Image courtesy of Crystalynn Tarr.
CRYSTALYNN TARR
Crystalynn Tarr is a natural pigment artist residing with her family in the foothills of the Rockies in the tiny hamlet of Nordegg, Alberta in Canada. She began her career painting in acrylics but with the desire for treading lightly on the land she felt compelled to shift from purchasing plastic based, industrial coloured paints to soil based watercolours.
In 2015 she was asked to teach a prehistoric and ancient civilizations class to some high school students and needed a project for the cave art section of the class. After researching some practical paint making methods she began experimenting with some local soil. The first batch of “boring grey” turned out to emit a lime green colour and with that she was hooked and the shift from painting with acrylics to soil began. It was a transition that saw many experiments, failures and a lot of research in traditional painting methods. With the exception of gifts of rocks as soil from family and friends, all the soils she uses are collected from her travels throughout western Canada and are harvested by hand with the goal of leaving the land looking as untouched as she found it. The pigments are processed in small batches using a mortar and pestle and natural binders to create watercolours. The process is as much part of the art as the paintings themselves and is very therapeutic to make.
The works seek to convey a deep sense of place; from the medium used to the subject matter. The process forces her to slow down, take time and watch the wonder of creation, be thankful for its existence, marvel at its provision and respect it as our temporary dwelling. Hopefully this translates into the work itself.
@renderedearth
Image courtesy of Crystalynn Tarr.
Image courtesy of Crystalynn Tarr.
Image courtesy of Crystalynn Tarr.