comb wash : may ‘20
This sunrise-hued pigment comes from Nancy Pobanz’s collection of pigments used for teaching. The pigment was gathered for Nancy years ago by a friend during a trip to Comb Wash, Utah. Comb Wash is a long, narrow valley, with a Western edge that has a series of canyons that lead into Cedar Mesa, which was made part of the Bears Ears National Monument in 2016, and was excluded from the Monument in 2017.
The Comb Wash pigment, like much of the rock in the area, was once an ancient sand dune, or “erg,” known by geologists as the “Navaho Sandstone.” About 180 million years ago, microscopic, oxidized iron films of the mineral hematite spread and coated the individual quartz sand grains, giving them their rich salmon color.
contributor : nancy pobanz
Nancy Pobanz is a multi-media artist who has been working with plant and mineral pigments since 1996. She grew up in Ontario, on the edge of Oregon’s high desert, and rediscovered the joys of the desert palette on a visit back to her childhood home. At first she thought she would mix commercial paints to match the iron-rich stones she gathered on her visit, but then it occurred to her that she could reduce the stones themselves and make her own paints. At first she her medium was acrylic, then watercolor, and then she made pastels with the colors.
These days, she often simply rubs the dry pigment into paper she draws on. She’s worked with colors from over 300 high desert sites and continues to find more as she explores additional corners of that vast region. www.nancypobanz.com
Photo courtesy of Nancy Pobanz
Photo from the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition website www.bearsearscoalition.org credit: Josh Ewing
22% donation recipient : Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition
This month, the 22% of Ground Bright net proceeds were designated for the Bears Ears Intertribal Coalition, which is a historic consortium of sovereign tribal nations united in the effort to conserve the Bears Ears cultural landscape. Although the current administration has reduced the size of the Bears Ears National Monument by 85%, the BEIC, along with several other groups, has filed a lawsuit challenging the reduction. The five tribes that make up the coalition are dedicated to continuing to protect the sacred Bears Ears lands for future generations. To learn more, or to make a direct donation, please go to www.bearsearscoalition.org.