness.