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Melissa Dickenson’s works are comprised of raw canvas and organic pigments she collects from nature. Dickenson forages for earth pigment in the form of rocks and minerals while hiking, to create abstract landscapes that reflect the terrain in which they were found.
She processes the rocks and minerals in her studio, by hand with a mortar in pestle, to create her own paints. Each painting is a portrait of the place in which its pigments were derived.
Dickenson chooses the landscape format as a method of connecting of her body to material and place. Her work is rooted in honor and reverence for the fragile state of our Earth.
Mineral Calcite Deposit
CA Coast During Wildfires of 2020
Sitting with Charcoal Moutain
Ground Sonoma Pigment
Sonoma Pigment
ocher
Sonoma Charcoal
Healdsburg Charcoal
Drawing with Sonoma Charcoal
Charcoal Wall
Coastal Shale
Rainbow of collected pigment
Bonham Beach
preparing canvas
Sandstone
palette planning
painting
Foraging pigment in Northern CA
New painting using Lapis
Lapis Ocean
Crushing Lapis Lazuli
Into the Process
Paint Making
Green Mudstone
from stone to paint
Mineral pigments in the wild
Sandy River forage
Wet Green/Blue Mudstone
Jackpot!
Making Earth Paint Samples
The most beautiful Ocher
Clay gathering
Ocher Foraging
Steel Rock Crusher
Earth gathering spoils
Quartz Moonrock
First Motions
Organizing pigment
Crushing some subtle new shades ._._._
Crushing Pigment
The first marks on a new canvas are alwa
Out in the field for the holidays..
Sand Dunes
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