Celebrate Green Blog

Anyone who knows me knows that I am prone to eureka moments.

One day recently my granddaughters jumped out of the car and ran to the enormous poppies by the front stoop that had opened up since their last visit.

The little one stuck her nose in to smell and came up with purple pollen on her nose.

That got me wondering…could I make poppy ink from the pollen?

When ideas strike, instead of heading to the internet or in this case, to my trusty copy of Green Guide for Artists with its recipes for non-toxic art supplies, in which case I would have thought to add a binder like gelatin or egg, I simply give it a go and see what happen.

We shook loose the pollen from a few flowers into a glass bowl…

Added water and stirred.

And came up with a dark purple ink that when applied to paper, turned gray! (Below is a card I painted with the ink.)

It was a fun experiment even if it didn’t come out quite the way I had thought it would. And of course, the girls were enchanted.

Note: Obviously if you or those involved in doing this have pollen allergies, this project is not for you. In addition, do not ingest the pollen.

Have you ever made ink or paint from plants? What’s been your experience?