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Pigments Talk with Caroline Nicholay of Pario Gallico
Saturday, April 18 at 12pm Pacific time (convert time zones here)
Archaeology of Paints: getting the Past to inspire a more sustainable Future.
From the earliest Prehistory people have painted on objects and buildings. Though the evidence of such practices are rare, modern archaeology keeps revealing how colourful and bright life was in the the past, changing our perception of History and how skilled our forebears were. This talk will present some paint finds from North Western Europe, discussing new discoveries and focusing slightly on Iron Age wall paintings. Past the research, we will look at how this Archaeology of Paints is used to educate and inspire various audiences, getting traditional natural paints to replace their plastic-based modern counterparts.
We record all PRI events except Community Conversations and make them available to PRI members.
You can view more than 50 recordings of past PRI events
in the videos sections of our Resources page.
COMING IN MAY:
AN HOUR IN BED WITH MONA LISA
On Saturday, May 23 at 12pm Pacific Daylight time, (convert time zones here) join Mona Lisa herself (aka Sabine, aka @inbedwithmonalisa) and her two fab accomplices, Lucy Mayes from @londonpigment and Evie Hatch aka @evie_hatch on Insta, for a pigmented conversation based on Sabine’s book “Hues in Tubes, everything you have ever wanted to know about PAINT without daring to ask the shop assistant”. (Available for free here.)
An Hour in Bed with Mona Lisa (Mona Lisa for short) and friends will be a sort of book club (in the sense that there is a reading support one can engage with before the session, and prepare questions, if so inclined), but they won’t assume you have actually read the material, and so we will introduce it before opening it to all three for discussion, then to all attendees.
In fact, the book will be more of a springboard: the sections have been picked out as starting points for chatty, lively, loose but information-packed conversations around the issues/questions already outlined in the book.
P.S.: If you want to "prepare" for this one, please read this post
https://inbedwithmonalisa.com/2025/03/15/paint-is-a-concept/
Sabine working (well, she was really just having waaaaay too much fun to call it work!) in L Cornelissen's incredible pigment archive during the pandemic.
NEW DATE!
Judith's talk has been rescheduled for July 18th.
Due to the date change, new registration is necessary.
pigments talk
Saturday, July 18
12pm Pacific
(convert time zones here)
The Allure of Nihonga: A Pigment Perspective
In this presentation, Judith Kruger explores the distinctive materials and techniques of Nihonga through the lens of Japanese pigments. Nihonga, (Nihon-Japan, ga-painting), emerged in the late 19th century during the Meiji period as a response to the growing influence of Western-style oil painting (yōga). Rooted in tradition yet shaped by modernization, Nihonga developed into a major movement within modern Japanese art.
Central to this tradition is its highly refined, extensive mineral pigment gradation system. Natural minerals are carefully ground, levigated and micronized into 15 different particle sizes, from coarse crystalline grains to fine powders. These grades determine luminosity, texture, and tonal subtlety, with coarser particles producing darker hues and finer particles yielding softer, lighter hues. Rather than relying on color mixing, Nihonga artists build depth, hue and saturation through precise layering. Transparent animal-glue binders suspend pigments while preserving their natural clarity. More than any other historical pigment painting practice, natural pigments from shell, earth, mineral and plant pigments are selected and finessed for their unique individual and collective material qualities: ultimately contributing to the medium’s restrained beauty and visual complexity. Synthetic Japanese pigments are also available today, featuring colors and effects that are not necessarily found in nature.
